SAS Urban Survival Handbook (109 page)

Escape

Escape may be worth considering, but should be attempted ONLY if you are extremely confident of success—though inventing plans may be a way of keeping up morale. If you are denied reading material and other ways of passing the time, you MUST keep yourself mentally alert and your mind off your situation as much as possible. Recite poems or songs, recall movies scene-by-scene, set yourself sums and puzzles, invent stories and commit them to memory—whatever works.

WARNING

Plotting an escape MAY make you feel better, but think again. Are the kidnappers armed? How many of them are there? Where are you? Where will you go? In some cases of kidnap, victims may actually be taken to other countries! If you don’t seem to be at great risk physically, it may be safer to stay put.

Ransom

ALWAYS inform the police if you are asked to pay a ransom (or subjected to any form of blackmail). Payment will not necessarily obtain safe release of a kidnap victim—kidnappers could go on asking for more money or inflict injury anyway. Get as much information from the kidnappers as possible. If contact is made by telephone, a check list similar to the type you need to take details of a bomb warning would be useful (see
If you receive a bomb threat
). Keep any written communications clean for forensic analysis by the police.

TIED UP/GAGGED

In many kidnap/hostage situations you might find yourself tied up and gagged. Being tied up, even for a short time, can be very painful and may even cause serious injury by cutting off blood circulation. To avoid injury and make the restraints less effective, do the following:

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  ’Relax’ as you are being tied to a chair. Slump down, keeping the small of your back away from the chair. When you straighten up, there may be enough slack in your bonds for you to escape.
  
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  Expand your chest and keep it expanded until the tying is finished.
  
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  Try to keep your knees or ankles slightly apart.
  
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  Keep your hands slightly apart—but don’t overdo it—you need just enough to wriggle out of your bonds.
  
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  If you are on the ground with your hands tied behind you, try to pass your hands under your rear. With your hands in front you can then use your teeth to undo knots.
  
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  If gagged, try to catch the gag in your teeth so it is not forced all the way back into your mouth.
  
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  Rub a blindfold against a shoulder or any convenient edge to push it UP—don’t try to lower it, your nose will get in the way.
  
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  Use any sharp edge to wear through ropes.
  
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  If you are tied up with other people, teamwork can achieve more—try to undo a fellow captive’s knots with your teeth or fingers.
  

Instructions for the handover of cash may be set up by a series of telephone calls or letters—both are ways for the police to trace the kidnappers. Kidnappers may invent highly complex procedures for the transfer of ransom payments to reduce the risk of capture. Recent schemes have involved a complicated network of bank accounts and bank self-service cash machines. However, banks will usually be ready to cooperate with the police.

Although the police must be involved, it is often stated very early on by kidnappers that you must NOT involve them. At all costs, the press must be prevented from hearing of the kidnap—media coverage will give the game away.

UNDER FIRE

Firearms, particularly automatic weapons and hand guns, are commonly used by terrorists. They can only be used at relatively-close range,
and therefore increase the risk of an attacker being captured or injured by returned fire. Nevertheless, any precautions against terrorism MUST include an awareness about how to behave when threatened by an armed person and what to do if you are shot at.

REMEMBER

The romantic impression given about guns and their effects in the movies has very little bearing on reality. DON’T think about being a hero if you are confronted with a gun, and NEVER use one unless you have had training in gun handling—you are likely to do yourself more harm!

Shots being fired without warning can quite often go unnoticed—you may not evens hear a bang! Unless you are close to it, the sound of a shot can be muffled in a crowd and difficult to identify. You may not SEE the gun or its effects. If you have the slightest suspicion that shots are being fired, drop to the ground IMMEDIATELY and cover your head with your hands—tell anyone near you to do the same. ‘Hitting the deck’ like this makes you less of a target and also protects you from deadly ricochet and flying debris.

If there is any cover USE IT, but on no account move if an attacker has told you not to. If an attacker has singled you out or you are in range—in an armed robbery, for example—your best defence is to do exactly what you are told to do. An attacker, particularly one who has already wounded or killed someone, is likely to be very highly strung. The slightest movement may be interpreted as a threat. All it takes is the squeeze of a trigger.

Anti-terrorist and security personnel are usually trained to disarm an attacker. Without training, you are likely to put yourself and those around you at more risk by taking on an armed person. Remain as calm, still and close to the ground as possible. This is VITAL if gun fire is returned by police or military personnel. You could easily get caught in crossfire, if you get up and try to run for it. Even if your attacker has been shot and seems to be out of action, do NOT move until you are specifically told to do so.

Hold-ups and robberies

The risk of being present during an armed robbery is surprisingly high in cities—whether the robbers are ‘only in it for the money’ or terrorists trying to raise funds for their activities. If you work in a bank or with large quantities of cash, that risk is even greater.

Wherever money changes hands or is loaded into vehicles (especially where large sums are involved) the process must ALWAYS be screened from the public by effective barriers and partitions. Doors through these should ONLY be opened to known staff, when appropriate codes/credentials are given and confirmed. Locks should be operated from the inside, NOT by an external key.

If a staff member is being threatened or is under duress, they should use a code to indicate the situation to their colleagues. It should be easily recognizable and phrased as a request, like: ‘Can you ask Johnny to let me through please’. ‘Johnny’ could be the code for ‘I am being threatened with a gun’. ‘Let me through please’ could be a signal to activate an alarm system.

REMEMBER

DON’T risk your or anyone else’s life for the sake of money. Cash can be recovered—life cannot! Tills may have automatic locking/timing devices, which would make handing over cash impossible. Without that provision there is NO alternative but to hand over the cash if faced with a gun.

IN A HOLD-UP

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  Sound alarms which alert security staff/police, without signalling to robbers. Alarm triggers should be undetectable, except to trained staff
  
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  Stall for time if you can, without raising suspicion
  
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  DON’T take any direct action against robbers
  
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  DO as you are told
  
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  DON’T try to run away—unless the robbers are unaware of your presence and you can escape safely
  
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  DON’T draw attention to yourself
  
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  DON’T shout or scream
  
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  DON’T argue—either with the robbers or others caught up in the robbery
  
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  DON’T volunteer information
  
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  MAKE a mental note of everything you see and everything that happens—what the robbers look like/voices/behaviour/sequence of events
  
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  As soon as possible telephone the police and report everything to them Write your evidence down as soon as you can, the stress of the occasion often makes exact recall difficult later. Pass it on to the police as soon as possible (see SELF-DEFENCE: Being a witness).
  

Holding an attacker

In the unlikely event that YOU may have to search a suspect or restrain one, follow this procedure. There is always a possibility that rescuers may not be able to tell (initially) terrorists from hostages, of course, so this could happen to you!

IF YOU OBSERVE AN INCIDENT

If you see any violent incident do NOT enter the building or area where it is happening. Telephone the police at once. If you can still see what is happening, DON’T HANG UP when you have given the alarm. Stay on the line so that you can report events to the police as they happen. Make a written record of what you saw as accurate evidence before details are forgotten. Date and sign it before delivering it to the police.

If it is impossible to get to a telephone, observe carefully, make notes and report to the police as soon as possible (see SELF-DEFENCE: Being a witness). If you are carrying a camera, take photographs.

POST-EVENT STRESS

Kidnap, hijack, armed robbery and other terrorist action can be deeply traumatic with long-lasting effects. Hostages and hijack victims may be physically and mentally exhausted, sometimes with an irrational sense of guilt. They may sleep badly and have nightmares. Help from professional counsellors should be sought to help cope with these problems. In many cases, victims should be treated for shock (see HEALTH: Save a life!).

Body search:
Pull off any outer garments or coat and make suspect stand facing a wall. Lean them against it with their arms up, palms flat against it and legs apart. The feet should be far enough from the wall to force the suspect to lean hard against it. Hook your foot round the suspect’s ankle—ready to pull them off balance if they try to escape. As you make the body search for concealed weapons/devices, feel clothes for ANY unusual object but be careful of blades and syringes.

• ◑ Turn suspect’s head to one side and open mouth to check whether anything is concealed inside.
  
• ◑ Starting at right hand, feel up right arm to armpit, across chest—checking pockets—back along shoulders, down right side of abdomen, around waist and up left-hand side of abdomen, then along left arm.
  
• ◑ Start at right foot, up right leg—checking pockets—groin and down left leg to foot.
  

To secure a suspect:
Blindfold, then tie hands behind back, securing them to a fixed object through the legs. Use shoelaces (if nothing else is available) to tie thumbs tightly together behind back.

Once suspect is secured, search through his/her outer garments, and any bags. Reassure them they are at no risk and that they should not struggle.

REMEMBER

This is very unlikely to take place and is obviously not something you could do by yourself. Once an attacker has been restrained or tied up, you must NOT sink to their level by being violent or causing pain. Let the police deal with them.

RISK LIMITATION

Normal home security devices are inadequate if you are combatting terrorism, rather than break-ins or burglary. In the workplace, high security measures are essential (see SECURITY) for companies/organizations at every level of risk.

General security and fire precautions will provide basic anti-terrorist measures but, if premises are a potential target for terrorist attack, more extreme measures are necessary—specific strategies must be devised. Managers who have to balance risk to property against the expense of precautions must first consider the ‘cost’ of possible damage to people.