Undercover Ops

In order to carry out covert operations, an agent needs to be properly trained. This document was part of the Church of Scientology's covert operation, Snow White, and was seized in the 1977 FBI raids in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, CA. It provides instructions for breaking into offices in order to locate and copy documents relating to Scientology. Note the author's comments about his own experience sprinkled throughout, suggesting such break-ins were commonplace.

WALK-INS

A walk-in cycle goes generally as follows:

1) You must have a means of access to the building you are interested in. In a government building this almost always means either a government ID (or going in with someone that has a government ID), or an excellent suitable guise. A private building may be as simple as signing in.

When signing in to either a government or private building, the signature should be scrawled and the destination should not be your actual destination. Except in rare cases it is usually sufficient to say you are going to the library or some such place.

You should have a story already made up that will be plausibel  should you be asked what you are doing. This story also has to be very flexible or else you have to have different stories for different stages of the walk-in. A story that you would tell a guard on your way into the building may be entirely inappropriate if you're caught with your hand in the file cabinet. And it will make a difference if the person questioning you is a cleaner, guard, employee, and where you are, what you're doing, etc. So think it out well before you go in.

2) Locate a safe space in the building where you can sit down and relax and talk without feeling paranoid.

This can be a library table, an empty office — whatever looks good to you, and that you would feel comfortable with. Lots of times in a walk-in you'll have to sit around and wait a couple of hours for your target area to clear out. If you're not comfortable in the area you're waiting the rest of the cycle can go pretty rough.

While you're looking for this space you also have to really assume the beingness  of the type of person you're alleging to be. For instance, if your story is that you are an employee of the organization you are in, you have to feel that you are an employee. If a cleaner walks in on you or a guard asks you a question you have to approach your response and manner of response from the viewpoint of your beingness. If a cleaner walked in on you in your office at the Org you'd probably say "Hi" and go about your business. You wouldn't get startled or upset or make some dumb excuse and run out of the room.

3) After you've located a safe space and are relaxed in it you should go out and get familiar with the building.

The first thing you have to locate is a xerox machine because if you can't copy the documents there's not much sense in being there. Also, you don't want to have already obtained the file and then have to waste tie in finding someplace to copy it.

(Note: There is always the alternative of taking the file out of the building to copy. I very seldom do this unless I have to. prefer to copy it in the building because you add too much to the cycle by traveling to another building. You also have to sign in and out again with the guard, which looks somewhat odd to an observant guard.)

Most government buildings have an excess of xerox machines. They are usually easy to find. Even most private buildings have a xerox machine in any large office.

You want to choose a machine that is located away from the area that you will be obtaining material from.

In a large government building you simply go to a different divisional area from the target area and find a xerox machine.

If you're in a private building, chances are there are many different organizations in the building. Go to another organization or suite of offices and locate a xerox machine there.

Oftentimes you will find the xerox machine locked. If you are familiar with xerox machines you'll know where the "Main On" button is. (Note: it's a very good idea to be thoroughly familiar with all manner of xerox, SCM, etc., copiers so that you can easily change paper and toner, clear jams, etc.) It will be protected by a locked cover but should be accessible by lifting up or pulling out a corner of the cover. For instance, on the xerox 7000 you simply lift up the corner of the cover nearest you as high as you can without bending the cover, and stick a finger (or a long instrument like a letter opener) in and push down the "Main On" button which is located to the front, just a few inches in front of the middle of the machine. Nearly all copiers are accessible with some variation of this, it just takes looking and experience.

Ensure that you can turn on the machine, it works, and that you have sufficient paper. Then leave the machine on and leave the room.

4) Locate the target area. You should already know the room number before going in.

Walk past the room, observing all rooms in the area for any lights or other indications that they are occupied.

If it is apparent that the room, or rooms close to it are occupied, then go back and wait and check again in 30-45 minutes. But don't get into making a lot of trips past the area.

5) When the area is clear then go to the room door and try it to see if it is unlocked.

(Note: It isn't unusual for room lights to be left on and the doors closed with no one in the room. If you have any feeling that someone may still be in the room, then go up and knock. If someone answers, open the door and ask them for a match or to use their phone, or some such. Also use the opportunity to look at the door latch so that you know its configuration.

If the door is unlocked, just open it and go in.

If it is locked then you have to figure out a way in. The most successful ways of opening a locked door have been variations of the credit card. This can be used if the latch is slanted or curved going into the door jamb: [illustrations]

If the latch is straight [illustration] then the lock will have to be picked.

If you have a curved or slanted latch (this is the most common type of door latch) and there is no door stop (that strip of wood that [illustration] the door closes against) then it is a straight in shot with a credit card type tool (a piece of straight sheet metal is best). You just slide the tool in between the closed door and the jamb and slide it up under the latch — the door should open. In doing this it is usually best to pull the door towards you as it relieves pressure on the latch and makes the card easier to slide up.

If there is a door stop (as happens most frequently) then you can't just stick a credit card straight in — it has to bend around two corners: [illustration]

The best thing is to manufacture a permanent tool rather than trying to bend up cards. You should obtain a thin sheet of metal and cut it out in the following shape: [illustration]

The curved shape assists in raising the latch better than a straight-edge would do. The "b" section should be about as long as the average door stop (about 3/4", but measure it for yourself). The "c" section should be as long as will comfortably fit into your hand. The "a" section should be about 2-2½" long, but only a portion of it will actually be working on the latch. Note that the slope of the "a" section drops off sharply at the beginning.

This tool is then inserted at the bottom of the doorway, slid up the doorway between the jamb and the door — thus opening the latch. If you have trouble inserting the tool, use your foot and push in the lower corner of the door as far as it will go. This should give you sufficient room to insert the tool.

It should be noted that you will need two tools — one for right hand doors and one for left hand doors.

As with the straight in shot it is usually best to pull the door towards you to relieve some of the pressure on the latch.

Often you will have to move the tool back and forth several times (or more correctly — up and down) to catch the latch correctly, while moving the door back and forth. Its a "feel" thing that you need experience on.

Now, very occasionally you find a latch that slants back into the room rather than out — that is, if you could look down on the latch from the corridor you would see [illustration] rather than the normal [illustration]. I have only found that this occurs on doors without stops.

In this case, the tool, or credit card, won't work because the slant of the tool or the credit card is going in the wrong direction. You have to get something behind the latch to pull towards you.

Therefore, you should also carry about a 5 inch strand of flexible wire. The wire should be woven stands rather than one thick strand. The best I've found is the type of wire used to hang pictures that you can pick up at most hardware or drug stores.

Take this strand of wire (assuming there is no stop on the door jamb) and bend it in a semicircle. Slip the wire under the latch and maneuver the top of the wire out above the latch. Grasp both ends of the wire firmly and work it back and forth, pulling both ends towards you — and thereby working the latch out of the door jamb: [illustration]

You have to be careful not to go too fast on this or you'll slip the latch out of the door jamb and have it slip right back in after the wire clears it.

These methods of opening locked doors have worked about 75% of the time. There are occasions where they won't work due to doors too tight, unoiled latches, etc.

There are also many odd configurations of latches and it helps to know exactly what the latch looks like. You can often find an unlocked door in the area, examine it (the latch), and try your tool out first on that door to get the feel for slipping that particular type of latch.

You'll also very occasionally run into doors with two locks on it which can be slipped. In this case you need two tools. Insert one of the tools from the top of the door, slip the latch and hold . Then insert the second tool from the bottom of the

[illustration]

[illustration]

[illustration]

door, slip the second latch and the door should open.

If a door won't open at all with this method, there is a very good chance (especially in government buildings) that there is a suite of interconnecting rooms adjacent to the room you are interested in. In this case, just try an adjacent door and go through the same routine again. If you have a number of different doors that could lead you to the same room, check the amount of "play" or looseness in each door and try the one that is loosest first.

Also, an old successful action if you know you are dealing with a suite of rooms, is to go into the rooms during the day and unlock one of the locked doors. It is likely that a door found locked during the day remains locked all the time and that other doors in the suite are used as the entrances/exits. The "locked" door is likely to not be checked each day on the assumption that it will stay locked. The best doors to choose for this are ones that tables, chairs, etc., have been pushed up against, as these doors are obviously not used as entrances/exits.

Of course, when you go into the suite of rooms during the day you shold  have a well worked out suitable g uise  that will logically explain your being there, or you won't get close enough to the door to unlock it unobtrusively.

One such suitable guise that was used involved going into the offices during the day with a clipboard and informing the secretaries that "Facilities Management" needed to check the locks on all doors. We had one door stay unlocked for three months using this technique.

By this time you should be in the office. If you're not, you either need more practice or you'll have to pick the lock.

The advantage, by the way, of slipping a latch as opposed to picking a lock is 1) to slip a latch takes 2-10 seconds compared with at least several minutes to pick it (unless you're very good), and 2) you don't need as much training and experience.

6) Once inside the office you have to locate the file you are interested in.

Most often the file will be located in a file cabinet and probably 50% of the time the cabinet will be locked.

As soon as you run into a locked file cabinet, immediately check the top middle drawer of every desk in the area of the cabinet and you'll almost surely find the key. If you can't find the key there, you'll have to search more thoroughly in different desk drawers. These keys have also shown up in file card boxes, taped to the cabinet, and locked in safes. But, I have never found a locked file cabinet and not been able to find the key in the room.

Combination safes occur infrequently. Like file cabinets, the combination is almost always laying around somewhere in the room. Again, check the top middle desk drawers of any desks in the vicinity of the safe, looking mainly for an index card sized piece of paper with the combination on it. (For some reason, all combinations I have found have been on this type of paper.) If you find nothing then check any alphabetical file card boxes. I have found the combination listed under "safe", "file", and "lock", but oddly, never under "combination". If you dont  find it there you'll have to do a thorough search of other drawers and desk areas. There has been only one occasion where we weren't able to locate a safe combination — they are pretty easy to find.

Also, make sure that you know how to dial a safe combination. The most normal are 4 turns left (this is actually three times past the number and the 4th turn stops at the number), 3 turns right, 2 turns left, and one turn right to zero. You then turn the inside knob of the dial all the way to the right while holding the dial at zero: [illustration]

When this is done then turn the dial as far right as it will go and the safe will open. On safes with no inside dial, just don't stop at zero. Go all the way to the right on the last turn and the safe will open.

When you're finished with the safe make sure to set the dial back where it as before you opened it.

By going through the file cabinets, safes, desk drawers and desk tops you should now locate the file you are looking for.

One point to keep in mind while searching for the file is to keep the area (and the file when you find it) free of fingerprints. Optimumly  you should wear gloves. If this is not possible and you have to touch something, do so with the sides of your fingers or make sure that you smudge the prints. Prints can be easily smudged by giving your fingers a half turn as you withdraw them from the surface.

When you locate the file(s) put them in your briefcase.

On your way out of the room, if the door was locked when you went in, make sure that the door is now unlocked as you'll want to get quickly back in when you return. There are normally buttons on the latch plate of the door that push in and out: [illustration]

in whichever button is out and check the outside doorknob to sure it is unlocked, and then leave, closing the door behind you. One other point when going into the room — often you will be working at night and you'll need a source of light. It is inadvisable to turn on lights unless you are thoroughly familiar with the area. You have no way of knowing who can see them especially if the office has an outside window. Instead, you should carry some type of small penlight flashlight. The batteries in these usually wear out after 30 minutes or so, so make sure you have sufficient batteries with you.

7) Return to the xerox room you originally picked out (or, if absolutely necessary, to to an outside xerox machine.).

It is best, if possible, to lock yourself into the xerox room so that noone  can easily walk in on you unexpectedly.

One person should xerox while the other person puts the material back in the file, therefore, start xeroxing from the last sheet in the file folder.

You have to keep the files and papers clean of prints, so, if at all possible, wear gloves. If this can't be done then make sure you handle all pages with the sides of your fingers and your palms. This is easy to do after you get used to it.

Usually there is a title written or typed on the file folder. This should be xeroxed also so thatyou  can keep the files separated.

If this is an "active" area — i.e. there is some type of current case going on and new material will be added to the file, it is wise to put a small pencil mark (inconspicuously) on the latest page in the file that you copy so you'll know where to start next time. Also, if there are a large number of separate files, yo should mark them also inconspicuously so that you will know they have been done should you or someone else have to come back again.

Although I have never found it a problem, you should know that there is an internal counter in virtually all copying machines that will record the number of copies you make.

Also, once I ran across an agency which issued counting device to their employees as an economy measure to cut down on the use of the xerox machine. These devices are rectangular in shape — metal cases about 4"x2"x3/4" — that have a counting mechanism showing through the front "window" of the case. Without having one of these devices you can't operate the xerox machine. To operate the machine you place on  of these devices into a rectangular hole on the control panel of the machine and when so placed, the machine will operate (after it is turned on of course).

If you run across this situation you'll have to search the desk tops and drawers in the vicinity of the machine to find one of these devices. This should be done before you search for the file(s).

make sure there are no copies of yours the machine, and turn it off.

Leave the room the way that you found it.

8) Return to the room you got the files from and replace them in exactly the place you got them from.

One thing that is good for the nerves is to be assured that noone  has gone into the room (or may still be in there) while you were xeroxing. An easy way to handle this is to take a quite small piece of paper and stick it between the door jamb and the door when you are leaving to do your xeroxing. Leave a small end of the paper sticking out so you can barely see it from the corridor. Then when you return and you see the paper in the same place you can enter the room with confidence.

If the paper should be disturbed when you return (this has not happened to me) you'll have to decide, based on the situation, whether to wait around and return the file, whether to return the file in some other fashion (e.g. "route" them back using the agency's comm lines, leave them in another office, etc.), or just take the files out with you.

After you have returned the files, look around the room and make sure that nothing else was disturbed.

Also, don't forget to relock a file cabinet if it was locked to begin with and make sure all keys are returned unfingerprinted to where you got them.

When you leave the room make sure the door is now locked (if it was locked to begin with) and smudge any prints that may be on the doorknob.

You should have your copies of the documents wither  in an upper flap of your briefcase or in the main part of the briefcase turned face down with a book or legal pad on top. This is in case the guard checks your briefcase on the way out. All he will see are papers and won't be able to read any of them.

9) Miscellaneous:

a) I have nearly always found it better to approach guards and cleaners rather than shy away from them. This would be more in line with the beingness you have assumed.

I always try to establish some ARC with these people so they are comfortable with me in the area and assume that I belong there.

Cleaners usually come in after all the day time employees have left the area and therefore are not familiar with the day time employees.

Establishing ARC with these people has been so successful that they can be gotten to open locked doors "because you forgot your key".

is, of course, the liability that these persons can identify .

There are exceptions to this. For instance you may do a walk-in looking for a specific piece of scandal material, but generally the above order of priority should be followed. You don't want to get on #3 before #1 is fully completed, no matter how interesting #3 may be, because your access can be cut at any time.

d) When you are dealing with an extremely large agency or group it is beneficial to mix an FSM with a walk-in.

The FSM will be limited pretty much to a specific area of the agency yet there may be many other areas of the agency that may have files on us. Having the FSM go out of her immediate area alone and walking around in other division or sections could be as bad as sending one person into do a walk-in. There are exceptions to this, or course, where an FSM is extremely familiar with the whole building.

Just follow the normal routine of a walk-in when doing this, and steer clear of the FSM's actual area of employment.

e) Electronics can be a concern when doing a walk-in. There is a possibility that a door can be alarmed or that there are TV cameras that are monitored at a guard station, etc.

I have only run across this in "national Security" type areas which are usually not amenable to walk-in anyway and require FSMs.

If you have any doubt about an area possibly being alarmed or montiored  in some way you should check it out first.

You'll need to go into the area during work hours on some pretext, and get a good look at the inside of the room. You are looking for wires and switches around the inside door frame. Also look in the corridor for a panel that looks like a light switch cover that has a slot for a key, and two lights — usually a read and a green. This turns on and off an alarm system via a key. A green light usually means that the alarm is off and a red light means that it is on.

There are other devices such as pressure sensitive devices under a rug, or motion detectors, but I have little familiarity with them and have never run into them.

You also want to check the upper corners of the room (near the ceiling) for cameras, and also check the corridors for the same. Then, go to the guard station and see if there are any TV sets for monitoring the rooms and corridors.

If the above is done you can be reasonably certain that the area is "clean" or not.