Read SEAL Survival Guide Online
Authors: Cade Courtley
SEAL Survival Guide (46 page)
There is no single correct response to a life-threatening home invasion scenario. There are tools to help you, but ultimately the choice is personal, based on your own assessment of your physical and mental capabilities and your evaluation of the level of imminent danger. But if you continue to remember that the goal is to
survive,
you will endure.
Tiger Kidnapping
Police refer to a more sophisticated and dangerous type of home invasion as a tiger kidnapping. It gets its name from the fact that highly trained professionals stalk their victim’s every move for weeks or months like a predator prior to striking. In a tiger kidnapping, a person of importance to the victim is held hostage and is used as collateral until the victim has met the criminal’s demands. For example, the president of a bank is told his family will be killed if he does not empty the safe at his branch.
Tiger kidnapping is the most sophisticated and ultimately the most dangerous of all home invasions. It involves two separate crimes committed in tandem. The first crime usually involves the abduction of a person to be held hostage, but sometimes blackmail is employed
instead—sensitive information, or the threat of revealing damaging information, can be used as a means to coerce collaboration from the abducted. Instead of simply robbing the victim, the captors demand that a second crime, which could be anything from robbery or murder to planting a bomb, be committed on their behalf by someone close to the hostage in exchange for the hostage’s safe return. Although a similar situation could be enacted via blackmail and without kidnapping, home invaders know this method expedites results. Hostages are held by captors as collateral until their demands are met. Unlike with blackmail, perpetrators don’t have to wait for response to their demands via phone calls or notes, or take the chance of getting police involved. Instead, in these scenarios, the goal of the captors is to have their dirty work performed by another person, who is referred to as the “human key.” In addition, in many instances, the victims of these tiger kidnappings are less likely to report the offense to authorities since they too, technically, were involved in committing a crime. As in the example of a bank employee who helps in a robbery, even if he does so under threat that his family would be harmed, he has in effect also committed a crime, and often remains secretive. Fearing repercussions in regards to the level of their involvement, or concerned about the criminal’s return, many victims are reluctant to report their ordeal to authorities. In any case, tiger kidnappings are well-planned operations, in which the victims have been under surveillance and stalked for a considerable amount of time.
It’s a very strange thing to know that another human being is stalking you. With the work I did in Iraq, I knew that every time we left our secure compound, we were under surveillance by the “bad guys.” You wondered in the back of your mind: “Is this the time they’re going to pounce?” This is what keeps you at a maximum state of alert. And each time we returned to the safety of our compound, I said: “Not today.”
STAGES OF TIGER KIDNAPPINGS
After the target is stalked and their daily routine is well recorded, then the attack begins. In contrast to burglaries and robberies, which are often crimes of opportunity, home invaders are usually very familiar with the layout of the home or apartment. Nevertheless, the most effective way to gain entry is through the front door or garage. Occasionally, well-armed home invaders forcibly enter the home by kicking open the door and then deal with whomever they find inside. More commonly, home invaders prefer not to make such a scene on the street, especially if the front door is visible to neighbors or public roads. Various ruses are used to get you to open the door, such as pretending to deliver flowers or packages. Some may pretend to solicit some service or say that they are working on a neighbor’s house and wish to give a free estimate of some sort, or that they were in an accident and need to use your phone. The list of ways to get you to open the door by simply ringing the bell is long. It’s surprising how many people do just that and swing open the door upon the first knock.
In Special Operations, when our mission involved the entry, or “breaching,” of a house or structure, there were two ways we got in. The most dramatic, and the type portrayed in movies, is called “dynamic entry.” This is when we blow away the fortified entry with explosives or use a “hooligan tool,” a crowbar-type device, to give us instant access. However, given the enemy’s knowledge of our tactics and use of fortification, the “soft entry” has become the preferred method. Using this technique, we exploit the house’s weaknesses and enter without making undue noise. This gives us the upper hand via stealth and surprise. Home invaders aren’t going to use dynamite, and nearly always try the soft entry. The best way to make your house a difficult target for home invaders is to identify all the soft entry points and install basic hardware and safety devices. (See “Burglary and Robbery,”
page 106
.)
Prevention and Rehearsal
As with most survival techniques, it is better to contemplate the unthinkable beforehand. Look at your home and create and play your mental movie of what plan of action would be best in the dire event of a home invasion. In Special Ops we always focused on rehearsal prior to a mission. You can do the following to rehearse for a home invasion with your family:
• Establish a code word that everyone knows means trouble. This will initiate an escape plan and a proper course of action. The seriousness of this word must be made clear; it should never to be used unless in a do-or-die situation.
• Draw a sketch of the interior of your home and mark alternate points of exit that could be accessed while avoiding the area the attackers have breached. Also, have more than one escape route, including alternate escape plans for the front, rear, and second floor.
• Set up a safe room in your home. Use a signal or your special code word to notify family members when to get to it without question or hesitation.
• Do not make rehearsals a scary situation for children. As in a school fire drill, children can be great assets if taught to remain calm when under stress.
• Teach children how and when to dial 911, activate an alarm panic button if you have an alarm system, or escape to the neighbor’s house to summon the police.
MAKING A SAFE ROOM
If space allows, choose a certain room as a designated safe room. This is a good plan not only for home invasions but for other emergencies
or in the event of natural disasters. This particular room should be a safe retreat to accommodate any number of emergencies. Primarily, the door should be fortified enough to delay an intruder during a home invasion or other terrorist threat. It should be equipped with an alarm panel, or a landline phone, or an inexpensive cell phone left there on permanent charge. A step further would be to have a police-band radio or any other means of communication to summon help. A safe room can be created and furnished with relatively little effort and expense.
• Select an interior room or large closet with no windows or skylight.
• Install a solid-core wood or steel door, and hang it so it opens or swings outward.
• Replace the wooden doorjamb with a steel one, or reinforce the door trim with steel angle iron to prevent the door from being kicked open.
• Install a keyless Grade 1 deadbolt (if your deadbolt can be opened with a key, you risk having the keys fall into the wrong hands).
