Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The "S" in S.E.T.S. stands for SURVEILLANCE

From our favorite Auxilarists, Mr. Lenny Douthett, comes the next installment of our S.E.T.S. explination:

The S.E.T.S. program defines surveillance as photographing, videotaping, drawing, mapping, and/or other means of monitoring a potential target.

In the simplest terms, each of us has engaged in surveillance at some point in time. Have you ever done internet research on where you're staying or things to do before going on a trip? Have you ever visited a marina or checked out a fishing spot before a weekend on the boat? Ever drawn a map, or marked a chart for someone to help them get to where they are going?

The moment we take a picture or record observed information about a particular area, person, place or thing, we are engaging in surveillance. The purpose for the recorded information dictates the type and the depth of the surveillance performed. This is the challenge in identifying when surveillance should be observed as a possible indicator of terrorist activity.

Surveillance as related to terrorist activity is usually the first identifiable step in a terrorist's plan to carry out an incident. But, how do we identify when we are actually observing possible terrorist surveillance activity?

As a rule, any time you observe a person photographing and taking notes, videotaping and taking notes or using other means of monitoring followed by note taking directed at critical infrastructure (such as bridges, tunnels, wharfs and terminals, etc...) you should record the activity and report it.

The S.E.T.S. program goes more in-depth on the subject of surveillance, the different kinds of surveillance and how to discern the difference between "innocent" surveillance that we all engage in on a daily basis.

More to come

-Lynwood D. Douthett, Aux

No comments:

Post a Comment

We welcome your comments on postings at the AWW blog and expect that your comments will follow the general rules of respectful civil discourse. This is a moderated blog, and the USCG retains the discretion to determine which comments it will post and which it will not. We expect all contributors to be respectful. We will not post comments that contain personal attacks of any kind; refer to Federal Civil Service employees by name; contain offensive terms that target specific ethnic or racial groups, or vulgar language. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly off topic or that promote services or products.

We will make our best effort to promptly post those comments that are consistent with the Comment Policy, but given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur only during regular business hours, Monday through Friday. Comments submitted outside of business hours will be read and posted as quickly as possible. To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain on-topic. Contibutors are fully responsible for everything that they submit in their
comments, and all posted comments are in the public domain. We do not discriminate against any views, but we reserve the right not to post comments.

What This Blog Is Not:

This Blog is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact your local police. In addition, to report suspicious activity please contact 1-877-24-WATCH

This is a blog, not a substitute channel for services or general questions. See "Contact Us" on www.uscg.mil, to get help from the Coast Guard and components.

Reporter questions will not be posted. Reporters should contact the Public Affairs Office through their normal channels.