The following pattern of targeted thefts of law enforcement uniforms, equipment and weapons occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area and the central coast area this week.
Threat Summary:
A professionally-executed burglary of a commercial police and fire uniform shop. Police badges from multiple local departments, batons, handcuffs, knives, pepper spray and other equipment was stolen Tuesday night. The same uniform shop was a victim of a prior burglary in December, in which Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department uniforms were taken. The alarm system was professionally disabled and bypassed.
In Los Gatos, Calif., 40 miles south of San Francisco (monitored open source) Theft of FBI unmarked vehicle containing Agent’s side arm, MP5 sub-machine gun, chemical and ballistic protective equipment, badge and credentials, while agent was ‘working out’ in a public gym on Monday. The car keys were left in a gym locker, which was broken into.
The vehicle was recovered burned out Monday night, as an arson case. But the weapons, ammo, protective equipment and credentials were missing. Pre-planning and specific targeting were noted.
In Newark, Calif. (East San Francisco Bay Area) A police officer’s vehicle was burglarized. Items taken were uniforms, leather gear, badge and credentials.
These events took place within days of scheduled presidential visit to San Jose today. Law Enforcement working in the area should be aware of these incidents and take extra precautions and practice increased security measures.
Care should be taken to verify identity and authenticity of any uniformed or plain-clothes law enforcement officer or firefighter that is not personally known to the first responder.
THIS INCLUDES A POSITIVE IDENTITY CREDENTIALS CHECK
Extra care should be taken to verify identity and validity of any personnel from an outside agency, before entry to sensitive facilities, events or incidents is allowed.
This open source intelligence points to use of uniforms and official looking/duplicated credentials documentation, which may be used to facilitate a primary or secondary attack on critical infrastructure and/or first responders.
For additional information on this, contact:
Chris Hall, Executive Director
director@iapps.org
www.iapps.org
