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The Rotten Buggers!

 

Posted 29/Oct/2007, 1309 words

An expose of the art of bugging by Warren Mallard Licensed Private Inquiry Agent and Managing Director of Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group www.investigators.net.au

In recent times I have been repeatedly asked how would someone go about bugging the home of Brian Bourke, the infamous mover and shaker within the Western Australian Political scene, recently outed and exposed by the C.C.C. The story that has unravelled has intrigued the public to a point where many have become paranoid about their own personal information and want to know how people could enter the home of another and plant devices without being detected.

For someone like myself, a former Police Officer and Licensed Private Investigator, this is rather mundane stuff, the stuff of every day private investigation. Don't get me wrong here, my company doesn't plant bugs, in all states of Australia this is illegal, however if you don't know how law enforcement agencies and unscrupulous operators go about the installation of listening devices, you can hardly detect them and differentiate between the two. Detection is what Lyonswood is about. You have to have a little bit of villain in you to catch a villain. That doesn't mean you have to break the law but sometimes you do teeter close to the edge. My company Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group regularly carries out counter measures (detection) of electronic devices and other counter surveillance techniques on behalf of politicians, political parties, corporate leaders and members of the public. This is not the stuff of science fiction any more, its here and its getting easier and less expensive. Don't forget that we all have in our possession today the most powerful of all listening devices, the humble mobile phone.

What would I do if I were asked to lawfully bug Mr. Bourke's home? Firstly I would have to identify and verify his place of residence and this would be done via the use of a surveillance team. This team would undertake the surveillance with vehicles that appeared to be service vehicles, Telstra vehicles, pool cleaners, couriers etc. During the surveillance process I would identify all occupants/key holders to the house and regular attendees such as servants and maintenance persons. Further, the movements of the immediate neighbors are just as important. An alert neighbor has blown many an operation. Once the times of comings and goings of the occupants and neighbors is studied, a plan would then be formulated as to when would be the best time to enter the house undetected. We are talking serious money here. This involves a skilled team of operatives and electronics technicians, persons cool and calm with nerves of steel. It also involves weeks of intelligence gathering prior to execution of the plan. Once the time is determined, surveillance operatives keep all the occupants who have departed the houses under surveillance whilst the team of technicians enter the house via a skilled law enforcement locksmith and alarm technician. The lock is picked, the alarm bypassed and the technicians armed with two way dedicated-line radio transmitter headsets connected to the same frequency as the surveillance operatives, sets about their business, the installation of listening devices, transmitters and cameras whilst being advised of the every movement of the surveillance targets. If the occupants of the house look like they might be headed back to the house and the technicians require further time, a decision will be made instantly as to whether some form of delay needs to be created with regard the returning target or whether they can vacate the premises without leaving a trail of suspicious material and return another time to complete the operation. The devices themselves can look like a normal power point double adaptor or a wall switch; even a soft toy can be used. They can be as small as a pea or as large as a wall clock. It all depends upon the premises and the awareness of the target. Some devices have been recovered from light fittings, televisions sets, bed heads, kitchen appliances, sofa pillows, potted plants, even the budgie in the cage isn't safe! One counter surveillance operation carried out by my company found a device stuck to the underside of the cage. I wonder just what the budgie revealed?

Vehicles are also bugged and tracked. This is an operation where generally the car is fitted with a tracking device disguised as a vehicle component such as a bumper bar bracket or similar.

The listening device is more difficult to install. Some tracking devices are also listening devices and have the components of a digital phone so as to transmit any conversation had within the vehicle upon an open dedicated telephone line back to a recording device. These are the devices that law enforcement agencies use but how do they get inside your car?

Again surveillance is required. Most cars these days have remote locking, which is activated by an electronic signal, some that even change signal on each occasion of exit and entry. Most law enforcement agencies have a device that allows surveillance operatives to capture the electronic signal code of the alarm remotely as long as the operative is close enough to receive the signal when the car is entered/exited. This then allows the operative to unlock the vehicle when the driver has parked it and hot wire it and remove it to a location to install the listening device, tracking device and video cameras. Yes! Video cameras can also be installed in the car to capture the identities of all occupants and transactions of cash and drugs. Remember this next time you are furtively picking your nose, the police could be watching! If the electronic alarm intercept fails then an operative can gain access to the vehicle via slipping the door locks or even breaking the side window. If this window approach is taken; the car when fitted with the devices is generally taken away and parked somewhere on a suburban street. When the target of the surveillance returns, he/she believes their car has been stolen and reports it to whom? That's right, the very agency that stole it in the first place. The owner is then advised some time later that the vehicle has been recovered/found in a suburban street and the owner collects it being none the wiser.

One of the first questions I ask a client who believes they are being bugged is  "has you car recently been stolen and recovered?" You would be surprised at how many reply in the affirmative. Public places present a much more difficult task when it comes to recording conversations. Restaurants are places where much business is discussed but how would I know which table an individual was going to be seated at, how would I know whether there would be seats available for me to book to be able to sit close by and overhear the conversation? I might have this information from the house or car bugs, but restaurants are noisy places, difficult to even hear the people you are talking with let alone someone on a nearby table. There is another way however. If video from a hidden lapel or clutch bag camera can be trained upon the individuals involved in the conversation then a lip reader could decipher much of the conversation from viewing the footage. Sounds ridiculous? Not really, it has happened before.

So next time you're up to no good, doing something you know is wrong, like picking your nose in a restaurant, remember this article and perhaps you'll think twice. Or will you? Most people that commit crimes believe they will never get caught, that's why they commit them in the first place. Ask those involved in the WA scandal whether they believed they would get caught and I bet you they were all so convinced that they didn't even give it a second thought.

ROTTEN BUGGERS? I think not, these BUGGERS are GOOD BUGGERS! 

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