Criminal Style (MO)
All crimes after 1972 were committed to provide money or weapons to PFLP. In their commission of these crimes, the gang followed some common principles.
During the preparation phase they maintained absolute secrecy; never say anything on the phone, making sure they were not followed, and didn't even tell their closest family what they were doing. Each big heist was usually preceded by months or at least weeks of detailed planning, preparations and surveillance. The surveillance/stakeouts were usually done on foot or from the back of small closed vans. When renting cars, apartments etc. they used stolen identities and false driver licenses, taking care to avoid using the stolen identities in ways that would be noticed by the victim (such as spending the victim's money). They used professional countersurveillance techniques as routine, including spotting of unmarked police cars, evasive driving, calling between payphones etc.
They concealed their identity by always using complete disguises so they could not be recognized. This included masks or theatrical makeup. They did not reveal the political affiliation or motives, viewing them as crimes with a practical goal, not public demonstrations of force or terror. During criminal activity, they never carried any papers with their real names or addresses, in order to give the other gang members time to get away before the police figured out who they arrested. They always used freshly stolen getaway vehicles equipped with previously stolen unrelated license plates.
During robberies, they used a quick in-out approach. Most crimes were completed in a matter of seconds or minutes. They were extremely brutal and scary during the crime to pacify the victims and avoid further casualties. Take the loot, getaway cars etc. themselves, without relying on the victims to do anything but flee or freeze. They aimed at avoiding serious human casualties. When this rule was broken in the last robbery, the police redoubled their efforts and arrested the gang.
Read more about this topic: The Blekinge Street Gang
Famous quotes containing the words criminal and/or style:
“A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.”
—Clifford Irving (b. 1930)
“The authoritarian child-rearing style so often found in working-class families stems in part from the fact that parents see around them so many young people whose lives are touched by the pain and delinquency that so often accompanies a life of poverty. Therefore, these parents live in fear for their children’s future—fear that they’ll lose control, that the children will wind up on the streets or, worse yet, in jail.”
—Lillian Breslow Rubin (20th century)