Intelligence Gathering Terminology

Intelligence Gathering

• Access refers to the capacity of a prospective agent to obtain desired information for an intelligence organization or perform an intelligence collection mission in a given area.
• Evaluation guides for accuracy of information include:
  • Confirmed by other sources
  • Probably true
  • Possibly true
  • Doubtfully true
  • Improbable
  • Truth cannot be judged

Counterintelligence

• Active Measures (Offensive) involve blocking information from enemies' efforts to gain information or engage in espionage, subversion, and sabotage.
• Active Opposition involves preventing intelligence activity in a given area by targeting all organs of every security system.

Surveillance and Investigation

• Admission refers to knowledge of a fact or circumstance that implicates but does not directly incriminate.
• Agent Control is the authority to direct an agent to carry out tasks or requirements in behalf of a clandestine organization.
• Agent In Place is a recruited agent within a highly sensitive target, who is beginning their career or has been an outsider or insider.
• Agent's Report is a report rendered by a documented agent who answers an intelligence requirement.
• Alibi refers to establishing a defendant's presence at another place at the time of an alleged crime, making it impossible for them to have been at the crime scene.

Historical Figures

• Allan Pinkerton was the first detective of the Chicago Police Department in 1849 and formed the Pinkerton Private Detective Agency.
• Alphonse Bertillon introduced the system of anthropometry in 1883, a systematic attempt at personal identification based on body measurements.
• Arthur Conan Doyle created the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

Investigation Techniques

• Analysis involves shifting and isolating significant elements related to the mission or objectives.
• Approach is a device in the conduct of elicitation that involves setting people to start talking.
• Background Interview is a type of interview focused on obtaining data regarding the personal background of a subject.
• Baseline method is a sketching method where an imaginary line is drawn to locate and measure objects.
• Boasting, Egoistic, or Egocentric Witness is a potentially excellent type of witness due to their drive toward self-expression.

Other Terms

• Bigot List is a listing of names of all persons with authorized access to sensitive information.
• Burnout refers to a state when a subject under surveillance becomes aware of being observed and identifies the observer.
• Canvas is the systematic interview of people in a certain neighborhood or area for ascertaining information.
• Cartography is a method of criminal identification where a witness and investigator develop a picture of the criminal.

Test your knowledge of intelligence gathering concepts such as access, accuracy, and active measures. Learn the evaluation guides for the accuracy of information and more.