“The Perfect Heist: Recipes from Around the World [Combined Papers + Slides]”, 2014-04-01 ():
Of the many facets of the criminal world, few have captured society’s fascination and awe as has that of high stakes robbery. The combination of meticulousness, cunning, and audacity required to execute a real-life Ocean’s Eleven may be uncommon among criminals, but it is fortunately common enough to extract a wealth of lessons for the protection of high-value assets. To assist in informing the analyses and decisions of security professionals, this paper surveys 23 sophisticated and high-value heists of cash, gold, gems, artwork, and other valuables that have occurred or been attempted across the world, particularly over the past 3 decades.
[Brazil Central Bank Cash Heist, Sumitomo Mitsui Bank Heist, Antwerp Diamond Heist, Museon Jewel Heist, Société Générale Bank Heist, Stardust Casino Job, Vastberga Helicopter Heist, Millennium Dome Raid, Tanzanian Airplane Gold Robbery, Munch Museum Art Heist, Carlton Hotel Diamond Heist (which may never have happened?), Brink’s-Mat Gold Heist, Lufthansa Heist, British Bank of the Middle East Gold Heist, Chase Manhattan Bank Robbery, Mayfair Graff Diamond Heist, Harry Winston Diamond Heist, Schiphol Airport Diamond Heist, Swissport Heathrow Heist, Gardner Museum Art Heist, Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Center Heist, Securitas Cash Depot Heist, Northern Bank Cash Heist]
The results are compiled in a Heist Methods and Characteristics Database and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, with the goals of both identifying common characteristics and characterizing the range and diversity of criminal methods used. The analysis is focused in 6 areas:
Defeated Security Measures and Devices,
Deception Methods,
Timing,
Weapons,
Resources, and
Insiders.
Key lessons are identified in each focus area.
…Several key lessons are identified in each focus area, and an overview of the commonalities and bounds of criminal team characteristics and capabilities is provided. In brief, the typical criminal is a 30–39 year old man and experienced career criminal who is native to the country whose valuables he is targeting. The typical on-scene criminal team consists of 2–8 accomplices, typically perpetrating the robbery as a single team, although breaking into multiple sub-teams is not uncommon. Use of weapons is typical but in many cases not required for success. Thieves are willing to devote substantial resources to planning, spending in some cases more than 2 years, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and procuring transportation for thousands of pounds of loot. Thieves are frequently thorough and innovative in their planning, developing security defeat methods that are physically simple but highly targeted toward vulnerabilities the thieves have identified in advance of the heist. In the identification and exploitation of these vulnerabilities, deceptions and insiders almost always play a role. Multiple insiders, unwillingly or willingly colluding, are not uncommon; and while insiders span a variety of origins and roles, by far the most common type is the coerced insider who unwillingly assists in the crime, often upon threat of losing his own life or the lives of his family members.
[cf. “Major Crimes as Analogs to Potential Threats to Nuclear Facilities and Programs”, 1980]