[Modern Firepower] Technothriller gear for secret DHS team in 2017

[clu2415]

When the stuff hits the fan and their cover is blown and bad dudes are closing in, this law enforcement officer is going to turn to not only a weapon he has barely ever fired, it's going to be a bargain-basement, polymer framed rifle? That doesn't jive with my image of a law enforcement officer.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by clu2415

When the stuff hits the fan and their cover is blown and bad dudes are closing in, this law enforcement officer is going to turn to not only a weapon he has barely ever fired, it's going to be a bargain-basement, polymer framed rifle? That doesn't jive with my image of a law enforcement officer.

US law enforcement officers are usually not allowed to carry any weapons in Mexico. ICE/HSI Special Agent Jaime Zapata, for example, famously had no means of self-defence when armed assassins surrounded his car and executed him.

If the PCs were on an entirely legal and above board operation, they would be unarmed, relying on Mexican military or law enforcement protection. Obviously, their operation is less-than-legal, just as the Onyx Rain task force may itself violate numerous federal laws and the US Constitution.

As a compromise, the two LEOs and anyone else that Agent Rubio decides to arm will obtain weapons of self-protection from a local contact, Juan Carlos Ruiz Mendoza, a former member of the Michoacan autodefensas who has been a DEA informant for a while and who has good contacts in the black market arms trade. That way, at least they won't be leaving evidence of official US involvement behind. Mind you, the official stance is that they don't need any weapons, but it seems that no one at Onyx Rain is very worried that they are demanding them.

As it turns out, black market firearms are expensive in Mexico. Agent Rubio had enough money, but she wants many other things, as well as desiring to have a decent reserve for bribing informants, police and military, if needed. So she saved some money by buying her subordinate a well-worn, ca 8-9 year old, Bushmaster Carbon 15, while she bought a newish Colt carbine for herself. She's not a monster, though. The used rifle works fine. Chase Taylor, a qualified armourer, rejected a Gen 1 specimen in favour of this Gen 2 one, looked over the scuffed rifle and declared any damage merely cosmetic. He'll also install the folding stock adapter for Agent O'Toole and mount the optics (yes, of course those are selected for economy, Bushnell Trophy TSR-25 red dots).

Agent Rubio is taking two privately sourced firearms, too, albeit ones obtained in connection with an upcoming gunrunning operation and hopefully not tracable to anything more remarkable than a US gunstore less than careful about straw purchases.

Of course, neither Agent Rubio nor Agent O'Toole actually left behind their service pistols when they crossed the border. And Agent Rubio borrowed an MP7A1 PDW from the SEALs assigned as the emergency extraction and security element. She also added some accessories from a SOPMOD Block II kit and some JSOC bought gear to her privately acquired Alexander Arms .50 Beowulf carbine. Both done off the books, as a favour, as these particular SEALs have little patience with bureaucratic pettifogging hamstringing operators on the sharp end.

Those three weapons and the accessories on the fourth weapon are something no one else at Onyx Rain knows about and they may end up playing havoc with the cover story if Onyx Rain had decided to sacrifice Agents Rubio and O'Toole in the event of a catastrophic event.

If that is contemplated as a possibility, it seems to have been kept from the SEALs as well as the two agents, but OOC, it seems plausible. Neither Agent Rubio nor O'Toole are married and neither has any dependants or family they see often. Both are detached from regular duties and assigned to ultra hush-hush duties with Onyx Rain. And both are currently covered as criminals, in cover personas that ought to stand up to scrutiny.

Of course, there are many risks to doing so and I imagine Onyx Rain would rather they survived and came home. The rest of the party, however, may or may not be intended to die in Mexico.

Mind you, Onyx Rain isn't the only entity acting squirrely. Agent Rubio already had four guns, a longarm, a PDW and two handguns. She certainly didn't need another for self-defence.

No, she bought a black market carbine in 5.56x45mm (Colt L6920) and a black market pistol in 9x19mm (Browning Hi-Power clone made by FM) specifically to ensure she had weapons in common calibers among Mexican criminals, ones that could be traced to the local black market and not to the US. I'm not saying that she's planning on extrajudicial assassinations, but let it be noted that Agent Rubio is a big comics fan, the darker-and-edgier, the better.

[Icelander]

Does anybody know about interesting after-market luxury computer systems for a truck?

I'm talking about something that can function as a PC for one or more passengers, with screens and peripherals accessible in the front passenger seat and from the rear seats. Also capable of voice-controlled operation of entertainment system, car-phone, mobile phone, sat phone and any number of Bluetooth devices.

Possibly some communication devices designed to boost reception of cell phone data networks, and/or a private WiFi router or satellite modem.

Initially designed to watch movies and Netflix while a driver takes him around, use Facebook, check various websites or perhaps financial databases, send e-mail, etc. More comfortable, powerful and with bigger screen than a tablet or smartphone.

Maybe the former owner was a gamer and wanted to play Counterstrike, Starcraft, Eve Online or Destiny while he was chauffered around between various locations in rural Mexico.

The computer and intergartated system would now have been repurposed by the DHS to serve as the control hub for a radio network and surveillance devices.

Agent Rubio's player rolled really well on getting a truck with intergrated comms, navigation, etc. and it would make sense for the vehicle to be as sci-fi 'smartcar' as practical in the real world. It may or may not be called 'Hal'.

I'm also looking for extra power banks in the truck to power all the electronics, either something built in by the previous owner for his personal entertainment system or something the DHS might have added afterwards. At the very least, several hours of extra electricity for the carputer and entertainment system and if it is fairly easy to do, perhaps more than that.

If the original owner didn't bother, we'd be interested in an economical and easy way to do it ourselves.

[Icelander]

Agent O'Toole is not really a field agent. By training and experience, he is an expert in investigations and enforcement by means of electronic devices. In his day job, he managed teams of technicians who provided CBP and ICE with technological intelligence, established sensor networks, intergrated multi-source data into an enforcement or investigative incident command structure, maintained surveillance vans, installed remote sensors, carried out communication intercepts and conducted clandestine electronic surveillance.

His work for Onyx Rain has heretofore been similar. It is to be expected that his professional equipent includes a surveillance kit, audio, visual and IR sensors ('bugs'), counter-surveillance equipment and similar stuff.

GURPS High-Tech has stats for these and I'm not looking for varied performance from the basic tools, but what I'd like to be able to do is sprinkle a few plausible brand or model names around, just to add a bit of verisimitude flair.

What might be plausible manufacturers of US government issue electronics and surveillance gear in 2017?

What are reputable makers of professional surveillance and counter-surveillance technology, as opposed to gimmicky spy store brands?

Does anyone happen to know from which brands the CBP or ICE are buying their surveillance equipment, camouflaged IR sensors or laser mikes?

What model are the motion-activated night-vision-capable cameras that I can find many mentions of in media as common Border Patrol equipment on the Southwest border?

Edit: Well, this leaked catalog of surveillance gear certainly helps. While most of this is too big and advanced for Agent O'Toole (though the truck might well contain DF and intercept devices for the 100-500 mHz range (handheld radio) and cellular phones), it does provide a range of real manufacturers and a feel for how models are named.

[Icelander]

After some Googling, I still haven't found out which manufacturer makes the handcuffs, frisk gloves and various items of evidence collection that a federal agent who works for such Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies as the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would carry.

Are they issued classic old S&W M100 handcuffs?

What are the major manufacturers of crime scene investigation equipment in the US?

What about gloves, whether frisk gloves or ones worn at crime scenes?

I get the impression that a Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera is pretty common as a crime scene investigation tool. Would it be any use during a surveillance at range?

What accessories should one buy for it if you wanted to use it for other things than just crime scene photography? Agent O'Toole has Photography at skill 14 and if he already had access to the camera because of his job, he might have bought some extra gear with it if it enhances the functionality somehow.

This doesn't seem like classified information and digging through government procurement data might turn up something, but it's also something a lot of people living in the US might have noticed if they have any contact with federal law enforcement personnel.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I get the impression that a Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera is pretty common as a crime scene investigation tool. Would it be any use during a surveillance at range?

What accessories should one buy for it if you wanted to use it for other things than just crime scene photography? Agent O'Toole has Photography at skill 14 and if he already had access to the camera because of his job, he might have bought some extra gear with it if it enhances the functionality somehow.

It's a pretty decent camera body, and while it isn't current production since 2013, it looks adequate for many purposes. The things you need for surveillance at range are long lenses and a sturdy tripod. There are plentiful supplies of both, although good lenses do cost noticeable amounts of money.

There aren't accessories that will make it take better pictures for all purposes. Its low-light sensitivity is significant, but not up to current standards: get a Nikon D500 for that. Obviously, you can't use flash for surveillance at range. What other needs seems likely?

If you're taking camera kit without knowing exactly what's needed, you'd obviously take a range of lenses covering wide-angle to long telephoto, lots of storage cards, and a laptop that can read them. You want several spare batteries, and chargers for them, including ones that can run off a vehicle electrical system. Spares of all the cheap electrical stuff, and of all the caps for lens fronts and backs and the body's lens mount. Lens hoods, polarising filters, remote control units. Solid, well-padded carrying cases.

Everything needs to be in black finish - the chrome-barrelled lenses that are fashionable are too conspicuous. A skilled surveillance photographer might well take sandpaper to the chrome detailing on black plastic camera controls to cut down on reflections, and will use black tape to cover other shiny bits.

Any equipment that's good for stealth is valuable. A vest of pockets in the appropriate camouflage is very useful.

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I get the impression that a Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera is pretty common as a crime scene investigation tool. Would it be any use during a surveillance at range?

What accessories should one buy for it if you wanted to use it for other things than just crime scene photography? Agent O'Toole has Photography at skill 14 and if he already had access to the camera because of his job, he might have bought some extra gear with it if it enhances the functionality somehow.

OK, it's a Nikon F-mount lens fitting, which means hundreds of available lenses. For crime scenes I suspect you mostly want a wide-angle because you're generally getting pretty close to the subject; for long-range surveillance, drop on a decent telephoto. They certainly went up to 2000mm focal length, which is a big scary thing:

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography...lex/2000mm.htm

which on that camera (with its undersized sensor compared with the 35mm) will give you an effective 60× magnification. Or you can have more sensibly-sized lenses with smaller magnification; 200mm (effectively 6×) would be small enough to carry around for hours at a time.

Other available accessories include a WLAN transmitter (probably not useful here), a GPS unit for tagging photo locations, and various add-on batteries and flash units.

[(E)]

Depending on the type of desert dust can be a major issue with using a camera. The red dust in Aussie is especially bad, getting into unopened camera bags and every where else it isn't wanted.

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I get the impression that a Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera is pretty common as a crime scene investigation tool. Would it be any use during a surveillance at range?

Hey, I had one of those and I've since bought two cameras. The camera is a few years old, as has been pointed out. Nikon have released two updated in that range, called the D7100 and D7200 respectively. I do believe that they've also announced a replacement for the D7200 which confusingly will be called D7500. So, a D7000 is an older camera.

As far as I am aware you can't enhance the light sensitivity of a camera by buying some accessories, the sensor and the ISO performance of the camera determine that.

If you want to take photos of someone a long way away you need a long lens. Lenses such as the AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR or AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR. The former costs just over $12k and the latter is $4k more. Both of them weigh about 4kg.

Canon also makes cameras that compete with Nikon and generally speaking they have the similar performance because the same physics apply. However Nikon seem to be able to coax better low-light performance from their sensors (which, BTW, are made by Sony like a majority of camera sensors today)

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

Hey, I had one of those and I've since bought two cameras. The camera is a few years old, as has been pointed out. Nikon have released two updated in that range, called the D7100 and D7200 respectively. I do believe that they've also announced a replacement for the D7200 which confusingly will be called D7500. So, a D7000 is an older camera.

Yeah, which is why it's not in the hands of a proper crime scene technician and a rookie agent who's good at using creative requisitions has a realistic chance of having obtained it on a semi-permanent basis. It was probably left in stores while those with a genuine need grabbed the newer models.

Originally Posted by Þorkell

HIf you want to take photos of someone a long way away you need a long lens. Lenses such as the AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR or AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR. The former costs just over $12k and the latter is $4k more. Both of them weigh about 4kg.

Yeah, not happening unless these lenses conceivably exist in a CBP, ICE/HSI or other DHS inventory. O'Toole might have spent maybe up to $1,000 of his own money on accessories so he could use a crime scene camera for clandestine surveillance, but never more.

The PCs are able to get their hands on a wide selection of gear that various DHS agencies have access to, but they have to show genuine need (and succeed at hard Administration checks) for anything that is scarce in actual service. And they have much more trouble getting bundles of cash than gear worth the same amount that was just sitting around in a warehouse.

So, a lot more 2-5 year old gear than newly bought shiny stuff. They get a shiny truck, but it's confiscated and doesn't cost the government much.

So, I guess, would the DHS have long-range lenses for their crime scene cameras? Or can you use lenses on multiple models of camera?