A Police Chief’s Memory of Fighting the Honey Trap

Jean-Christophe Grangé says: “Culture, speeches, religions, uniforms; beneath the varnish of all this there is always sexuality.” This means the following. Whatever their profession, a person may become rich, be promoted, succeed, become famous, become powerful. The danger does not change; it is the same for everyone. Because sexuality, one aspect of human nature, at times lies in wait for its victim as a bitter test. In the end, there is a truth that everyone researching the fight against the honey trap comes to realise: Anyone can fall into this trap.

In our country, where various political games are played, it would be excessively naive to think that the “honey trap record” of a politician or famous person someone wants to discredit is not looked into. While some chase affairs of their own free will, others may be lured into a trap prepared in advance. And the enemy is always lying in wait, as long as it finds an opening. The honey trap, a hybrid method of elimination, can in fact be prevented with simple principles. For example: “The wolf takes the sheep that strays from the flock.” Being alone can leave people in the public eye defenceless both against their own instincts and against ruthless traps.

While I was researching the subject, a veteran police chief told me how the honey trap can be fought during assignments abroad. The experienced chief, who had held senior posts at the General Directorate of Security, said at the start what he would say at the end: “You have to be more careful when you play away.” Then he told me what he had experienced. I pass it on exactly, without comment:

“Within the framework of a project run by the police forces of two countries, I was to go to Belarus for a week with young police officers. It was my first visit to Belarus, and that of the young officers under me. Before we left, the danger of a honey trap had not crossed anyone’s mind. It was common knowledge that single personnel going on assignments abroad might meet a woman, and most did not see this as a risk or as immorality. Perhaps some managers might not approve of personnel spending time with a woman, even if single, but frankly that was a personal approach. My team included both married and single officers. Regarding personnel meeting a woman as a trap would evidently be paranoia. Besides, restricting young personnel serving in Ankara while in Belarus did not seem very sensible to me.

Before our visit I reviewed the standard information about Belarus. This information consisted of general and official data on Belarus. My own experience, however, told me that I needed to be at least a little cautious about Belarus, in our parlance a former “KGB country”. From an official point of view I never thought it posed a risk.

Before we had even started, I was caught between a paranoid view of the honey trap and a protective attitude regarding our visit. So what did I do? In fact, my advanced age and professional experience allowed me to set up a strict control mechanism, because the young people in my team were almost my son’s age. But perhaps because I trusted my personnel, or perhaps because I was aware of my paranoid side, I could do nothing beyond warning my young colleagues a few times.

What could have been done?

First of all, one has to accept that whatever order is given, a young person may do whatever he has set his mind on. For this reason, some precautions can be implemented through persuasion rather than orders. On short assignments abroad, once the daily programme is over, every officer can make plans as he likes. Everyone wants to get out as soon as possible after work, because outside there is a country waiting to be discovered. Moreover, on assignments abroad, the stress of work, fear of superiors and the boring routine of the duty station are absent, even if only briefly.

Young personnel usually go around in groups of two or three. Senior officers like me, on the other hand, have to find another old-timer for company, because the young personnel would not be comfortable going around with me, nor would it be appropriate in terms of hierarchy and atmosphere for me to spend every day with them. Perhaps we can all have dinner together one evening. On short assignments abroad this is usually how it goes.

Although it hardly seems possible to take precautions against a determined honey trap, a few simple arrangements can help. Of course, for this you have to be willing to spoil the assignment abroad for your personnel. First of all, a course of action must be developed to close the gaps that cause concern.

When honey trap operations are examined, it will be seen that those who are hooked are usually caught when alone. Measures to prevent personnel from being alone can therefore be considered. The first measure is to act together. This means no one is ever alone. People can always move together throughout the assignment. After the official programme, everyone can gather in the lobby, like the “roll call” in the military, and go out together.

The second measure is the room arrangement in the hotel. I think the right practice on overnight assignments is for each officer to stay alone, because I believe everyone needs a private space. In many police guesthouses where we stay on domestic assignments, it is not possible to give each officer a separate room. On assignments abroad, even if the host institution arranges a separate room for each officer, this arrangement can change, and personnel can be placed two to a room.

With the roll call practice reminiscent of military service, and the method of sticking together in groups like privates spending their town leave in Ulus in groups, such situations can be completed without incident.

In Belarus, which we were visiting for the first time, it was not hard to observe how open our young colleagues were to the charms of a new country. This showed once again why the simple precautions I described above matter.”