Kidnapping and Abduction: Minimizing the Threat and Lessons in Survival

Terrorist groups and organized crime cartels pose an increasing threat of kidnapping throughout many regions in the word. At the same time, international travel has become more commonplace for both business and leisure purposes. Kidnapping and Abduction: Minimizing the Threat and Lessons in Survival provides a practical guide on the precautions travelers can take to avoid being kidnapped or derail a kidnapping attempt in progress. In the event this cannot be avoided, the book supplies advice on how to ensure survival during captivity.

Readers will learn:

• The basic elements of kidnapping and abduction



• The motivations and mechanisms of kidnappers



• The hotspots where kidnapping/hostage taking is prevalent



• Vehicles best suited for avoidance of kidnap threat and proposals for up-armoring an existing vehicle



• How to recognize immediate threats and precautions to be taken in assessing threat level



• The types of weapons most favored by kidnappers and their threat level



• Available bullet-resistant materials and their use in stab- and bullet-resistant vests



• Resistance methodologies and weapons for self-defense



• Legislation in various countries pertaining to the carrying of weapons



• How to survive long-term abduction if kidnapped



• How to best assist the authorities once released

Essential reading for anyone living, doing business, or traveling abroad or at sea, this practical handbook reveals tactics that best enable those vulnerable to protect against an attack―or in the worse-case scenario, increase their chances for survival.

Brian J. Heard is an internationally chartered chemist with a degree in analytical chemistry and a post-graduate diploma in forensic science from the British Forensic Science Society. He is a former deputy head of the New Scotland Yard Forensic Firearms Examination Laboratory where he was part of the armed response and hostage team and trained as a negotiator for hostage, suicide, and other armed and unarmed incidents. He spent 20 years as a Royal Hong Kong Police Force ballistics officer prior to serving as the Director of the Hong Kong Police Forensic Firearms Examination Bureau. Awarded numerous medals for his work in Hong Kong, he has also published seven books on ballistics, firearms, and other topics.