Trails Found - Grasky Tracking School

While accompanying a security officer who was doing a perimeter check around the telescope facilities on Mount Graham in Arizona, we found vehicle tracks that were going into an area marked “No Trespassing.” This concerned the officer as there had been threats from certain radical environmental groups stating an intention to do harm to the scopes. We followed the vehicle tracks which led to a parked unoccupied vehicle. Foot tracks led toward the scope site.

The officer had a tracking dog with him. The dog got on the trail, and it led to the discovery of three people who were in a small clearing. The group had a radio, a set of field glasses and a map and compass. We had come upon this group silently and they were unaware of us observing them. At this point, the officer said to me “I didn’t get a good count of the people leaving the vehicle.” I told him that the track count was at least five. With this information at hand, we came up with an operational plan. Since we could see only three people and not the other two, and the vegetation around the clearing was dense, and dusk was coming on, we decided that we would return to the parked vehicle and make contact with all of the people there. We did just that.

Just before dark, at the vehicle, five people were apprehended for trespassing. They were indeed scouting out the area and facility layout for possible future activity against the scopes. This is a case that points out an important fact…dogs are great trackers, but they can’t count!

REPORTING TRACKS AND SIGN

A part of Tracking is being able to put into words what is observed and detected along the trackline. The following is a pretty good investigative report that was used to tie a subject to a crime.

“I determined the stride of the individual by measurement of heel print to heel print. I used this measurement to determine the approximate placement of each foot fall. In the area of each foot fall I looked for an imprint of the subject’s foot. If this was not visible, I looked for other evidence of the subject’s passing such as a disturbance, a compressed area, color change or unnatural marks or lines. By doing this, I was able to put together a continuous line and route of travel from the site of the incident to the place where the subject was located.”

A TRACK CAN HIDE IN THE SHADOWS…

A fundamental principle in Tracking is the correct use of light, both natural and man-made light (flashlight). There is a visual exercise that points this out very well. A track is put down in dirt, and this track is marked by a circle around it. People will then circle the marked track at various distances OBSERVING and DETECTING what happens to the appearance of the track. The track will appear and it will disappear as people walk the circle. At one point on the circle walk, the track will shine up, as Ab Taylor put it, “like a diamond in a goat’s butt.” A DEDUCTION is then made that proper light angle is important (view into sunlight). Making the best use of light can many times find the track that hides in the shadows. This learning exercise can be applied to the proper use of a flash light. A long low beam of light may reveal the lines, shadows and shine of a track.