Are you being watched? Under surveillance?

Paying Attention To Your Surroundings

So now we've got you looking, paying attention to your surrounding. You might want to pay attention to the vehicle that changes positions on your street without ever really going away. A surveillant sometimes gets a little nervous when the target starts looking around and sometimes feels better by changing position. Usually inexperienced or untrained operatives will behave this way and they frequently think they have been spotted (burned) and may end surveillance early as a result.

This could happen to you with your first basic counter measure and you wouldn't even realize how successful you have been and how unsuccessful your surveillant has been.

Common looking cars with darkened windows are not the only vehicles that may be utilized. Service vehicles, vans in particular, are regularly used and may have a simple magnetic sign on the side. If you see this and you don't actually see the plumber coming and going, or the TV cable guy actually working, or the van is there beyond working hours and you inquired and found that the service guy does not live on your street, well you may have actually uncovered a surveillance set up.

If you do have suspicions about this vehicle call the phone number on the sign or call the licensing authority for your jurisdiction to verify that they are who they say they are.

If your intent is to inhibit or prohibit surveillance, simply observe the vehicle. Stare at it, use binoculars, take photographs, deliberately get the tag number. Let them see that you know they are there and are no longer able to do what they want to do unnoticed.

The other option, of course, is to call law enforcement, (providing they are not the ones looking at you) tell them you are being stalked and they will check it out.

All of these methods are very upsetting to a surveillance team and most likely will cause them to terminate for the day, perhaps longer.

Now, if you do these things, be prepared for them to simply change vehicles, observe from a different location or even move into an adjacent property.

If this is a serious surveillance, you may want to examine empty homes, apartments or offices with a view toward where you can be observed.

I have on more than one occasion asked permission of a neighbor to park in their driveway so I would not attract attention.

I have paid people to park on their property and I have asked landlords and property owners to use empty apartments, offices and even living rooms to conduct surveillance. I have never been refused. In fact in each and every case I was treated very well and my hosts actually found it to be rather exciting.

This type of surveillance is not as common because most surveillants do not want to involve other people and possibly risk being burned. However, flexibility and ingenuity are the hallmarks of surveillance with patience and perseverance thrown in for good measure.

The lesson here is to be aware that this could happen. So you observe your neighbors the same way you observe your street. Look at their windows. Check them for activity during the daylight hours and nighttime too. Be careful at night to observe from inside your home or office with the lights out, you want your observation post to be darker than the area you're looking at. Try not to stand fully exposed in the window, but pull up a chair, use a pair of binoculars, part the blinds only enough to allow you to see and simply observe what is happening outside your location.