Section IX
Surveillance Techniques
Thank you for your interest in our website. As an investigator for over 20 years and being involved with video surveillance systems prior to that, I have been involved in many different types of surveillance, using many different techniques.
A common thread runs through all types of surveillance jobs. It is that if you are careful, patient and just a bit imaginative your chances of success are quite good.
Most people, as they go about their everyday routines, never pay attention to what goes on around them. Unless someone is guilty of something or excessively paranoid they can usually be looked at from a distance, followed as they walk, drive, boat or fly from one place to another.
I have constantly been surprised as an investigator, when a target is finally notified they have been under surveillance, at how shocked they are. A number of times I have felt that the target suspected something and I was surprised that they did not have a clue.
Many times while sitting for long, boring hours watching a location, I frequently thought that anyone could actually do this. Many investigators would disagree. As a matter of fact, when we bring an investigative intern on board, they usually have no previous experience with surveillance techniques. We have to teach them the basics and we expose them to "on the job" training. They will make mistakes, but hopefully not blow the case.
The combination of these thought processes and experiences while "on the job" have culminated themselves into this website.
This writing is intended for the average individual who for their own personal reasons feels the need to look at someone or something. We're talking about simple, safe surveillance where violence will not occur, if they are discovered. We're talking about a case where no high-speed mobile chase is required. We're talking about a suspicious wife who simply stakes out the office of her husband who is working way too many late nights with a co-worker. We're talking about the husband who feels the need to stake out the parking lot of a bar where his wife and her "girlfriends" are meeting for drinks once or twice a week.
Simple surveillance scenarios that can be handled by anyone with just a few helpful hints from a professional.
