Surveillance by its very nature violates the sanctity of the concept of privacy. However, conducted properly it is perfectly legal. Paparazzi, law enforcement, government agencies and private investigators conducting surveillance operations is a customary investigative and security practice.
Remote & Rolling Surveillance
Remote surveillance; done by camera with visual and sometimes audio feeds are common in public areas. Downtown London, is perhaps one of the most remotely surveilled areas in the world. Coupled with facial recognition software, nefarious persons and their movements can be tracked and observed, or apprehended if wanted. Traffic cams in most cities are installed to monitor traffic flow, be used to track a vehicle and in some jurisdictions used to issue automatic tickets placing the driver behind the wheel of the conveyance at the time of infraction. Big brother is indeed watching. NSA surveils our communications, cellular and digital connections like email.
Regardless of the case, a rolling surveillance, conducted by car or on foot has been a mainstay of the investigator since ancient time and enjoys a long history. Optical devices like binoculars and evidence collection via camera and video prove to be a mainstay of court admitted evidence.
Surveillance in Criminal & Civil Cases
Surveillance activities are used to track movements, establish relationships and sometimes used to observe and capture compromising activities. Criminal cases are self-evident, if you want to know where the subject goes and who he meets. Surveillance has its place in domestic investigations and civil situations like insurance fraud. A person claiming on the job injury, may ‘milk’ the disability to collect insurance. Same victims or persons showing up at traffic accidents may indicate an ongoing accident-fraud scheme. Of course, the ‘bad guys’ conduct surveillance operations as well. Most terrorist incidents were proceeded by intense surveillance or reconnaissance of the target. Criminals ‘case’ a potential target to gather information leading to the crime.
Counter Surveillance
Counter Surveillance is the opposite of surveillance and is the act of detecting that you are being watched and the techniques used to counter surveillance.
• Head up and on swivel. Be visually aware of your immediate environment. Cars that don’t belong, a stranger walking a dog, everyone can use props to disarm the observer. Eye contact is important, it makes a person watching you nervous, they think they’ve been ‘made’ or recognized for what they are. Criminals are reluctant to attack anyone who is alert to all that is about them. Heads-up, looking and noting. Most criminal look for the shy, retiring type, head down, walks straight ahead, no clue to what’s going on about them. A person distracted by traffic, auto or pedestrian, children or by phone conversation or texting are easy marks as they are not cognizant of their environment.
• Observation starts on leaving a building, home or office.
• Takeaway, the prelude to rolling surveillance, which is hard. As soon as you move, resources are required to keep you under observation. The ‘eyeball’ is the primary observer. He needs to be mobile, and movement attracts attention. He will need at least another person to help watch you. Go mobile and he needs his own ‘ride’. Being followed by a vehicle is easier to detect than someone on foot. It is impossible to be alert 100% percent of the time. It requires discipline, no distractions like phone calls or texting. It can be tiring. If the eyeball isn’t alert to your movement it may defeat him out of the chute.
• Routes. We are creatures of habit. When was the last time you deviated from your route to work or from work to home? Habits make it easier for the watchers. They can predict your movements and it makes it easier to re-acquire their target if momentary visual contact is lost. Change it up. Take slightly different routes, change your times of leaving, or due a radical change at least once a week.
• Recon your route. Choke points, every route has them, points that you are committed to, they’re on your route.
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This is only the beginning of the many techniques used to detect and avoid surveillance. Some others may be addressed in future blogs. Advanced Private Investigator & Security of Miami FL can meet all your surveillance, private investigation and security needs. Contact us when you need answers to questions in your life.
