Planning your surveillance. Part 1 of 3 part informational paper. Learn how to conduct surveillance so as to succeed in the PI business. Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/cirspi

1. Surveillance. How not to get caught. When it comes to surveillance operations there are a myriad of things that you must consider. The most important part to a surveillance operation is the planning stage. Without putting enough thought into each phase of your operation you run the risk of skipping something that will lead to a failure. There are three phases to a surveillance operation. 1. Planning, 2. Conduct. 3. Reporting. This paper will be broken down by phase in order to reduce the amount of web space as well as make it as easy for you the reader to go through. Phase 1. Planning: Once you have received your mission from your client you must begin putting together as much detail as possible. Using a checklist will keep you organized and ensure you get as much information as possible from your client. A checklist will also keep you on task since once you start talking with your client they will certainly be going off on a tangent and down spider trails that will distract you from your objective as well as burn up the amount of time you have for their initial consultation. Keep on task and remain neutral throughout in order to give a fully unbiased report and most importantly to keep you legally covered. Once you have debriefed your client as fully as possible (that will be covered in a later paper) then it is time to organize your equipment. The first step to planning your operation is to conduct an internet search of the subjects house and area surrounding it. Understanding the street flow, where the house sits in the neighborhood, and what are the avenues of ingress and egress, will help you to determine what would be the most likely way the subject would drive to exit their neighborhood. Using map quest and google earth as well as Bing and several other satellite imagery sites will help you determine where the best location is for you to park your vehicle to observe the subject. Sometimes you can get a better view of the subject without chance of compromise by parking on the other side of a river or park which happens to have a great view of the subjects house. Just make sure you have a pretty good idea of how the subject will leave the area once they do so you can catch them on their route. Once you have plenty of maps and print outs of the subjects house then you can start to organize your equipment for the surveillance. There are many different items out there that you can use for surveillance however there are always going to be the standard equipment that you will use continually. This list is not the final list that you will need but rather a list of what I feel is most helpful. Take it for what it is and if you don’t like it then ditch it, however if it helps then I have done my job. 1. Camera’s: I use the plural here because I believe you should be using as many camera’s as possible to ensure you are able to get exactly what you need for the success of your case. A standard SLR camera used to be all that an investigator had however with technology we now have digital cameras, video cameras and discreet body worn camera’s, all of which I prefer to use on a surveillance operation. Make sure you have tested each camera for at least a minute to ensure you fully understand how to operate each. For your digital camera and video camera you will need to make sure you have back up batteries. Most cameras come with rechargeable lithium batteries and last up to 5 or 6 hours depending on the amount of pictures or video taken and flash use. Keep at least one additional battery fully charged with you to switch out as the time goes on. For digital camera’s you should be able to still get a nice 8 X 10 print out from any camera with at least 5 megapixel. Anything over that is nice to have but may be overkill. For your discreet and stand alone video camera’s you are going to want to have one that has a recording speed of at least 30 fpm (frames per minute). Anything slower and you risk losing the critical moment and evidence. Most cameras, including your video and discreet camera’s now use an SD or micro SD card. These vary from 2 to 16 gigs so depending on the size of your camera make sure you have one for the camera and at least one additional for back up. Keep these in a small carrier that is made for SD cards so as to keep them organized and at hand. Finally, if you are using any discreet camera’s make sure you put them on (whether it is on your body or in your vehicle) and test run them, then download it on your computer to make sure the angle and view is correct. 2. Audio Equipment: Keeping an audio log of your activities is one way to make sure you have as complete a record as possible. When you turn it over to your client you want to make sure you have everything logged in to show them that you are organized and professional. Turning over a napkin or scratch paper with some times and shorthand writing on them will not build confidence in your abilities to the client. In addition using an audio recorder will allow you to take notes while driving or while parked somewhere waiting for the subject to appear again without having to take your eyes off of the operation. You can then transcribe these notes into your report at a later time back at the office. In the category of audio equipment you also have your body worn discreet microphone that you have to test and understand its limits. There are phone and cell phone recorders that you can use however make sure you understand what your states laws are concerning the audio and video recording of third parties. Some states have a one party consent and others have two party consent. Know which yours is or you could end up on the wrong side of the law. 3.GPS: Having a GPS for today’s surveillance is a must. You can now provide your client with a map track of the route that your subject took or provide a GPS coordinate with a google earth picture to show the exact location they were at. Plug your GPS, either hand held or vehicle mounted, unit into your computer and you can now provide a streets and trips route to the client. Make sure you are using a handheld GPS unit for the foot surveillance. When you have to go on foot you want to be able to keep track of where you have been. 4. Binoculars: For me I prefer my pair of Brookstone zoom handheld bino’s. These will start at an 8 X 25 and then have a zoom up to 17 X 25. Perfect for catching the small details or for more standoff when you can’t get close enough. At a minimum I would recommend a pair of 10 X 25 so that you can be sure to see what you need to. I have also used a monocular in the past and find that to work just as well however you can get a little eye cramp from having to keep your other eye closed. There are several good small hand held monoculars out there so check them out and compare them before buying. See how far you can see while in the store and avoid the golf monoculars with the stadia lines and flag on the lens. 5. Change of clothing: This is one of the more important topics covered. Changing your clothing throughout the day ensures you are not seen at 10 in the morning eating pancakes at the table next to your subject wearing your Hannah Montana T-shirt and again at 1900 that night in the movie with the same shirt. At a minimum you need to change out your shirt and jacket (if it is cooler outside). Bring along a couple of different hats that you can wear throughout the day. Changing your shirt and putting on a golfers hat for the morning and then wearing a light jacket with a baseball cap can change your appearance enough to fool the untrained individual. Most people these days are not very aware of their surroundings. September 11th is now 8 years behind us and the days of the cautious and aware individual has slackened due to the false sense of security we have been lulled into again. Because of this it is easy for investigators to perform their surveillance again. Most likely your subject will key in on the clothing you wear for some reason or another so change it frequently throughout the day. Team logo’s on hats such as the Dallas Cowboys star are memorable and easy to spot whether driving behind the subject or walking down the street behind them. Shoes are very hard for us to change out during the day however they are also one object that we wear that stands out. Running shoes that you mowed the lawn in yesterday that are now green on the bottom will stand out in the downtown area. Wear a pair of neutral colored shoes, brown or black, that have no logo’s or shiny objects on them. Rockport and Ecco make a pair of great loafers with padded insoles for comfort. While in the vehicle you can change your appearance by putting on hats or taking off hats. Wearing a hat that has the fake hair sewn into it works as well. Change your appearance by putting on a neutral jacket or throwing a buton down shirt on over a t-shirt. Jewelry is another of those easily recognized items. A woman especially will recognize another woman’s wedding ring since they are always comparing them to see whose is shinier or bigger. Watches stand out as well but one of the items that most may forget would be the little bands that everyone wears for some cause. Those yellow Lance Armstrong bands started it all and really stand out from a distance. It’s best to just take off all of your jewelry when conducting surveillance since it will only draw attention to you whether you switch out what you are wearing or not. In case you are wondering “what do I do to know what time it is”, everyone now has at least one cell phone on them and that is enough to be able to tell time with. Sunglasses- Do not wear anything that has a big “O” on the sides of them or anything that looks like it would be worn by the military such as Wiley X or Oakley. You can get several pairs of sunglasses from either 7-11 or big lots for less than 10 bucks each so keep a small collection of them for switching out. 6. Vehicle: Needless to say it is imperative that you use a non descript earth tone vehicle preferably not older than 7 or 8 years and with no damage to it. There are several things to consider with a car that you have to keep in mind so as to not blow your surveillance within the first 10 minutes of the day. First, the windshield. This is the one thing, other than the radiator grill that is easily distinguishable and catches the eye of someone in front of you as they look in their rearview mirror. Make sure you have a mechanically sound car. Vehicles such as the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Chevy Malibu and Ford Fusion are great cars for surveillance especially when they are white since they are so bland. SUV’s and pick up trucks are good as well since most people do not expect a Ford F -100 to be a private detective. One thing that may be worthwhile to defeat detection would be using magnetic signs on the car to switch out at stops. This will help conceal the car a little more if it is “Harry’s Florists” on one portion of your route and then nothing on the next. Keep some of those magnetic bumper stickers on hand as well so you can put some of those on the back and then take them off as well throughout the day. Putting a tissue box or shopping bag on the dash as well as putting a stuffed animal or book on the back deck will break up the vehicle from being the same vehicle at noon and again at 4pm. 7. Flashlights: Some might forget that their surveillance could run all day and into the night, especially in the winter time, and suddenly find themselves unable to read their map or worse their notes that they are writing. Turning on your dome light will make things a little uncomfortable for you and trying to read by your dashboard lights is almost impossible. So what should you do to avoid this dilemma, bring yourself a couple of flashlights with. While in the vehicle you are going to want a small mini light, much like one of those ones that clip on the zipper of your ski jacket with the push button on/off. This will make it easy for you to cup the end with the light on it so that you have a small directional light for skimming over your map but not illuminate the interior of the vehicle and silhouette yourself. Keeping a head light such as a petzel or REI headlamp and a D cell mag light in your kit will allow you to be able to go through someone’s garbage or to look through a garage or car parked on the street. Keep them directional so that you can control the amount of light illuminating around the neighborhood. Make sure you have extra batteries in your kit as well for those times when you are suddenly in the dark again. *On a side note; when using your digital cameras at night do not use your LED screen but rather use the viewfinder like the days of old. The last thing you want at that “special” moment is to turn your camera on and have a light shining on your face in a blacked out car across the street from your subject’s house. 8. Night Vision Devices: This last item is one that will help you out at night however may not be necessary for all investigators. For those that do the majority of their work in the surveillance world then you might want to invest a couple of hundred dollars into a good night vision monocular. I have used night vision goggles throughout my career in the military and it makes all the difference in the world. There is no better feeling than walking around at night through woods or cityscapes or the desert and being able to see everything even when it is a pitch-black moonless night. Companies such as Big 5 sporting goods, REI and Dicks sporting goods carry some really good night vision monoculars and you need to get online and check them out prior to purchasing. Most of these are based off of the Russian technology so they may not be the best but they will work for what we need them for. One thing to check is if your camera will be able to take pictures through the lens aperture. You will definitely want to catch that “moment”, and if you have to mess with your camera so you don’t get the old “fish eye” picture then you might just miss it. So now that you have all this equipment stacked up in your passenger seat how are you going to keep it organized and out of your way, yet close at hand for switching out in the conduct of your surveillance? Most camera shops as well as Wal-Mart and Target have small camera bags that could be used for a video camera which work very well for these items. Organizing the items in an order of what you think you will need on your certain operations to what you think is non essential and then stacking them in the bag in that order will make it easier for you to reach in and grab. Other potential items you could use for keeping your items safe would be a hand-gun hard case, the silver metallic kind. These will be able to fit in more equipment and have a soft padding inside to keep your equipment from breaking however they are not as user friendly while sitting in a parking lot or across from a construction zone. Whichever you prefer you should again test it out prior to the day you actually need it. You now know what you need to succeed but do you know how to operate for success? Our next paper will cover the conduct of the surveillance and how to successfully operate without being compromised. Look for it soon.