Surveillance Techniques

I am sure all of us in some or the other way must have done some kind of surveillance. It may be surveillance of our siblings, parents, friends, neighbors, and we must have done surveillance at work or otherwise too. The occasions must have been many, most of the time, it must have been without a purpose. Surveillance is nothing but surveying. And over here, survey doesn't mean just like any other survey. It is in fact, a close observation on someone or something.

Private Investigator Surveillance Techniques

The work of a private investigator is not an easy job. It can be really risky at times. Not any and everyone can become a private investigator, and for being one you will need to possess those exceptional skills which are required for this job. Let's check out few of their techniques.

• Before you begin the surveillance, know about the area well in advance, where you will be surveying.
• Gather as much as information about your subject as possible. Know about almost everything including the daily routine of your subject. It will prove to be very helpful for your investigation.
• If you are tailing in a car then make sure that you do not get noticed, as you don't want your subject to realize that they are being followed. If needed let a car come in between as a buffer.
• Keep a close eye on your subject. Monitor each and every action of theirs. And most importantly, be properly equipped.

Surveillance Tips

Surveillance techniques are, most of the time, employed by private investigators. It would be interesting to know their modus operandi. Some of them are listed below.

• While shooting video of someone make sure that the date and time do show up on the footage. And also very importantly, shoot some very close-by landmarks, so that it can be confirmed that the suspect was at the scene that time.
• While you are following suspect, if he/she stops, do not stop behind them just continue going, stop ahead as if it was natural, without losing the eye on the suspect.
• As far as vehicle is concerned, get a car with tinted glasses so you get unnoticed. If possible you can also get a mini van or a truck, so that there is enough space for your spy equipment inside it.
• Get into the habit of taking detailed notes, with time, date, location, etc. If possible get a voice recorder in order to record crucial information by yourself.
• Patience is highly needed here. Surveillance can take a lot of time. It involves long hours of monitoring with just a few minutes of actual intense excitement.

Counter Surveillance Methods

Counter surveillance is the act of preventing someone from surveying you. To employ counter surveillance techniques, first you will need to know whether you are being watched by someone. Mentioned below are few of the techniques:

• The most important technique is to be extremely vigilant all the time. You must know to observe things around and notice any unusual happenings around. If you find something unusual happening or if you are being watched then, pretend as if you are not aware of it, but then keep a watch on the person.
• If you feel like you are being 'tailed' (the act of physically following someone) by some unknown person, then take few left turns and come back to the same place. If you still have the follower behind you, then you would need to take caution and be on the vigil.
• To prevent audio surveillance, with the help of bug detector you would be able to detect any bug which must have been placed near you. The bugs emit radio frequency and the bug detectors detects this emitted frequency and helps you to locate it.
• There are few other bugs which can help to detect if your phone is being tapped or no. This can be very useful for landlines. However, in case of cell phones these bugs may not be of any use. Hence, if you suspect someone is spying on you, you may want to avoid talking about confidential information over the cell phone.

Keep these techniques in mind and always be on the vigil otherwise too. Remember that surveillance is an art and those who learn these techniques will know how to make use of it appropriately. Cheers!