Surveillance and Investigations
		sur·veil·lance noun Close observation of a person or group, especially one under suspcion. The act of observing or the condition of being observed. So just what is surveillance? It is the systematic observation of persons, places or things in order to obtain information and is typically accomplished without the knowledge of the person being watched. Private investigators are called on to conduct surveillance for a variety of reasons- most often we are asked to document the activities of spouses, girlfriends and boyfriends who are believed to be cheating on their spouse or lover or to gather evidence in support of Worker’s Compensation investigations. Covert (hidden) video cameras give us the ability to secretly watch teenagers or your child (these types of cameras are often referred to as “nanny cams” or “nannycams”) in the home or to photograph instances of fraud, theft, and embezzlement in the workplace. A surveillance operation must be planned. The plan need not follow a formal outline or even be in writing. However the plan is organized, each surveillant learns every step of the operation. The plan may state general concepts of operations and duties. It may coordinate actions, because the actions of two or more investigators must always be coordinated. It may also include alternate courses of action; planning alternatives lets you adapt smoothly to dynamic situations. Before a surveillance takes place, we would like to obtain a photograph or at least a description of the person or the vehicle we are going to observe; the description of a vehicle should include the license plate number, if possible. In order to be successful we attempt learn everything possible about the subject and what the client needs before setting out. If it is within your budget, we will do informational pre-surveillance work like database searches, DMV records, study maps, verify name spellings, address, check to see if the neighbors appear to be related to the subject of the investigation, etc. By visiting the neighborhood and driving around to determine ingress and egress routes, we can then make an intelligent decision on how to best proceed.