09/04/2020
In this post I am not going to give you fully detailed description of everything within surveillance tool book. It will be only high-level overview and maybe if there will be hunger for more, I will dedicate few posts on this subject in more detail.
In order to be effective in surveillance it must be done in a way that it is not recognized by not only person who is being followed, but also anybody else (e.g. passers-by, neighbours, and so on). What you don’t see in the movies is all the associated paperwork which goes with this. Every move must be documented and recorded for future reference as well as training purposes. It is acquired virtue and there is skill attrition if not honed. Like everything in the life when you are trying to obtain information about somebody, you start almost at the blank page. You might know name and face, but all the other information needs to be filled in. To do this, you or your team will need to closely follow your target and record every move. As you start to fill the blanks, there will start to occur patterns which the target might not be even aware off. As you have the patterns, you will be able to start exploit them. As an example, I will give you your travel to work. If you go to work using same road at the same time every day, the surveillance team doesn’t need to worry about picking you up at your house, all they need to do wait at the corner 2 miles down the road as they will know that every day you will go past there at 6:37 or very near that time. Those of you who earn your bread by doing CP already know this, but some of you might not. That’s why you need to try to keep changing your pattern. BTW, those few words at the end of each post have hidden meaning 😉.
Surveillance team will try to hide themselves or their vehicles in plain sight. They can use entrances to shops, side streets, lamp posts, phone booths, the list is endless. Another piece of the puzzle which is also quite central to the whole thing is creating plausible reason for being in a place or doing activity you are doing. If you are following somebody and will go into pet groomers shop without dog and will come out of the shop without a dog, that is suspicious. And yes, dogs can be used as covers.
In Situ surveillance is used to obtain only specific information e.g. When target is leaving home. Fixed location doesn’t need to be necessarily utilized by person, it can be car with hidden camera, or van, or what is used in movies some tradesmen doing repairs at some utility infrastructure.
Mobile surveillance is, as name suggests, in movement. This is done when you cannot use fixed position to observe. This can be done either on foot or in vehicle or in combination of both.
I was thinking I would be able to explain basic surveillance techniques in one post, but it seems in my head is was way more simpler than when trying to put it on the paper. So, it looks like I will need to spend few more posts on this topic. If you have any questions, or would like to get something explained more deeply, just ask. Oh, and before I forget.
Modus Operandi
