Commercial Surveillance

For the purpose of;

• Identifying and gathering intelligence and/or evidence on people, vehicles, property, and/or places;
• Identifying behaviours, activities, associations of individuals, groups, businesses or organisations

Covert surveillance is where the subject is not aware they are under observation. Overt surveillance is used where it is a requirement that the subject is made aware they are being observed, usually to act as some form of deterrent, of which CCTV is a prime example.

Intelligence gathering may not provide direct evidence that can be used in legal proceedings, but might provide information such as associates, habits, locations, etc. This could be used to build a picture of a subject or that may lead to evidence which will be subsequently used in criminal or civil proceedings.

Methodology

Observation by one or more - a team of specially trained surveillance operatives with or without audio visual recording equipment either mobile or static or a combination of the two which may be supported by technical means such as GPS trackers, CCTV, etc.

Mobile surveillance may involve cars, vans or a motorbike and make make use of public transport such as buses and trains. The surveillance may also have operatives following on foot with transitions to and from any of the other means as the situation dictates.

Static surveillance may involve a vehicle such as a van place in such a position so as to observe an activity or location. Equally, a building or other suitable location can be used. In an urban or rural environment a static Observation Post (OP) will make use of available cover such as a bus stop or vegetation. A static OP may be used as a 'trigger' for a mobile surveillance.

A trigger is used to observe the subject or a location and announce the start and direction of a mobile surveillance if and when the subject moves. Where the subject is likely to use a vehicle and it is not possible to directly observe that vehicle, where appropriate, a tracker may be used to trigger the mobile phase of a surveillance.

Pre and Post Surveillance

Rarely will a surveillance operation be undertaken without some form of reconnaissance (recce) of the subjects primary and known locations. The primary location may be a home or place of work, or somewhere where the subject is known to be located at a specific time in order that they can be observed or picked-up for a follow. Other locations may be places that the subject is known to frequent or is predicted to go. In all cases, the recce allows for the proper planning of the surveillance operation and the briefing of operatives. This greatly increases the success of any surveillance operation which might otherwise risk failure through a 'loss' from the initial follow.

When a surveillance operation has concluded (or a shift change takes place) the team standing down will normally be immediately debriefed so that an observation log taken from team member's individual logs can be compiled for reporting to the client. If the surveillance is to be ongoing each team member will also report on their and their vehicles 'heat states' in consideration of them continuing to participate in the operation. Heat states are determined by the number of times the operative or a vehicle was perceived to be directly observed by the subject. It takes account of how surveillance aware a subject may be. Without any other intelligence surveillance awareness may be assessed by the team depending on the actions of the target. If the subject employed anti-surveillance techniques such as doubling back or taking a route that was three sides of a square, the team may conclude that the subject is highly surveillance aware and plan subsequent operations accordingly.  

The Surveillance Team

The make up of a surveillance team needs to be appropriate and proportional to the operation undertaken which is normally confirmed after completion of a recce.

Surveillance can be undertaken by a single operative in the situation where the operation is static, either from a vehicle or OP. However, most forms of mobile surveillance will require a minimum of two operatives even where a single vehicle is used, especially if there is a possibility of the subject going on foot at some stage.

The ideal minimum team for mobile surveillance will be two vehicles two-up. This would allow either vehicle to deploy a footman. A compromise of using a single vehicle two-up or two vehicles one-up greatly increases the potential of a loss if one operative becomes detached. In any case the use of a single vehicle follow these days is actively discouraged as it is too easy for it to become compromised in the absence of trigger/handover protocol. It is also very easy for a single vehicle to become detached by being held at lights/junctions or by being caught in traffic resulting in a total loss. It is impossible for a single vehicle to instigate re-acquisition protocols in the event of a loss.

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