Your time is limited, and your client expects quick results from your surveillance. The clock is ticking. How can you maximize your time to get the most out of your surveillance when time counts? Following are a few tips from a few masters of surveillance:
1. Spend time planning. Seems simple, but it is one of the tasks that investigators fail to do well. They rush out to conduct surveillance only to find several hours wasted as their target sit's at home, or at work. Set a schedule for the most opportune times. 2. Interview your client to create a schedule. Identify work times, home times for infidelity cases, and when do they think the individual is more apt to be worth surveilling. This will vary depending on your investigation type. Infidelity cases can often be narrowed down as the client has direct knowledge of the target's schedule. Injury claim cases will require more time and there is limited information about their schedules. 3. Encourage your client to notify you of schedule changes, or changes in habits where and when possible. This information will help you maximize your surveillance time. 4. Get help! Having two investigators will help you cover more times of the day as well as switching off to reduce the chances of being caught. This is important with rural area surveillance as it will be easier for the target to identify you if you are working alone. Remember: Someone who knows they are being followed will probably change their activities to look innocent! 5. Make sure your recording equipment is charged, functioning properly and ready. Have back-ups in the event one fails. There's nothing worse than surveilling someone for hours only to miss the chance to get video when the recorder battery dies. One investigator shared that she spent hours waiting for the target and his girlfriend to emerge from a motel only to find her video recorder wouldn't work properly because of a software malfunction.
0 Comments
Note: This article is specific to fixed post surveillance.
Photographs and video recordings as evidence are a great way to gather the facts about your case when conducting surveillance. Photographs and video provide a record that others can be view to see exactly what you saw at the time. Remember the old line, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” When photographing and gathering video of your subject, there are a few general rules, or guidelines that will ensure you capture exactly what is required for your case. Capture both video, and photographs of your target. This ensures you have redundancy in the event one or the other is questioned, or, you have a back-up in the event one or the other fails. It also allows you to capture actions that may not be on one or the other, providing you with multiple fields of view. (Some investigators may use multiple recorders to capture more than one angle depending on the location and type of surveillance they are conducting) Identify in advance what information you are trying to capture. Are you trying to capture your target exchanging information with someone? If so you will need equipment that will allow you take high resolution video or photos from a distance, such as using a zoom lens. If you are only trying to capture a meeting with someone else, then you need enough resolution to capture definition of facial features. Generally, full body shots are used. Click the Read More button for the remainder of the article. The Internet contains a lot of useful information for private investigators. It is a great way to locate people, find addresses, even locate court records, but conducting an Internet search can be time consuming. For example; if you were to search for “John Edward Smith”, Google returns over 112,000,000 possible results. You need a way to refine your search results to find exactly what you are looking for in the shortest time possible. There are a lot of operators such as minus signs to exclude words you don’t want, using site: to search only a specific website, and many others. Who can remember all of these? Google to the rescue! There is an easier way to conduct your search getting better results without having to memorize all of the operators. On the main Google search page there is a section that is often overlooked, it is the “Settings” link. Below is a video that shows exactly where it is. When you click on “Settings” then select “Advanced Search” from the drop down list, you get a new search page with several options to narrow your search. Give it a try! The simple answer to this question is;
Private Investigators have the necessary training and skills to identify and gather relevant to the case in support of the attorney and their client reducing the time required on attorney and their staff to prepare for a case. Attorneys should think of private investigators as an extension of their staff. Private investigators will work for the attorney, consult with as they learn new information, and provide an investigative plan to ensure they are targeting the necessary information. More specifically, following are few services that an attorney should contract with a private investigator to provide: 1. Locate Witnesses - The strength of a case can rely on witnesses, or the lack of witnesses, to an incident. Private investigators can assist in identifying potential witnesses, determining the information they can provide relevant to the case, and assist in determining the accuracy of the information they provide. No attorney wants to be in court to find their star witness wasn't even at the scene when the incident occurred. 2. Interviewing individuals - Private investigators are trained interviewers and interrogators. They are creative in finding the needed information. Conducting interviews, prior to a deposition for example, can be time consuming. Employing a private investigator will assist the attorney in identifying a list of individuals for the next phase of the case. Even reveal information they didn't know existed. 3. Public records research - Private investigators have established information sources to gather the needed information. Chances are, a private investigator can quickly gather the information you need for a specific case. This saves you time and money. 4. Surveillance - Infidelity cases are prime example. Private investigators have the equipment, and more importantly, they have the training and skills to conduct surveillance. It is important to note that surveillance is a specialized skill set. Attorneys should look to private investigators that have the experience in conducting surveillance to get the most for their investment. 5. Gathering information, evidence - Give a list of questions to a private investigator that you need answered and they will return with a complete report, detailed records, and will maintain a chain-of-custody for use in court. For example; "Are there additional licensing board complaints?", "Where were the witnesses standing when the incident occurred?", "What are the company's assets?", "What is the background of John Doe look like?". All of this information can help you make decisions on how to handle the case going forward, avoiding potentially costly mistakes. When completed, the private investigator will deliver a written report, copies of evidence, and then be available to testify if required. They are trained to do all of the needed steps to help you prepare for your case. We have selected 10 articles from the Pro PI Academy blog and packaged them into a E-Book (e-pub) and PDF formats. Why? You can download the articles, keep them on your phone, computer, or tablet, and refer to them anytime. As well as having a table of contents that can take you directly to the article you want to read. Download them here.
As a private investigator you rely on information from others to complete your investigation. If you are a business owner, you rely on callbacks for more business. These tips will help you increase the chances that someone will call you when with information or new business:
1. Leave them your contact information - Simple, but often investigators fail to leave a business card. Encourage them to call you. Encourage them to reach out if they just need some advice. "Here's my contact information. Feel free to call if I can help you." 2. Develop rapport, a relationship with the individual - If they feel they know you, they will be more inclined to call you back. Spend time building the relationship, not only for an effective interview, but to put them at ease. 3. Check up on them - If they are a victim, make a point to call them back after the investigation to see how they are getting along. Just a brief phone call will allow you to reaffirm the relationship, continue the rapport. You never know, they may refer someone to you for your next case. Maybe a brief email too. 4. No question is unimportant - You may get calls from witnesses or clients with simple questions. Answer them promptly and provide help to them when you can. Builds trust, and, yes, it continues to maintain the relationship. A quick call from a client with a simple question is a great sign that they will call you in the future for their investigative needs. 5. Keep a contact list of individuals you have talked with - Using your contact list on your phone or email, create a contact list. Include a note on how you met them, a personal piece of information you have learned about them. This will prompt your memory on how you met and the context. For example; "Jane Doe, witness in Pierce Company investigation. Has a birthday in June, son that plays little league baseball named Bill." Entering this information in your contact list helps you remember as well. Building effective relationships with those that you encounter will improve your investigations and possibly build long term business relationships. You have conducted your investigation. Conducted interviews, reviewed countless hours of video, written documents, and other potential leads that will help you identify the suspect. Unfortunately, no suspect has been identified. So how do you handle your client?
Your client expects results. Your investigation has hit a dead-end with no results. You still need to get paid for your time, maybe your client will not agree. You need a game plan to respond to your client, providing them with the bad news. 1. Complete your report. You need to establish, in written form, all of the steps you have taken to successfully conclude the investigation. Your time records are important as well. You need to clearly identify the time you have invested in the investigation. 2. Be prepared. Expect your client to be unhappy. After all, in their mind, they contracted you to find the suspect, or to identify and recover the loss they experienced. When you are ready to present the final investigation to your client, expect them to be upset. As a private investigator you will need to control yourself when faced with unkind comments. Allow them time to vent their frustrations, some of their frustrations will target you. 3. Explain your investigation. Prepare an overview of your investigation. Include the steps you took, the interviews you conducted, and more importantly, all of the areas you covered. Your expertise may be challenged by the client, you need to be prepared to respond to their inquiries about your investigation. 4. Avoid speculation. When faced with criticism, you may want to argue, provide an explanation of why you could not locate the property or identify the suspect. If your argument is not based on facts, then don't say it. Speculating on the investigation could lead the client to deciding that you are not competent in your duties. Worse, they may act on your speculation opening you to potential civil actions if they take adverse actions against employees. 5. Expect threats refusing to pay you for your services. Again, you will need to exercise restraint. Your interpersonal skills will be put to the test. If you have a contract in place, let it work for you. Avoid getting in arguments, or responding negatively to their comments. Often threats will be made during a bout of emotional stress. You can address non-payment at the time they actually refuse to pay you. If they do, you may need to contact legal counsel to help you pursue the payment for your services. Save this action for the last resort, and most importantly, allow them time to cool off before you make any threats of taking legal action. Unfortunately, there are times that your investigation will not come to a completely successful conclusion. You need to be prepared, have your documentation in order, and to deliver in accordance with the terms of your contract. At PropiAcademy, we offer training for the professional private investigator tradecraft. We provide entry level and continuing education training programs to help you maintain your knowledge, and improve your tradecraft. We acknowledge that industry only learning is not enough to make our graduates successful. Learning outside of the private investigator profession will build on your personal skills, help you to better understand the environments you work within, and the tools you work with everyday. Let's look at a few learning ideas that are critical to improving your ability to work more efficiently, and effectively. 1. Personal Development - Learning about people, what motivates them, how you can better interact with those around you is personal development learning. Now you can easily see how personal development can better your performance as a private investigator. Consider learning in topics such as psychology, interpersonal relations, social behaviors, or team building. 2. Work Tools - As a private investigator you use a variety of tools in conducting your investigations. Cameras, video recorders, smartphones, computers and the various software programs are all tools you use everyday. Learning more on how to use these tools will increase your efficiency which leads to increased productivity. (Efficiency = Productivity which equals to more personal time!) Better understanding of the tools that you use everyday will improve your overall investigations. 3. Customer Service - Whether you are starting as an apprentice private investigator, or you are a business owner, improving your customer service skills is critical to earning repeat business. Private investigative work is a profit motivated business, but, being customer service oriented is a way to improve your interview techniques, develop information resources, and increase your overall enjoyment of your private investigator work. These are only a few skill areas to add to your learning curriculum. You can probably think of several more topics. (Feel free to add your ideas by commenting on this article below.) We encourage you to continue your professional private investigation learning while continuing to learn about topics that will help improve your overall productivity which leads to greater job satisfaction. Our last blog article, "All we want are the facts..." sparked some discussion about the reliability, or lack of reliability, of eyewitness testimony and the importance of verifying statements made by eyewitnesses. As a private investigator you need to understand the theory of “Reconstructive Memory”. We often think that when we recall an incident we observed, it is a like a video playing in our mind, or a photograph. Our memories of incidents we observe are not that accurate. The theory of reconstructive memory is our memory recall is influenced by our individual perceptions, social influences, and our knowledge (past experiences and how we interpret information). In addition, our memories are influenced by the stress we feel at the moment, our biases, information inputs we experience during and immediately after the event, and our past experiences. Watch this news video about eyewitness testimony. When we witness a stressful event such as a vehicle accident, or an assault, our mind captures some of the information, not all of it. Our view of an incident is impacted by the existing lighting at the scene, sounds we hear, what others at the scene may be saying. For example; a car drives by and a large bang similar to a gunshot is heard. Others nearby may start yelling, “He’s got a gun!!”. We look at the vehicle and see the driver with their arm hanging out of the window. Our minds, using the information we have received from others, our vision, we now see the driver holding a gun. We run for cover only to learn that the vehicle was backfiring. Where there are gaps in what we see, hear, or smell, our mind begins to fill in the gaps. Our experiences may be from television, previously witnessed events that are similar. In our example, the stimulus of hearing others shout “He’s got a gun!!!” makes us see a gun in the individual’s hand. We may even think we saw a muzzle flash similar to a movie scene we have watched. The manner we are asked to recall the information can influence our memory recall. Asking a witness leading questions is one example. “You saw a tall man robbing the store clerk?” Now we have the added the memory stimulus that the suspect was tall. Our experiences immediately following an incident influence what we recall as well. Consider you are with a group of friends that witness a vehicle accident. Everyone begins to talk about what they saw. Your mind starts to fill in gaps with what you hear others saying they saw whether accurate or inaccurate. The method in which our mind works to help us recall incidents is impacted by several psychological and neurobiological influences that can reduce the accuracy of our recall about a specific incident. Keep in mind, to the witness, what they recall is the truth because it is what their mind is telling them they saw. As an investigator, you need to be aware of these potential influences. Look for secondary sources to verify what witnesses state they observe as they may not be always accurate. Still not convinced, watch this video for more information about eyewitness testimony. As a private investigator, you are responsible for sorting through eyewitness testimony and identifying factual information from reconstructed memory information. Again, it is important to remember that the eyewitness is not being untruthful, only repeating what their mind has reconstructed as a memory in their mind.
Recognize the title? It was the common phrase used by Detective Sgt. Joe Friday, not “Just the facts” that is often erroneously attributed to the television series actor. Ok, enough trivia. In an any investigation the primary responsibility of a private investigator is to gather facts. But what exactly is a fact. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “fact” as; (paraphrasing); the quality of being actual; something that has actual existence; an actual occurrence. Private investigators have the burden of proving something to be factual. So how do you do it? Although it’s not fool-proof, one method is to verify the “information” from two different sources that are not related to each other, or at least directly related. For example; Witness stated that the office door lock would not secure properly. Investigator observed the locking mechanism on the office door with a piece of tape over the lock throw preventing it from extending into the door jamb. The witness said it did not work and the investigator observed that it did not work properly. A simple model Verifying a fact with a second source will ensure that the information is factual. Consider that a statement made is just a statement, a piece of information. Verifying the statement from a second source then establishes a fact. This simple model is important when reviewing witness statements. Further, Witness # 2 could be replaced with observation of video footage, or a document. Verifying Facts Verifying information with a second source, when possible, will establish a "fact" from information. This will improve the accuracy of your final findings in the investigation. Focus on using this simple method for facts that are relevant to the case to ensure you are providing proven information. Sometimes this can be tricky if you have only one witness. Look for information the witness provides that can be verified from another source. Here are a few examples: Suspect was in a room at a specific time.
Suspect removed a specific item.
Ok, you get the idea of verifying information. As a private investigator, gathering facts is your primary responsibility in any investigation. Verify that you are providing facts relevant to the case versus providing information only. Failing to verify information to determine if it is factual can end in an incomplete, or worse, faulty investigation. |
Pro PI staffExperienced professionals and trainers. Articles
December 2019
Categories |