What Is Surveillance?

Here at The Renwick Group surveillance is an important part of our daily business for our corporate clients.  It is one of the most versatile and important skills any investigator can possess. And we are often asked - What is Surveillance?

Well, quite simply, surveillance is conducting observations to gain information.

This simple definition includes a plethora of techniques and methods that can be considered a form of surveillance.

Many of these are recognizable through common knowledge produced by popular culture. The most well known methods include stationary surveillance, technical surveillance (typically covert video or audio recordings), electronic surveillance (digital observations, keystroke counting), and many more.

Communications skills involving interviewing and report writing are usually thought of as the most critical investigative competencies. The primary skill used in surveillance is the power of observation, which always precedes reporting.

Surveillance, being such an important part of investigation, is a topic that should not be taken lightly. It is important for investigators to understand when surveillance should be used, the objectives of surveillance, stress related to surveillance, and ethical/legal concerns about surveillance.

Depending of the type of investigation, there are many reasons why surveillance can be beneficial.

The objectives of surveillance will vary from case to case, but are most often one or more of following:

• Locate a subject, contraband, or the site of illegal activities.
• Obtain intelligence about a subject, criminal group or location.
• Prevent a crime from occurring through covert or overt surveillance.
• Gather intelligence for a raid.
• Provide protection for informants, undercover individuals or others.

Additionally, many cases end with no observations made. The credible report of no observations may be useful in re-evaluating the method of investigation, the feasibility of surveillance at a particular day or time of day. A lack of observations can also reinforce the positive information indicating that a situation is innocent, legitimate, non-criminal, or beneficial to the client or corporate interest.

The Goal of Surveillance

The observation and reporting mission of private security applies to surveillance. Most surveillance operatives are private investigators, security officers (including retail security and patrol officers), and corporate investigators. While the surveillance role of a police investigator is one of many duties, the specialty of surveillance is more prevalent in private security.

Operational budgets mirror this statistic, which is relevant to the importance of security officers and particularly the proactive side of asset protection.

The role of the surveillance investigator is to collect information for the furtherance of an investigation.

Private security is more function specific, being the protection of an organization through proactive and preventive services. The function of a private investigator is more specific and more reliant on the specific tasks of observation and surveillance.

If you are interested in surveillance for your business - contact us at The Renwick Group - www.therenwickgroup.ca