Surveillance is the close observation of a person, place, or object. It is the practice of watching a subject in order to document the interactions or whereabouts of the subject. Surveillance is utilized in missing person searches, cheating spouse and infidelity investigations, workers compensation cases, corporate fraud, and more.
Surveillance is commonly utilized in cases such as:
- Missing person searches
- Cheating spouse investigations
- Recurrent theft
- Worker's compensation cases
- Vandalism
- Fraud Investigations
- Criminal Investigations
Ways to carry out surveillance:
- Electronic Surveillance: involves utilizing devices like television, wiretapping, and radios to intercept/record phones, email, and social media communications
- Physical Observation: often utilizes disguises, stakeouts, and multiple investigators
- Interviews: are conducted by investigators to discover as much information as possible about the subject, usually involving family members, neighbors, friends, or coworkers
- Technical Surveillance: encompasses digital photography, video/audio recordings, GPS coordinate locales, and more
Reasons to conduct surveillance:
- To prevent crime
- To obtain evidence of a crime
- To obtain evidence in civil suits
- To document an individual's location
- To document activities in/around a location
- To obtain information for interrogation purposes
- To obtain information to be used in court
With common issues like marital infidelity, employee dishonesty, and crime, surveillance is one of several effective ways to help ensure security.