Undercover surveillance 101

The team at King Investigators is comprised of highly trained undercover operatives who rely on the experience gained in over 10 years in the field to remain undetected when tailing anyone, which is essential in any undercover operation.

It’s absolutely necessary that these operatives have a high level of specialised training and experience in undercover surveillance, especially in cases of infidelity, business intelligence, theft, fraud, and divorce or child custody cases, since these can often be in dangerous situations.

Undercover surveillance is essentially the only way obtain evidence without putting their own client at risk of exposure during an investigation. To this end, this team stakes their reputation on the line willingly, each time they undertake a case that involves undercover surveillance.

This is a highly pressurised and often dangerous field that demands the experience and knowledge an investigator has earned, in order to know exactly where to dig for evidence. In addition to this, the investigator also needs to know how to analyse all the evidence gathered during an investigation in order to do a professional report of the findings.

As a result of the experience gained over the years by the team at King Investigators in carrying out undercover surveillance in South Africa, this team has rapidly expanded across borders into other Southern African countries, as well as into international waters on high risk operations.

What is undercover surveillance?

Undercover surveillance is the expression used when an investigator is covertly observing people who are the subject of an investigation, most importantly without risking detection.

Should surveillance be detected, a case will be compromised, and, in certain instances, the safety of the investigator can be at risk, which is why this is an operation that should only be undertaken by experienced professionals.

There are 3 basic types of surveillance:

Stationary Surveillance

Using high definition camera and recording equipment installed in a vehicle where it won’t be obvious,

An investigator will be able to record images and video footage without actually being on site, through the use of high definition video equipment that can be installed in a place that won’t be obvious, a course that also lessens the risk of detection.

All the investigator then has to do is to retrieve footage at intervals and withdraw again, until all the evidence required is collected.

Fixed surveillance

This is where the well-known expression ‘stakeout’ we’re used to from PI movies comes in. This is all about waiting in place, in a way that is also not obvious, in order to observe people and activities from a distance, gathering all the evidence they need of their activities, whether criminal or in the case of a cheating spouse.

Depending on the case, one investigator could carry out surveillance on his own, however, it would be a better idea to discuss with your investigator whether it would be better to bring in another investigator to make detection in very sensitive cases more difficult.

It takes expertise for an investigator to carry out undercover surveillance in the workplace, because it can be quite tricky to blend in. The investigator will need to come in as an employee, without raising any suspicions, which would be virtually impossible for anyone but a professional.

Electronic Surveillance

This is when using electronic, audio-visual or digital methods to gather evidence comes in handy while monitoring an individual, home or business.  CCTV coverage, high definition cameras and video equipment has become so sophisticated that it actually plays quite a major role in shortening the length of an investigation as well as lowering costs.

The experienced investigators at King Investigators have to know something of the law regarding electronic surveillance, especially if the evidence is to be used in a court case, because unlawful gathering of evidence will be of no use to you.

Contact King Investigator today to find out more about whether your investigation will necessitate undercover surveillance. Evidence collected by this team will allow you to the evidence to court in full confidence that it won’t be thrown out as a result of underhanded tactics!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *