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The Challenges of Performing Surveillance By Derek Smith

Surveillance takes up a lot of some investigator’s day, and it is a critical task and investigative component for us agents, but they really sucks. In this third blog on surveillance, I want to talk about some of the challenges and problems you will have to deal with during a surveillance.

If you are doing this professionally, a lot of your work schedule will be spent on stakeouts or in surveillance.

Let me tell you, conducting surveillance takes special skills and a certain type of person to do it.

Surveillance may seem quite exciting when you are watching television or reading your favorite action novel, but there are the challenges and disadvantages.

Challenges of Surveillance

  • It is not exactly thrilling to sit all night inside your car and watch someone or someone’s home. It is definitely tiring, both for your mental and physical state.

    Imagine sitting in your car for literally hours on end, and you will find that it is one of the most tiring and boring jobs.

    One of the most grueling surveillance jobs I remember is when my Army CID unit was assigned to protect Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and had to spend the night just sitting in a car guarding his residence.

  • A lot of people think that surveillance is very exciting. Yes, to some extent it is especially when a target is actually doing something. However, there is much time spent doing absolutely nothing but waiting, and during this time you have to figure out when you can sneak off to the bathroom if alone.

    When I was a special agent in Las Vegas for 10 years, many of the people we were protecting wanted to go to Vegas Shows. Well, while that might seem fun, I spent most of my time either surveying the entrance to the room or sitting in my car watching from the outside. Not fun!

  • Watching for a bedroom light to go on or off is fine once or twice. But try doing that over ten days or even longer.
  • Long-term stationary surveillance sucks, sometimes as an agent we have to conduct a continuous observation of the subject, perhaps watching the person or even a building for several months. This can be depressing, consuming much time focusing on one subject or object alone for a very long time.

Problems During Surveillance

  • Extreme heat: Depending on the weather conditions agents can get extremely hot, spending long hours in the sun. When in Vegas for those ten years, as I mentioned before, I had to conduct many outside surveillance’s. Also, in the Vegas heat it was difficult to run an air conditioner for 8-12 hours.
  • Very demanding work schedules: Hours of work can be demanding and varied. Agents may work for long hours, and mostly at odd times, like late nights or early mornings for a very long period of time. The requirements of the investigation and the subject’s schedule are what dictates the hours you will work. Trust me; all this switching WILL impact your sleeping rhythms.
  • Dangerous situations: Physical confrontation is definitely a possibility, but there are other dangers as well. This is especially true in places where the possibility of an accident on roads with potholes, drivers continually breaking the rules, bad lighting and speeding is an ever-present concern.

    Violence is a possibility, but the truth of the matter is that road accidents are the biggest concern. Once while performing an operation in Turkey, I was traveling in a follow vehicle that was heavily armored and it had a mirror that stuck far out.

    As we were driving, a guy standing on the road was smacked pretty hard with the mirror. I don’t know what ever happened to this individual because unfortunately I was working with the Turkish National Police and they told us not to stop.

  • Unhealthy conditions: Agents conducting a static surveillance or stakeout face certain conditions and situations that are definitely detrimental to health. They lack exercise, breath in fumes all day if the car is running, sit for hours, and suffer physically and emotionally from stressful situations and isolation.

    This can cause back pain, weight gain, anxiety, depression, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and asthma. Also, agents on a stakeout have to control their bladder and bowel movements to an unhealthy degree, Whew! Trust me, this one is tough.

    We carried jars or pales sometimes. Think about it, even if you are with someone and can go to the bathroom, you cannot because if the subject leaves, you cannot wait for your partner to get back to the car.

  • There are actually lots of challenges of running a stakeout, and it is indeed one of the most mentally challenging jobs you can have.

    You must be equipped with a particular set of skills and qualifications to cope with the sometimes-overwhelming challenges and obstacles associated with this field of work.

    Click here for more instruction from Derek Smith

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17 thoughts on “The Challenges of Performing Surveillance By Derek Smith”

  1. Paying attention for hours on end is tough, I bet. It would be hard not to be distracted by your thoughts.

  2. Yep it’s about as exciting as watching frogs catching flies. I think the newer watchers have it better, cameras and newer equipment.
    As the saying goes life’s a bitch!

  3. You’ve successfully talked me out of wanting to be a shamus. Actually, I already thought about sitting in a stationary car all day, unable to go to the bathroom, and was not thrilled with the romance of surveillance. Once, I and a couple of my friends bought deli sandwiches, and parked on a shady residential street for our lunch hour. A dude confronted us because he thought we were “casing” his house. People notice guys just sitting in a car, apparently not doing anything… and they usually call the cops.

  4. Quite eye oprning. Especially the ramafications to your personal health. Particularly if doing this for years.
    Thank you.

  5. I’ve been on a few stakeouts in my life time career and not and those that you mentioned are completely true. Especially the blatter control. But I feel that, although very hard, the necessary work is needed to be done. The trick is to find thing to allow yourself to make thing easier to handle the situation. I remember having many battery powered fans in my car for the time I had to save the car ac on hot days. Multiple cases of water to keep me cool. Being as prepared as possible was my only saving grace. It isn’t job that anyone can do. Information is most of the job, and a ction really isn’t. I had to get out of the business because of my family and the risks I was taking. Thank you for publicizing the risks so poeple are aware of the dangers of the job, other then the getting made or worse. God bless and continue to inform.

  6. Hard to believe sometimes the things you don’t realize about a profession . The hard truth slapping you into reality coming from true seasoned professionals, can really make you think. I thank god for those who do things others would not.The old cliche ,” its not always greener on the other side of the fence” rings loud and clear after reading Mr Smiths honest interpretation of life’s events.

  7. Gotta say I recognise those problems 11.5 years as a cop. We were a bit luckier as my force had a purpose built surveillance van that was carpeted inside to reduce noise and had a covered bucket with a seat lid. could still get warm in the summer and cold in the winter though.

  8. Sounds bloody tough alright ! Have never aspired to such employment. Helped a mate in a watch-and-report scenario germaine to a divorce case several years ago; bored me shitless !

  9. All true. I watched for tap well tampering for a construction company one year. Years later, I hired an ex-FBI, ex-NCIS P.I. to watch my ex’s family for child mistreatment. I knew what he was in for. 99% boring.

  10. Done similar work back in the sevenths. Worked credit stakeouts to finally catch deadbeats outta their house or car. Company I worked for would not sue, so I had to collect or repo. And yes the wait watch was very tiresome.

  11. I think the info that you put out there on the internet is great. If it hasn’t been a help to someone yet it probably will later as we see the opportunities of criminals and their lack of concern for the law. Thanks Mr. Pierce and Fight Fast