If you have the need to place someone under surveillance, you may be tempted to do the work yourself. In the modern world of portable electronic devices, such as smartphones, it may be tempting, but placing a suspect under surveillance is a job better left to professionals. The following are four reasons you should not do the work yourself.
Knowing the Best Place for Surveillance
It is a complete waste of time, money and other resources to simply follow someone around in the hope that you will observe certain suspected behaviors. There will be places more likely than others that will yield the best chance of verifying this information. Getting the best video evidence is likely to happen when you wait for the person to come to you. A video surveillance operation can be set up in a particular place, and then it is only a matter of being patient. However, knowing when and where to do this takes both skill and experience. A professional investigation firm, such as ours, can eliminate many of the dead-end roads that an amateur is sure to pursue. We can concentrate on the time and place that will likely produce answers to the questions you have.
Using the Right Equipment
There is a variety of equipment that can be used for a subrosa investigation, and you need to be familiar with all of it, as well as the methods for using them. Surveillance requires a lot more than using your smartphone to record a person’s activity. In some cases, you need to have a video camera, but there may be situations when a digital camera is the best choice, especially one with a telephoto lens. In some circumstances, an audio recording may be the best choice. We have knowledge of all of the tools and methods needed for a successful subrosa investigation.
Getting Caught
This is a big problem for any amateur. The last thing you need is to be discovered while doing a surveillance investigation. If the person you are observing discovers your presence, and you do not have the evidence you are looking for, chances are you will never be able to get this evidence. Once alerted, the suspect will change their behavior, so there will no longer be anything incriminating to record.
Legal Issues
Everyone has a right to privacy, and there are laws regarding what can and cannot be done with surveillance. As a professional private investigation firm we have the knowledge needed to know when and where people can be observed, as well as the legal aspects of recording them. If you attempt to do this yourself, it is easy to cross the legal line. This is especially true if you observe behavior that gives you the evidence needed to support your legal claim. Unfortunately for you, if evidence is recorded illegally, it will be worthless in court and may be the least of your problems. You can face both criminal charges and a civil lawsuit when you violate a person’s privacy.
If you have the need to place someone under surveillance, contact us. We can listen to your problem and explain how our subrosa investigators can help document your suspicions of fraud.
Bruce Robertson
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