Private Investigation And Surveillance Tips

For all you private investigators, that a grate deal of what you do involves surveillance from your vehicle and not only, here are some tips that could help you.

Investigation Vehicle and Tailing

Fists you should know that for surveillance mini-vans are the best. Get tinted glass so you will be able to sit in the back, unnoticed, almost anywhere. Older mini-vans are better because they blend in better and are more nimble than newer ones. And you can find them anywhere.

When tailing in the city, stay on the vehicle's bumper and in slower areas allow a car between the vehicle you are following and you. There are too many stoplights, traffic and stop signs in the city so losing tail it’s easy.

A sign that indicates if the vehicle was moved during the night is lack of dew on the vehicle in the morning.

Continue past and turn into an empty driveway if you notice that the person you are tailing is stopping in front of a house. Don't lose sight of person.

Verifying and Recording

To verify the address look for a name at the mailbox or if it’s sticking out, peek at he mail.

Count # of electric meters to determine whether residence is a multi-family or single home.

Take detailed notes via voice recorder or pen and paper. Write plate and make of any vehicles there, date and times, anyone showing up, any vehicle movement, etc. Good notes are crucial for your client’s report and also for yourself. Accuracy is critical because, as a private investigator, you may be asked to testify.

It may be difficult to accurately estimate the height of an individual so a good idea is to compare the individual's height to that of the vehicle that they get out of or into. With practice this will become easier.

There will be lots of stop and starting of the camera when running video so at the end of each segment you should place your hand over the camera to create definite borders between clips. Make sure a date and time stamp appears on tape. Always try to obtain a panoramic video shot of vehicle and location for video verification that the person was there.

You should keep, at all time, a roll of toilet paper in your car because stake-outs can run for several hours in non-optimal situations.


Following proper private investigation and surveillance tips you can make the small parcel of excitement that your work involves, pay off.