residence to another location. The client
wished us to stay on the second and third
days to see what else the subject may be
doing as well as to avoid a “good day,
bad day argument,” which might present
itself if only one day of surveillance was
performed. The second and third surveillance days showed a very active subject
who was continuing to move into his new
residence. The activities check and the
information obtained proved invaluable
in determining the extent of the claimant’s physical activities.
At PhotoFax, we believe in certain prerequisites being performed which might
dramatically increase the odds of a
proper and successful surveillance being concluded.
E Prior to commencing with surveillance,
perform an activities check for reasons
stated. If an activities check is not within your investigative budget, at least perform a preliminary investigation, which
is usually less expensive, as less time
is involved, to obtain key information.
E Properly trained and experienced investigators. We pay our investigators very
well which enables us to employ the best.
Experience counts in any industry and it
is no different with private investigators.
A good investigator has a much better
chance of selecting suitable surveillance
positions so as to blend in versus a novice who is more likely to park too close to
the subject’s residence thereby risking detection. When a claimant is active, an experienced investigator is much more likely
to be able to follow the subject without
their knowledge and therefore document
their physical activities while they are
away from their property. I will note that
even an investigator who has performed
hundreds of investigations, many of which
required following someone, cannot become invisible so it is always possible to
be “made” on the surveillance by an alert
subject. Using an experienced investigator doesn’t mean he or she will never be
caught or lose a subject he or she is tailing. It just means that the odds of the surveillance being compromised are greatly
reduced, which dramatically increases the
odds of a successful surveillance.
E Proper equipment. Use a company that
has its own surveillance vehicles and
equipment. Many of the very large sur-
veillance companies merely outsource
their work to local contractors who oper-
ate out of the front seat of their personal
vehicles. This is NOT a good surveillance
practice and is prohibited at PhotoFax.
Tim Kizorek is the Vice President of Specialty
Accounts at PhotoFax Investigations. He
has worked over 2,500 surveillances and
has supervised a staff which managed over
250,000 surveillances. PhotoFax Investigations has been in operation since 1987 and
has one of the finest investigative staff available on a national level. For more information, please call 800-659-9351.
