Shadowing and Surveillance: A Complete Guidebook

74 Pages·1986·8.074 MB·English

by  Burt Rapp

r
SHADOWING AND
SURVEITTANCE
H
A
Complete Guidebook
by Burt Rapp
SHADOWING AND SURVEILLANCE
A Complete Guldebook
@ 1986 by Loompanics Unlimited
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the USA
Publlrhed by:
Loompanics Unlimited
PO Box 1197
Port Townsend, WA 98368
ISBN: 0-915179-33-4
Llbrary ol Gongrers
Card Catalog Number 85-082012
TABTE OF CONTENTS
......
lntroduction
'1
Fiction '''5
Fact and
Police Techniques of
.."'8
Surveillance
What Can the Private Citizen Do? .. " '15
Tailing on Foot ' ' '19
Tailing "
Automobile "29
2.."
Automobile Surveillance, Part ' ' ' '40
Tail.... """51
Eluding a
Decoys, Disguise and
..""65
Dec6ption.
Search "'69
Physical
Stakeouts: Observation Posts and
.""78
Surveillance
Fixed
.
Photographic Surveillance '101
Surveillance ""'119
Electronic
INTRODUCTION
Surveitlance and shadowing aren't techniques
r"itii.tlO to the police profession. Private citizens have
need for them, too:
A man suspects his wife is cheating on him. He.has.to
go to work iaily, which gives her the opPortunity'.To
Ionfirm his suspicion, he places a.microphone leading
to a voice-operated tape recorder in the bedroom'
ii.n he checki the tape. Over several weeks,
he fin"dus" nthinagia, male acquaintance of hers comes every
Thursdav, which is when the infidelity occurs' He
doesn't iino* the name, or recognize the voice, so he
itring"t to take a Thursday ofl from work without
telling his wife.
Borrowing the van of a fiiend who is unknown to his
wife, he par-ks it down the street and stakes out his own
noui". ife parks far enough away .lo! lo be
consoicuous, and watches his stieet carefully. When he
sees'a car pull up in front of his house, he observes it
ihroueh 6inocrilats and writes down the license
numb"er, in case he should need this information later.
He gets a good look at the man who enters his house,
but"doesnYt tecognize him. When the man leaves,
three hours later, the husband foilows his car, being All of these incidents have something in common:
careful not to be spotted, and in thii *iy Jii.ou"o The intelligent use of surveillance, shadowing,
.and
where the guy lives. counter-inielligence techniques without the need for
We'll leave our-hypothetical husband now. What he elaborate, sophisticated, and expensive equipment.
does with the infoiination ii his own busin"iilou.. This book will deal with practical, everyday
main interest is how he got it. techniques of shadowing and surveillance,
Let's examine another need: concenirating on methods within reach of the average
A store owner becomes aware that one of reader.
g_Tplgy"gs is. rippins him off. He tn"oiires'inii his Many such books concentrate on elaborate and
thrhnised nicv aisdrlui ppasar orwk-uaeti dttsh iefno brt ahhceimk a dtloloeo yler. a*vieit rt hreo srt"o rme eornc haann edrirsaetnn tdios, eomfx ap'rkeeenassc ihsv euo cfeh la ebncbytrooonknesi cwn eehxq6tu ltiipoams uetsone tlle,i vswes h ofiocnrh a mi sb oupsdlatg ipenetl.yo Tpohleuis.t
cmerearnaoHnpvu'elteto hsby .edtoeh eefse cset hisedtethneo arsabet ly.l ge.h ynpHe,a. e.'sal.l asn web.d ra psitl -aklbagksyone asno.r eounO pu-fno ntahedr "p s-todeh;s;^ve;ieyt; iior,b;a n'ltulo ehcuwlklothi 'nu-etrg*oisei i, t.t hhhrh,eeee sslaanhonnsomddtew eaet h tdahde,i aii stltehyc ioqusafus tpbeispponiomlo icntkeha oenwb tfli eu llie tsitcxl eiootocynvth ecicdnero -inqshetouarsale rdndts.eow. tWoa inureh ss,it liiemftyh ptithslhee e,w r peeir lxalwp cbeitlnielc s abteole,,
permits him to wat'ch the batk-door of Lirii"i".nJir," tn the author's experience, many of the new gadgets,
employee's parking lot. exotic or not, simily don't live up to expectations.
Thev're almost n6vlr cost-effective, whatever the
After an hour's wait he sees one of his emptoyees pricL, and most are priced out of the reach of the
f9t" out carry.ing.a box, which he puts in the tiurit of majority of people.
hrs car. Going back to the store, he'calls tt e e.ploy""
into the office and confronts 6im. The emphasis will be on tactics rather than hardware.
We'll etpiote both overt and covert surveillance, with
interrupt
we_moWuplt9do'l ylt eark eha uss s ebvteheyero.asnlt doc _hroy icaet sth, ias npdo ienxti,pr ,lbo-eirrcin"a.ug'hs et.h je"thrme, oconmlyp blerxi lof ra ifntetenrteiostnin gto. Tthhee efirmstp,-h abseicsa wusilel bite's o nno cto vveerryt
although we'll get into th.tehfet t.sacioepi;e; ;"ni' i.hu ;;Jk. surviillance, because in some ways this is the more
useful technique and the dne most likely to produce
Let's take another example:
dramatic results.
An employee suspects a feilow worker of beins the We'll explore p- hysical surveillance, which is
company spy-. lt's jus.t a suspicion, but he *inir- to observation' and ihadowing, and electronic
cnecK rt out. He decides to teil his suspect a storv that surveillance, "bugging," and noie the techniques and
will reflea h:4tv on anothe, ".fty"J, -i tactics of each. Well look at various technical aids, with
rne ooss will have to act. Later in thie; d';a y, "h""er ih,reiai.rrs, the emphasis on simple and inexpensive means within
J.
lclo:.nJrgroln. tallt,i:o n_* b.Te.t0w. ene yn s trha ep ebvo i sn se at nhd.i 'tih e subjea o^r iirn,ivr theA sr efaoceh Cofit iJzoeen C ditoizeesnn.'t have the resources of an
story. Suspicion confirmedt
investigative agency behind him, and often can't even
count on the hqlp of a sympathetic friend, most of
what follows will- be geaied toward the one-rn.n
operation. There will be some discussion of team
tactics, because this book would be
incompiete
without it, and the lucky individuar may be iui" iJiina
an ally.
Most of the techniques and tactics that follow have FACT AND FICTION
had the aura of deef secrets shared onlv ir"n* it
-prTuit"
privileged few who staff our porice .nJ "
investigative agencies. rn fact, ttre techniquis
are
simple enough for a high-school student to
unclerstand, and this leads to a suspicion that most of
the-secrecy has been to con.eai ho* rittre-'ir,"r"
professionals really know.
While the techniques are basically simple, putting Many of us pick up what we know about surveillance
tl',pr into practice requires some deiicati5" IriJi'rrri. from the movies, ielevision, and detective novels'
While surveillance.is simple in concept, as is riding a Unfortunately, few of the novels and screenplays are
bicycle, it's something thit requires concentration and written by pbllcemen and professional investigators,
practice to learn. and the siriptwriters who crink them out usually don't
bother to iheck their facts. They're more concerned
with dramatic impact, and attraciing a.large audience,
and this shows iri the conspicuous lack of accuracy in
their work.
It's easy to note some of the more obvious errors,
such as i reference to a safety on a revolver, ot a
sitencer that fits on a revolver barrel and lets out only a
"poof' when the gun discharges.
Less obvious are the errors'in regard to techniques of
surveillance and shadowinS.We see the hero, often in
a trench coat, following tte suspect for a few yards,
then a gunfight erupti and the-story takes another
directioi. A fictionat iurveillance has the hero ducking
into doorways and looking around furtively, but the
real-life version is much more banal.
One of the few exceptions was the film The French
Connection. "Popeye"'Doyle, the narcotics detective,
4
tinaitloe da hsisu.bswusapve sctta t_htiroonu, gIihn athilye srotreseintsj hofi rN eLw" .y.oirrk" attn,d" the knowledge that his subiect will be within reach
suspect "made" it iiiL it;J r"!u"n.e until they arrive at their destination. ln the city streets,
" - i, would make a the task is much more demanding.
3,?.?t,,,ilii'll ,.tlgiry !,l"ui" 'ho;;;- 'Juing Another film which was very realistic was Death
croWwdes sianw th pe oitoreieytes -ofof llMowrn tnhiiet. nsu, spect through the aWviesnhg, ein twhhei cdhe aa tmh idodfl eh-cisla wssi fem aann tdu rtnheed rvaigpiela notfe htios
tnc,alook nt:i ns!dgpgrio fcotpu ff yo.b euhastics ..sk thp ataoyoiipn leae gnyt ed at a .anort e ."owtn.n "erAu. g.fi"otf r,i-6-"ni;'wnt*t d".ab, tty -riiy "aa"isrl'no;iiogt in i.n ea"iti,sio,l l ia inplk-nroei'dlJ[te' i trcp,t.iooi [i hu riburm,dev ffdaainaccdutei godthhn bte,e ytbri m.a u Tetm h iaitnsons ftsweielmaht dho id mshihdasose nwltfoo eu tdgp c o tao hstn oeac edwpneorctarroakcy ttei ecd vauoelr nridyn ingfdfo iachnyius-, sl taotieonffspd-
hours. While the film had to compress the time scale,
made fiirn
c1olo1oas""er,od:yt.n :1Ag"n !avt os-nfuielba wsrraeyyli ntrga itntr, ite-nt"tetrr"inngc eju st as the Joobrsy whoeu nrse vwerathlkeilnegs st hgrootu tghhe dimanpgreesrosiuosn athreaats h, ew sapiteinngt mfoarn ya
difficulties'inherent wirr rearize the mugter to strike.
in. using a one-man tair with
subjea.who suspeas thii tE riir'io" i.ri"*"ii"aa We often see the fictional hero as a master of
regularly takes precautions to Jil.ou"r' the tail. disguise, changing his appearance radically to help him
did"T, aainlsd" wsohmye atinmde sh foawil, 'iai nfd,i pthpis" "f"ilAm. srhlo,w.iei-dr o;;nie; ;t.hat gino ohdis etaxsakm. pTlehse. Stnh ererlaolcitky ,H doislmgueiss es tios rvieesr ya lnimd iftielmd,s aanrde
usually for the purpose of "breaking the profile" rather
p:s rw:. etepiea:tr. e A.i 'Jnhyikmo ns":ee r ;f- Twtoihl.:os, t rHeum g",bgiar"" r kftiso 3u i"p.[yo",n ,, .?a* :.si-[,i",;a ..L:-;e:n _n oiri*ii i- 'r.:,. iIrn r:, tmhaeAcnnh oraatnhdiecicra alg llliyimc ecmnhisacenk- gptihnlaagtte ah pbaprsae ncaokrae pnt,cl aeac.se sihno rweanl olinfe Jias mthees
take place in j,.in #" in"*,', ;"j b;";ry Bond's Aston-Martin, which flips up at the touch of a
uncomfortabre. There isn't mucnlhi"J"r "pivri..r button to be replaced by one with a different number.
wdaenlcgoemr, eb tuot abtr etiamke us p. tfhiret ft6""i,dili]; .snootout would be lhfi mth ien shuisb rjeecatr -sveieews amni rArosrt,o nhe-M's anrotitn l iksetilcyk tion gb ec lfoosoel etdo
staAk ef-iolmut wwhitihch r esahr.iosmwe d sco"mrTe roifit t hoen 'pcrioirbilye-msst io""ft .a cboyn as pcihcuaonugse oonf lticheen sster epelta ateS an ucmlobwenr .s Suiut caht aa cfuanr eisra al.s
Keeping a .large ware.hiso us" und"r, oUr"*.iiJn lo, letW's ittuh rsno tmoe hoofw th iet ifsia iino nreaal lv leifres.ions out of the way,
many days is not as. easy as it seems, euen-thou;h ,h"
subject is large and ,taiionary.--
., ln reality, it's sometimes easier to tail a person for
thousand miles th.an for a thorsina virdi If i, ;';;i"",a
jlJS;.lii,i,i.,onT.",'nT,'T:,JJ#J:i,.*H1l
3ifi
3i1tr
fi
drivers license records and motor vehicle registrations
are all open to them.
The police can also obtain a warrant to use a wiretap.
POUCE TECHNTQUES Formeily, wiretaps were in more common use, as far as
publicly'disclosdd information shows, but it's now a
Federaicrime to install a wiretap without a court order,
and supposedly their use has declined, if we can
OF
SURVEITTANCE
betieve'the staiistics that law enforcement agencies
release infrequently.
What is clear is that it's necessary to have a court
order to use wiretap information as evidence-
otherwise, it's "tainted," and not admissible.
There's no way to know how many p.olice. wiretaps
are in Dlace, with or without a court order. The police
..n, tiv flaihing a badge, get the cooperation of
_.The.police have-powers that ordinary citizens lack.
First,,they have theii status as raw enforc6ment;flic;rs, telephone company employees, apartment managers,
wunhoictthic a.isa.t ipmopwoerrtsa.n ltn b eccoanudsuec ittin ggi vinetse rtrhoegmat iocenrst aoinf tahnedm'o thacecress sw htoo aca pnl ahceelp w thheemre itnhsetayl l caa nw.iretap or give
witnesses., for example,. the pofce office"r,s Uiag; Granted that a wiretap without a court order is
enables him to get a degree'of cooperation-from illegal, but who's going toarrest the police? When they
citizens that, say, a journalist would n6t. feei tlre need, tlie-yt hinesyta'rlel a wiretap, secure in- the
ln the case of recalcitrant witnesses, the police have knowledge that almost immune from
official powers that a private.investigitor foulJ"niy, prosecution.
a.lthough the police themselves coistantty comotafn Even without a court order, a wiretap is useful for
their. powers are being eroded by capriiious court developing information, or "le.ads." An intercepted
decisions. conversati6n can provide the police with a fact that can
,^,9n: such power is a search warrant, although today or&Deunlt iunpg a efrvuiditfeuni caev ecnauen inri raank ein viet stuignanteiocne,s saanrdy .t htoe
it's not as easy to obtain one as formerly. There-must b6
aben tahfefid raevsitu,.l ts oufp dpiorertcetd o bbsye prvraotbioanb, lein cfoiursmea, tiwohni cfrho mca n imntarnovd uwEiree ttahpes wciarent abpep'uesde fcuol nevveerns aift ioit'ns icnl ecaoru frrto. mT htuhse,
"snitch,". or other investigation. Serving j seii.ta, start they will be inadmissable.
warrant, however, brings th-e investigatio; out ln-if," Another advantage the police have is an- unequalled
open, and is not a surreptitious actiiity capacity to develop informants and informers. An
recTohred. sp, oallitcheo uaglsho have acbcee snse ctoes psaurby litco agnedt ip rcivoautret "oienrfhoarmosa nat "s iims spolem ewoitnnee,s nso tto n eac ecsrsimareily, wa hcroim pirnoavli dbeust
order for some of- itt h-memay. Bank and hospitll records, information to the police willingly, without coercion or
preowlicaer,d .o Ar ins a" icnrfiomrimnael rw" oisrk ienigth oeur ti na ,t,hdeia Fpa;ivn o*ft ,tih.te [ooro-s-ei.c.u"tpintc tthhee 'pdeeoipelerr ehed hgasra inti fihcaantdio, na nod fis aun lmikoerlye
he supplies information in "return for- not being i;r;r;rii defendant at so-me time in the future'
prosecuted. i;[;it; ih"-ptot".rtor has no. day-to-day control over
s.t ursyhi tt!u tnhde fproamid iwnfhoicrmh ethr,e tyh eg epto tlhicee musounaellyy thoa vbeu ya aou ctcroimminea el xincveepst t5igya taiocnc,e dainndg ntoo tihnefl uweinshcees o onf tthhee
information. This fund, a tecleione budiet"Z,-d"r. i"""tti'itoi *tio keeps all thJcards in his hands. This
title such as "contingency fund,,, is m"ore ifrin tn" i;;'i-tiah incentive to cooperate, and is one source of
private citizen can afford organ izational ineff iciencY.
. There's a problem with paid informers: ih" inu"ttigator, on the other hand, is likely-to feel
bad
rntormation. As they're often criminals themselves, frustrated by-an uncooperative prosecutor. Being a
they have no. qlalmi about concocting ,;iniorrn.iion,, he's naturally suspicious, and reluctant to
tuhneeays cya. wn isthel lp. aThid.is .i nisfo wrmheyr sc,r imbeincaaul siiev ethsetiyg"a,vtoe rfso ufenedl u"';"l;t";-lidr" ,l.a",n'.r.v.. nct,.o rntt.rto lwthhea tisnoveevsteigr attoo rt hwe ipil rwositehchuotoldr. alts omttuecnh
through hard experience that what they,re buying i"f;;;;ii;n .i h" can, feirful of "leaks"' Experience
often garbage. is his-shown that the more people who are party.to a
.. Tlt")f prefer to have a ,,twist', on their informers. A .onfla"ntial matter, the grbater the chance of a leak.
"twast" is a means of coercion. A criminal who There are other means of coercion available to the
caught often has the choice of .,cooperating,, with theis ooii.", methods which would be illegal if a private
police or facing a trial and 'heiuy ","ni"n.". [ii;;; ;*d them. lt's worth a look at ihe.meaning of
"Cooperating" can get h. im a reduction o, E;liiy;;nO itt practical application, to understand this
"ir"nt"n.i
ev.en co.mplete immunity. Much depends on *h"n it fully.
criminal decides to cooperate. lf he'caves in $fo;; ihe" Cjfferinc money for information is bribery. A citizen
police make out the ariest paperwork,-h;;; ;;j. . who offeis a briSe to a public official or to another
deal in which he, gets. off corirpretery. ir rtl;i .i*"ai ;iii;"; i;t an itl"g.t purpose is committing a crime' lf
i
been arrested and irraigned, any aeiiaep.nd; h-;;;ili the police do it to criminal, it's legal.
on how far the prosecuior is.inciineo t" ib"p"i.l". n" obtaining compliance by threats is extortion. lf the
may agree to drop the charges, or to ask the iudee for a oolii"16r"it"n a'criminal witn prosecution unless he
reduced senrence. tf he,s-a dedicat"O ..i!"iil'ina i'aoop"tates," it doesn't create any waves'
l,unni,nq. for re-election, he may want to prosecute to Another means of gaining cooperation. from
!h9 tullest, whatever the potential value of the inioi,n"ri involves drugs. X4any individirals involved in
information the defendant milht provide t"iL" potice. if," Jrrg traffic are add-icts theinselves, and a detective
. This- is often a point of contention between ciiminar ;;","it irig" ih" case willsup'rp6ltyu rhni s informer with drugs,
anvestatators and public prosecutors. The investieator for his ,is" ot to sell, in for information' The
is usually quite willing.tb ret a smail offendei i"-in poti." normally confiscate illegal dlugs for. evidence,
order. to.get the big fish. The prosecutor, unless"he,s [ut to."times'hold back a part of the supply.to use in
very intelligent andunderstanding, is typically ili piil"S informers. ln some instances, as when they
"n
10 11
catch a small dealer, and decide to ,,work,,
information, there ;ili;"-;;13r", and no phaimpe trow goarkin, T_hey can, for example, assign rotating teams to do
ena.bling the police t, t*pihi
supply for later 24-hour-a-day surveillance on- a subject. These teams
"ntir" are equipped with cars and radios. Often, the police
illeTghails o irs uthner esagmiser m"i"eJthiro"dl lrthiler" police use to obtain caotennfisccya theads, tao sutsoec kfo or fs uurnvemilalarnkceed. cars, seized and
of "atibi gunrtur"Jtii#;;ii.",oh ave been instances
justify lf the surveillance team needs binoculars, they need
a mistaken
iff ?: I 3 ; I r^ #Fj: i ;rl';tiirir*inha#r ? l'h :: olonwly-.ldigr-hatw s cthoepme, fcrhoamnc tehse a sreu pthpely dreopoamrt.m lfe tnhte hya sn esoemd ea
officer who
catche.s- a rni.ri ;;;o;ni "a T f wlela pons in stock, or can borrow one from another agency. The
*l'ffiT:l ffil*1'ni;i;i"It,i'" ,r,; devices a private citizen must go out of his way io get
are commonly available to a police agensy.
jr,l*r: lf there's a need for photographic surveillance, the
:i&::#'."#,i.tTi,::ff Jfi B:Jt;?:in"".f,l police have not only the cameras and the film, but
practice among police
mouth,, to *J. .iiaiard]m""ii.'iisi,trra,tnorgs to cr.y ,,poor trained specialists to do the actual photography if the
that they,re detectives working the case can't do it themielves. lf a
il"t"lri ?##iiil;it HBLi' .'n3, " a",- r" "?"a, dgeote cintivseid teak aes dsoamrker opohmoto, garanpdh sh, ehe cnaevne rh naeveed st hteo
photographs processed on a rush basis, even at night in
['"4i6ltritllir;Txr#n'.{;,rjj*lli{#ii
some agencies. Of course, he doesn't pay for this-from
manpower to do a fuli-scale surveillance. They his own pocket.
of detecti""t tt ii"iask, can
i"l}t?,:""Hs dependingtn its The police can man a wiretap on the same 24-hour-
a-day- basis, and sometimes still do, despite the
^_Oftentimes, the police are clun availability of automatic recording equipment which
mo nu er dine srt af.no cuen, da mr,.iam n rse uisi -puenc-tJeidi .i7i_.i1i.,r i;1 ;r;l5;;:tU#l[.'";: ,i I reduces the need for manpower.
the police' The pt.i"ldiilJr"'l-.rsigned to the oy anTdh eo pfo lpiceeo hpaleve efivlee nsy statenmgse ntoti aklelye-p ctroancnk eocf tseuds'pweictths
case
I""J:''"' jffi ?:nT:H',X'f,;f .1i.*.1*t;n:tr11,, investigations. State pol[ce organizations have
press. c.omputers into which local agencies can tap to aid
mtheeItt 'shp oobdteicsee na afrarees h o,igotrntfJaiJbn.l-e- 'i;flo;r;r'; i'm;";;aiL n:y qduerctaed etrsu eto, asasy t htheairt taNhgaeetiinro cniineavsle Cwstriiigrmeaedti o linnnsf o.t orTm hitae.t iDoenp Caroimmepnutt eor,f Jauvsatiilca6b leh atso t haell
stupidiiv.,ii-in""rri9i"n.yii'',-."ili",ifr To aid in undercover work, the police can call on the
H*:1"',:g:'Ti I n ani' ;;;il;il"q s""iiJ},:"i[ 1t;1;t;f;r""j,j cfaolsoep edroactiuomn eonf toatthioenr ,f onro nth-peoirli caeg eangtesn. cPiersiv,a ttoe pcritoizveidnes
o u tw e i g h i r,;' a l ;i t ili: Tii:,: *:,"# ;i' Bi#.;; " have no such resources.
Some industries have organized their own propri-
etary information services. The insurance industry, for
12
13