Considerations on vehicles for surveillance.

When planning for a surveillance operation there is one critical factor that is overlooked when carrying out risk assessment strategies and that is the vehicles that will be used on the surveillance operation. Let me explain a little more.

Quite often especially for larger surveillance operations you may have to call in for assistance using surveillance operatives that you have never worked with before. Jobs get posted on various PI forums such as “X2 operatives required for a surveillance in Coventry on Monday”. What will usually happen here is anyone that’s available that day will shout up for the job, the person posting out the job will (if they have got anything about them) most likely if he does not know the operatives that have shouted up, do a little due diligence enquiries to find out if these people are up to the task in hand. They may ask about their experience, camera skills etc. But rarely if ever ask what vehicles they drive.

So, why is this important? One of the fundamental reasons for using more than one operative/vehicle on surveillance is so that each vehicle gets limited exposure from the subject of enquiry. If you can imagine one car behind him on a long journey this greatly increases the chances of them realising that vehicle has been behind them for a long time. This is when they will carry out anti-surveillance manoeuvres to confirm their suspicion that they are being followed. At this point the whole operation is blown if the operative carries on following or aborted and the moment is lost if the operative realises what is happening and decides to have a tactical loss. The answer is to use two or more vehicles but pointless if both operatives turn up in two black ford focuses! to the subject of enquiry he will still see a black ford focus behind him all the time. For this reason when carrying out your due diligence one question you should be asking is what vehicle will you be using.

Questions to ask your client

This is probably more crucial in private matters such as a matrimonial/infidelity case but worth asking in other scenarios too.  A private detective agency when taking instruction from a client will ask all the normal questions such as a description of the person they require putting under surveillance,  as well as the vehicle that the subject of enquiry drives but quite often not think to ask their client is what car they (the client) drives. Why is this important? Actually it is quite crucial. I ask how many of you take notice when you see a car/van that looks like your partners car? I will wager that most of you do, I certainly do. Now if one of the vehicles used on the surveillance is the same make and model as his/her partners then it will quite probably get noticed quickly, if it is same make, model and colour, it will most certainly get noticed. And if it is seen behind them on say, three occasions then alarm bells will ring for sure. This will also be true if any of the operatives are using similar vehicles to the person they are following.

Having this information beforehand allows you to prepare for this and greatly reduces the surveillance operation from falling down at the first hurdle.

Cheating partner habits.

Having done this job for 25 years I will share an observation that I have noticed time and again. If a cheating partner meets up somewhere with their secret lover they will nearly always try and park as close to their lovers vehicle as possible in a car park. This could be at any venue such as a pub, restaurant or hotel. For this reason if we arrive after the subject of enquiry has exited their vehicle we always take note and capture imagery of  vehicles in close proximity.

© M.R.Investigations Ltd October 2023.

The Utilisation of Subcontractors in the Private Investigation Industry

In the realm of various professional industries, including that of private investigation, the engagement of subcontractors has become a strategic approach for executing certain tasks. Although some entities within this field may choose to downplay their reliance on subcontractors, the reality is that they are frequently employed to ensure efficient and effective operations.

Rationale for Subcontracting Assignments

Garden Leave Investigations and surveillance.

Before we go any further, perhaps we should explain what garden leave, or gardening leave is and why we would carry out garden leave investigations or gardening leave investigations and surveillance.

Garden leave is sometimes implemented when an employer requests that an employee or employees, upon submitting their notice, are not required to  return to the office. They are  asked not to work during their notice period but in anticipation of their departure, are still  kept on the payroll.

The “garden leave” clause in an employment contract is most often used when an employee leaves to go and work for a competitor. This effectively provides a ‘buffer zone’ between their current employment and their future employment. In effect, this prevents them from learning any confidential business information, so as not to share it with a competitor.

Putting an employee on gardening leave also helps someone taking on their previous role to do so without any interference.

When on leave, employees are often refrained from contacting any suppliers of their current employees, or other clauses such as contacting or working for a competitor during the period of the leave. It is at this juncture that we are often tasked with investigating employees that are on garden leave to check if they are adhering to the terms of their contracts.

Let the investigations begin.

Recently our offices were contacted by an employer that had put two of its current employers on garden leave. One of the constraints of the leave was that they were not to contact or work for any other company especially one that would be a conflict of interest ( another company in the same line of business) for the current employer.

Our client strongly suspected that the two employees were in negotiations with a rival firm and wanted us to begin our investigations to ascertain the levels of adherence to their contracts and especially to establish if they were contacting the rival firm.

After exhausting all on line and database avenues to find any evidence of the contracts being breached it was agreed to place them both under surveillance for a week to see if they visited any rival firms or showed signs of working for them.

The surveillance team started on the following Monday morning in  Warwickshire  and operatives did not have to wait long until one of the employees left his home dressed in office attire and drove away. He was followed to the address of the other employee who exited her address and got into the passenger seat of the waiting colleagues car. They were followed 20 miles away to an industrial estate in Coventry and were seen to go through a security barrier and into a car park of a rival company. They were later observed coming out in the evening when the offices closed.

The following day they did exactly the same thing and with all objectives achieved it was decided to stand the surveillance down. Our report and imagery was handed over to a satisfied client and they were no doubt relieved of their positions and any further financial payments from the employer.

If you feel we can help you in a similar or any other type of employee investigation please do not hesitate to call us on 024 7512 0316.

Can Private investigators prove drug dealing or benefit fraud?

Quite often we receive calls to our offices asking us to investigate drug dealing in Coventry & Warwickshire. Usually these calls come from clients that suspect someone involved with a family member that they suspect of peddling drugs such as cocaine or weed to the family member and would like them to be exposed so that a prosecution could result in the offender being taken to court and imprisoned, thus taking them off the street and cutting off the supply chain to their family member.

On the flip side, sometimes the client maybe looking to prove that a family member is taking drugs and wants evidence to prove this, usually in the way of Surveillance. From here they would produce our report to the family member who has no doubt been denying taking drugs, so that he cannot refute the evidence before him. Then they would look at ways to help him out of his situation once the denials have stopped.

So how do we prove drug dealing or drug taking?

The simple answer is that we can’t! Before you close the page please let me explain. When the police carry out surveillance for drug related crimes they are able to seize the substances found and have them analysed to prove one way or the other what they have found on their subjects of enquiry. Unfortunately as private investigators we don’t have such powers at our disposal. It could be argued that it was something legal such as sherbet or similar. A tall lie I agree but we can’t prove different.

What we can do though is obtain photographic and video evidence of the people they meet and all interactions which will allow you to make up your own mind as to what is going on. If you see video evidence of your son handing over a wedge of money through a car window and quickly exchange it for something that is quickly pocketed out of view, you can be quite confident it is not a bag of sweets, so you get a clear view as to what is going on.  You can then pass our report  on to the relevant authorities which may (or may not) then initiate an investigation of their own.

Can private investigators prove benefit fraud?

The short answer to this is yes! The long answer is yes we can but our evidence wont be used! Let me explain. The DWP (Department for work and pensions) carry out their own investigations and do not use evidence obtained from third party investigation teams. However, they will look at the evidence and if the Investigation team has carried out the surveillance professionally and the evidence is irrefutable this will fast track your case for them to carry out an investigation of their own. The DWP  have a big backlog of enquiries to sift through but receiving a professional report will most likely get your case marked as priority. If you were to tip the DWP about your suspicions it would get in the back of the queue along with all the other tip offs.

You may well ask if that is the case is it worth me paying a private investigator to investigate your suspicion of someone working whilst claiming benefits? The answer is yes it is. Once you have paid for us to carry out the initial investigation the DWP’s investigation will be at no charge to you, so really all you are paying for is to get them to fast track the final investigation that you would not have got had you not instructed us. We know all this from experience over the years.

® M.R.Investigations July 2022.

No Fault Divorce Laws Impact On Private Investigators?

On the 6th April 2022 there was a shake-up of divorce laws which means that petitioners no longer have to give reasons for divorce and begs the question how will this impact private investigators? Before we look into this lets have a look at what changes have been brought in. For decades there has been campaigning for a ‘no fault divorce’ position which eventually resulted in the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill obtaining Royal Assent in June 2020.

So what exactly are the changes?

• Married and couples in a civil partnership can obtain a divorce without having to blame the other party.

• Decree Nisi is no more – the ‘Conditional Order’ is new.

• Decree Absolute is now gone – the ‘Final Order’ is new

For most people this will be a much welcomed and long overdue change in the law surrounding divorce petitions. This new law intends to reduce potential hostility between couples when separating by removing the need to apply blame on the other partner.

Under the current divorce law, married couples seeking to divorce would have to prove the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. This would require evidence through one of the following facts being proven:

• Adultery

• Unreasonable behaviour

• Desertion by one party

• Two years separation with the consent of the spouse; or

• Five years separation without consent.

For the full specifics then further reading can be obtained here.

Let’s not be under any illusions, when you think of the words private investigator, PI or private detective the first thing that springs to mind is a man in a trench coat and trilby hat following a wayward husband trying to obtain evidence of him through the lens of a camera committing adultery.

Although the conjoured images you may have could not be further from the truth it is a fact that we do often investigate cheating spouses and cheating partners in Coventry and Warwickshire. Quite often the client will be looking to prove adultery which can sometimes be hard to prove or often settling for unreasonable behaviour which has always been easier to prove. So with  adultery and unreasonable behaviour no longer being required to be proved you may think people no longer require the services of a private investigator in Coventry or anywhere else in the UK?

I would say not. My reasons for this are that in my experience once a divorce is going through the process it does not finish once the divorce papers are served. There is most likely going to be arguments over financial situations, parental rights, assets etc. Although the initial hurdle of the divorce being granted being taken away, there will no doubt be legal obstacles to overcome. Where children are involved, if it can be proven that one side was less stable than the other not only down to infidelity but company they keep and any habits such as drug taking will sway a judges opinion when it comes to parental rights. If it can be shown that a partner is guilty of infidelity it can can impact the court’s  decision to protect the children and place them in the most stable,  healthy, and physically safe environment they possibly can.

Also in our experience not all people are looking for divorce they are just looking for peace of mind and if it is proven their worst fears are incorrect they are happy to have used our services. Sometimes if they find their suspicions are founded they will seek to find out the root cause and plan to resolve the situation. There will also be those that although they don’t legally need the proof , will want to know for sure before filing for divorce. Also in Asian culture they require proof of wrongdoings such as adultery before their family are supportive as they work on an innocent until proven guilty protocol.

If you require us to investigate a partner you suspect of cheating give us a call today on 024 7512 0316. Please take a look at our matrimonial page where you can view a sample report and sample video evidence of what we can achieve for you.