Chapter One :: Choosing a Vehicle

"You can have any colour you like - as long as it's black."
Henry Ford discussing the Model T. 

Before we get into the minefield of choosing the ideal surveillance vehicle, let us concentrate on the rea­sons why we are even thinking of such a decision. To successfully maintain surveillance on somebody, we need to recognise that whether they are simply skiving from work or evading the Child Support Agency, your client needs you to monitor a target who is almost certainly guilty of what your client be­lieves is the problem. This makes him a difficult target from the start, because he is likely to be more wary, more alert to the unusual and in a lot of cases, actually expecting to be caught at some point if he drops his guard.

In the simplest cases, timing is all that is needed to secure the evidence that your client is seeking.   Social Security departments, for example, often make appointments to call on claimants unexpectedly  then stake-out the address some hours earlier, often catching the co-habitee leaving or the claimant hid­ ing the van he uses for work that has been parked outside his house all night. This works because of the state of mind of the individual being monitored. If he doesn't think about the consequences of his ac­tions, he may well be sloppy, if he doesn't consider.the possibility of being watched, you could sit out­  side his house in a car with "Private Investigator At Work" emblazoned along the side and he will as­sume that you're watching his neighbour.

Even if this is your bread and butter employment, there is still the risk of the alert neighbour spotting you and contacting the police having a patrol car interrupt your stake-out is bound to raise your profile to the point where even the most brain-dead target can work out your reason for being outside his house. There are countless other reasons why your work will involve the tailing of targets or the monitoring of premises, whether visually or by electronic surveillance methods. To some degree these could all entail some form of additional driving skills or enhanced awareness being required in order to complete the  task.

What we must concern ourselves with are surveillance operations up to and including areas such as In­dustrial Espionage and Fraud. Matters which require greater precision if you are to avoid being caught while carrying out your work. In many of these cases you will require several operatives or you will need to operate equipment without arousing suspicion. This is why the selection of the correct vehicle for surveillance is necessary and the answers that I am about to give may surprise you.

Working Alone or as a Team?

First we must consider the practical aspects of the job in hand. Some of you may choose to work alone, which can make surveillance operations more difficult. Others have a team of trusted "agents" who join in on surveillance duties to ensure that every aspect of the job can be covered, including prolonged surveillance of an individual target.

Normal Behavior

Often the subject of great debate, we simply mean appearing to fit-in with the area you are working in or the activities of people in that particular street.

Team surveillance operations require more than just a regular car to be effective and undetected. Imag­ine seeing four or five people parked in a street, just sitting in their car nothing could appear more sus­picious. Likewise, an individual driver can also appear to stand out if his actions and activities do not match the "norm" in terms of typical behavior. Remember that neighbourhood watch schemes are very much in evidence these days and should be considered as being unpaid but effective counter­ surveillance teams who will happily screw-up your operation without even realising it.

In my experience, the ideal vehicle for surveillance work is seldom a car, simply because you are too visible inside it and your actions cannot be readily disguised.  If you are working alone, however, you may not have a choice of vehicle, so if you are considering a prolonged period of surveillance, at least try to swap cars with your partner or a friend from time to time to vary the vehicle used. This will at least prevent any pattern of recognition forming in the mind of the target. Hire cars are another possibility but this depends on the rate you are charging for the job, or the agreed expenses.

Team work allows greater flexibility, but demands a more suitable vehicle, which often is narrowed  down to simply a van or an MPV with "blacked-out" windows. The benefit of this is that it can be made to simply disappear  by blending with the surroundings and offering a lower profile than a car. Strange as this sounds, size is not the issue here, but expectations and  perceptions.

I know of at least one PI who chose to carry out his entire surveillance of one company by using an HGV which he parked outside their premises each night. It was fully equipped for him to live-in and the secu­rity guards paid no heed to it as they were only concerned with vehicles entering and leaving the premises. In the road outside, it was common practice for an HGV to park overnight - often several each night - so he simply blended straight in with the background.

The ultimate team situation would allow for a string of vehicles to be used - as often seen in spy movies and police dramas on TV. In the real world, however, this can prove more of a hindrance than you may think and I would suggest that although one or two back-up vehicles are necessary for large scale surveillance operations. the principal of using one vehicle for the team to operate from can often be a sensible one. Whatever your needs and your decision, you will need a "Grey" vehicle in order to reduce your profile to acceptable limits.