What exactly does this mean? Is there a special skill to selecting and recognising your target?

Well, not really a skill, more a use of common sense. Before you can begin to follow your target, you must ensure that you have the correct target - especially if he is aware of the risk of being followed and may employ a decoy. Try to assess the identity and use verification with available photos and other information be­ fore committing to following the target vehicle. There is a need to ensure that you have a good position from which to check this, using whatever needs are at your disposal. Try not to be fooled by the use of clothes belonging to your target that are easily identifiable, but the face is obscured. If your target sus­pects that he is being watched, any number of ploys will be attempted to give the impression that he is either leaving or remaining when he has already left by a covert means.

Once you have selected the correct vehicle to follow, you will then need to develop skills in positioning and observation well beyond those of average drivers in order to complete your operation successfully. As a novice driver, one of the principal objectives is to be able to learn how to keep the car on the road, away from the kerbs and away from the opposing.traffic . In order to achieve this, certain guidelines are given to novice drivers regarding where to position the car. "1m from the kerb", for example. Whatever you were told, after a few lessons it became habitual to follow your chosen method and this becomes imprinted on your brain - basic programming for your "autopilot".

Defensive Positioning

Choosing the optimum position to give you the greatest view and the best chance of being seen by oth­ers, the best options to avoid hazards and the opportunity to brake or escape.

After passing the test, you may think that you have become more flexible, but the fact is that because    the average driver uses auto-pilot while driving, to avoid having to concentrate, he is likely to stick to the earliest learnt principles of positioning. What is not going to happen automatically is any form of Defen­sive Positioning, for this to take place there has to be a conscious effort to break away from the simple programming that was required for the passing of the driving test and in it's place to offer a reason to think differently.

In the most extreme cases of "normal positioning", drivers have been known to follow each other into the most ridiculous situations. No doubt you will all have seen cars sitting behind stationary buses - thinking  that they  were sitting  in a traffic  queue.  These drivers  failed to see beyond the bus because they were following a novice approach to positioning. Often they then cause a further tailback to form as other drivers simply join the queue without  questioning the reason for it. In one of the most extreme cases I have personally witnessed, a car in Manchester followed a tram into a road which then became a rail-track only - and claimed not to have seen any signs!

Driving in the UK is difficult  enough, but  simply  by having  to drive  while  following your target  can  multi­ply the potential  for risk and must  be compensated  for by enhancements  in your skill level.  To be a good stealth driver, you must be an excellent driver generally. Obviously if you are following a target vehicle, you cannot afford to let these incompetent drivers prevent you from carrying out your task so you need to adopt a different set of rules. What you must adopt is a state of mind that allows you to pre­dict the actions of others so that you are not distracted from the main aim of your mission. Whatever stupidity you observe , you must remain dispassionate and focused on your target - let other drivers make their mistakes and never think that you can change their way of thinking by the use of gestures or aggression.

As you enter traffic with your target vehicle in view, you need to adopt a position close enough to main­tain a good view - (as we have already mentioned, a van would afford the best forward vision) - as well as to give you an idea of the driver's intentions, such as turning or stopping. Whether or not you are driving a van, consider taking up a place slightly off- line from the other traffic, usually further out in the road. This gives the driver a commanding view several vehicles ahead and is one of the most common procedures taught to police officers. The other benefit is it allows you to communicate with several vehi­cles behind, as your tail lights and right hand indicator are more visible.

From this position you can identify a feature of your target vehicle which will act as your focus, so that you can avoid mistaking it for an identical vehicle that may suddenly join your traffic queue. Likewise   you can use your position to look beyond the target vehicle to see what hazards they are approaching before they recognise it themselves. This advanced information can allow you to adopt a more defen­sive position yourself in case you are unsure of the next action of the target vehicle. As an example, if you see a junction approaching and a choice of lane is necessary, you can adopt a central position until you are sure of the choice being made by the target vehicle. (Note. if you feel that the target vehicle is trying to lose you by making an late or irrational decision, occupy both lanes and give your­ self either lane in case you need it)

Losing your target is common in modern traffic, but don't panic. Use your judgment and try to maintain the route you anticipate the target using. Look for clues as to where it may have gone and don't forget to scan for parked vehicles or vehicles traveling in the opposing direction. In the majority of cases, you will re-establish contact in no time and as long as you have confirmed the ID by using the distinguishing fea­ture mentioned earlier, there is little room for error and the operation can continue smoothly.

If the vehicle is difficult to follow due to it being a common type or colour, (imagine tailing a yellow cab in New York or a white Transit in the UK.), then you may need to resort to "marking" the vehicle your­self. Depending on the vehicle, there will be a spot where a carefully and discretely applied fluorescent coloured sticker can be applied to the offside rear corner, thus making identification easier in dense traf­fic. Stickers can be plain or disguised with some form of icon giving the impression of being an advert for a band or some other marketing promotion. If applied to the bumper or if it is an MPV, the corner of the roof, where you can see it easily from a van, the sticker will provide an easy marker and thus reduce the workload on the driver of the tailing vehicle. (As a bonus, the sticker shows up very readily on a video camera should you be undertaking a rolling video  operation.)

When the opportunity arises, consider changing drivers in order to vary the appearance of your own ve­hicle. If you have followed the recommendations given earlier, changing the appearance of your van   with magnetic signs can also occur at this point. Ideal opportunities are when the target is refueling, shopping, or making a brief business call. At this point, you also need to have a position to observe the target or at least the entrance  he will use to emerge. Your own position should cover any possible direc­tion of travel once he emerges . Ideally a side-road or entranceway allows you to reverse into a secure position and only the nose of your van would be visible.

Remember that if the target enters a car-park or some other off-road sire, there may well be a second or third exit that needs to be covered and operatives may need to be dropped off to be available for ongo­ing surveillance  by foot or bike. In the most severe cases, the target may be making a vehicle swap and   it should be possible to cover this by dropping an operative to follow the target into the car park on foot. The use of additional  operatives is not always possible, however, so consider "abandoning" the  van on the side of the road - hazard flashers on a static van are an extremely common sight - and following on foot to ascertain the actions of the target.

Swapping vehicles is another common ploy, especially in the areas of fraud and industrial espionage. Ensure that you. have positive target recognition in the correct vehicle before re-commencing the surveillance. At the very least, the information gathered from a vehicle swap or the targets use of the car-park to "shake-off' a tail is another useful item of evidence that will further add to the proof of his  guilt. If a driver uses a car-park for such purposes he is bound to be about to carry out something worth following him to - but if you lose him on the first attempt, you can be better prepared the second  time.

Depending on the reason for following the target vehicle, there may well be a second target to follow, which we will cover in the next section. For now consider the need to complete the surveillance of that first target and the possibility of further clandestine meetings or activities taking place. The same devi­ous methods are used by the unfaithful husband and the industrial spy alike, so try to think of what you would need to do in their position and be prepared for it.

Sometimes the target has a specific method of changing vehicles - whether it's booking his car in for a service and borrowing the courtesy vehicle or abandoning his vehicle at an airport long term car-park to give the impression of leaving the country while actually switching to a hire-car for a day, week or what­ ever. Often the solo operative trying to follow his quarry and mistaking the car swap for a genuine trip abroad will find himself stranded as the target collects his pre-paid hire car keys in the terminal and  leaves by a separate exit to collect his hire car. Remember, there's usually a next time and you can wait by the hire car compound on the next occasion.

The last thing to consider is the use of disguises - not false beards , but simply changing clothes while swapping cars may well throw off the unwary tail. Look for the target leaving his vehicle with a bag and heading.for the gents or stopping at a golf club or sports centre where he may well have a permanent locker. Often the opportunity to continue surveillance by road is lost by simply making a wrong assump­tion about the motive for choosing a particular place to stop. In the more extreme cases, targets have been known to swap vehicles in car washes, exchange clothes and vehicles with van drivers in cafes and even park up in the cafe car-park, then slip out the back and catch a lift with a departing truck from the other parking area.

All of these ideas have been used as evidence of the targets guilt and so any evidence of these identity changes, disguises or vehicle swaps can be used to strengthen your client's dossier of evidence. If you can also acquire evidence as to whose vehicle has been used in the swap or whose premises are used for the storage of disguises etc. it will be a useful trail that could prove to be critical to the case as a whole.

Assuming you have successfully picked your target and followed him for the duration of the journey,   there is the problem of what to do when he arrives. You will want to select an ideal observation point for the rest of the night or even a few days, but did you do anything to reserve your space when you left?

The chances are you didn't, but one of your operatives could hold the space with his car as you left if you had planned it - or if working alone, a few strategic cones can do the trick. (Yet another good reason for using a van, portable parking space) 

After you have successfully completed the journey and either arrived back at the target's residence or the destination, make a decision as to whether you need to refuel or carry out other routine operations before the next journey is made. At this point, it is also worth considering whether the target vehicle is in a better position for attaching a tracking device, thus saving the need for close surveillance next time.

The use of such equipment has meant that "virtual surveillance" is now possible, as is "out of sight" surveillance which can enable the use of different vehicles and the better selection of parking places when static. Depending on the needs of the mission, the risks can be controlled much more easily in some cases - but we will continue looking at the worst case scenario as this is where the greatest bene- fits can be achieved.

Finally, remember that once you arrive at the destination and prepare to take-up static surveillance, you become the target in that the static vehicle with obvious occupants in residence stands out in an urban area like a sore thumb. You will be spotted by "observant" neighbours, passers by, kids playing in the street and passing Police patrols. Nothing looks more suspicious than a car full of people who appear to be doing nothing in particular. With a van, the driver simply needs to park and then leave the vehicle, thus removing suspicion, leaving his colleagues in place in the back of the van. He can easily return at some point to rejoin his colleagues, after dark or slyly slipping in via the side door.  Vans are an every­day sight on our streets and in most cases are ignored by the majority of people. The exception is if they are parked badly, inconsiderately or annoyingly in the way of a local resident. Do your best to find the least conspicuous and least inconvenient spot from the point of view of the other residents, that way you can expect to be ignored most of the time.