Surveillance in a post-Covid world

Surveillance has certainly changed since I began my career in 2011. Back in the day, you could almost feel a neighborhood breathing with a daily routine with people leaving for work and school at the same time every day. Not so much anymore. Here are four main factors that complicate the reality of surveillance operations in the modern world.

The Homebound Reality:

With a growing number of people working from home, surveillance subjects are spending more time indoors, making it more difficult to observe their movements and activities without raising suspicion. Additionally, the presence of family members or roommates at home throughout the day can further complicate surveillance efforts. Neighbors who would normaly be at work and school throughout the day are now a kind-of neighborhood watch. With more eyes in the neighborhood, the once inconspicuous surveillance vehicles have become increasingly noticeable.

Social Media Sleuths Spoiling Stealth

Love or hate social media, it is a fact of modern life. After Covid, more and more people have been on multiple social media platforms for extended periods of time. This has caused an increase in neighbors posting pictures and descriptions of suspicious vehicles on social media sites like Facebook or Nextdoor and asking if anyone knows the vehicle, even if you are completely hidden in the interior surrounded in curtains. I have personally witnessed this scenario which resulted in a police response, followed by the police posting on their Facebook that the vehicle was a Private Investigator. This was an attempt by the police department to try and calm the public by stating there was no threat. Obviously, this is terrible for the Investigator in the field.

E-commerce Evasion:

The rise of delivery services and e-commerce has reduced the need for many individuals to leave their homes for daily errands or shopping. Consequently, surveillance subjects may exhibit fewer active routines, making it more challenging to gather meaningful information about their whereabouts and interactions. I personally worked on a case where I was able to see a home for nearly 40 hours in a completely discreet position.  The only time the subject ever went outside was to poke their head out of the front door to meet their Doordash driver.  In that 40-hour timespan the subject was only outside for about 20 seconds.

Home is Where the (Fraudulent) Heart Is:

In the realm of insurance fraud investigations, the work-at-home trend has given claimants an added advantage in concealing fraudulent activities. With no commute or physical workplace to monitor, claimants can more easily stage injuries, fabricate activities, and avoid detection. This paradigm shift makes it easier for claimants to remain elusive, minimizing the opportunities for surveillance professionals to track their movements in a traditional sense.

Adapting Surveillance Strategies to effectively conduct surveillance in this post-COVID world, investigators must adopt a more nuanced and adaptable approach. I have found I need to be much more careful in densely populated areas, especially in wealthy areas. Every Investigator worth their salt has an arsenal of pre-texts to explain their presence in neighborhoods.  Having creative and believable pre-texts are more important than ever to keep you off of social media sites and not raising the neighborhood alarm.

Additionally, leveraging technology such as social media monitoring and data analytics to gather insights into subjects' activities to provide a targeted surveillance effort will become more important as these trends continue.

Lastly, remote cameras have seen more and more use in our industry and the Investigators who can leverage this technology in these challenging environments will find great success, just as long as you remember not to slap a camera on private property. Don’t bend the law just because a case is tough.