Covert Surveillance – The Manual of Covert Surveillance Training, by Peter Jenkins.
BOOK REVIEW january
surveillance; not exciting, but a team effort 3/1/01
OK, you are carrying out your surveillance from a Ford Escort or Fiesta van as the book suggests – you?ve remembered to carry food and drink to keep you going, because the van is like an oven in summer – but what about wanting to pee? Should?ve thought of that one. Covert surveillance, according to former Royal marine turned private investigator Peter Jenkins, is not an exciting task: ?Long periods of boredom and frustration have to be overcome and this can only be achieved by personal discipline and experience.? There?s nothing special about surveillance, and it can be trained – though it cannot be taught through a book alone. The private operator has a harder job of it than the police, customs and military, who may have eight to 12 people on a surveillance team; in a commercial investigation, you may have to make do with three. All these points, refreshingly frank and practical, come from the introduction to Peter Jenkins; Covert Surveillance. It?s perfectly legal to do it in the UK, bearing in mind the laws on trespass, harassment and stalking (not covered in the book). Another jarring point, though the book does admit that it is not a complete guide, is that advanced techniques, equipment and counter-surveillance methods have been left out, on the grounds that they are ?trade secrets? that might compromise individual operators and whole operations. That said, the book is plainly by a man who knows his stuff, and on that basis can alert the reader to the ?tricks of the trade?.
Some tricks
The book?s strength is that the author clearly knows what he is talking about – what the surveillance man in the field has to know. The work comes across as diverse in its demands – you have to blend in, and stay close enough to the subject; you need discipline to stay close enough, and flexibility to act (or to decide to call it all off for the day) if someone unexpected happens. These are rare qualities in someone, and not found in the typical security professional or the non-security manager who wants surveillance carried out on an employee, say, suspected of fraud, or making a bogus claim for injury. Speaking practically, here?s what this book is good for – it?s for the private investigator who may not have much experience of carrying out surveillance, such as a retired police officer; a refresher course and reference book (the author, based in West Yorkshire, also carries out training courses); and a manual for the newcomer. There are three methods of covert surveillance (leaving aside overt surveillance when you are letting the person know he is being watched) – static (from buildings, vans), mobile (on foot, or a motorbike, or from a car) and technical (bugging). Rather than give you the whole book, only in brief, here are some thought-provoking points inside the 10 chapters:
– have a cover story at all times (if only that you are waiting to serve divorce papers), because telling a suspicious member of the public to get knotted will only make matters worse. Don?t say you are a police officer, either – it?s unlawful. Often the people to spot you are not the one you are watching, but another criminal or a Neighbourhood Watch nosey parker (though Peter Jenkins throughout is too polite and to the point to be disparaging about such do-gooders; he names them ?third parties?).
– Do you tell the police what you are doing? Peter Jenkins does not come down on one side or the other but does say ?as a rule we do not inform the police of our activities?. Police in the know may cause more harm than good.
– Don?t wear a disguise (however many Hollywood films show a disguise doing the trick – they have huge teams of makeup artists at their disposal) but maybe do carry a change of clothing in a plastic bag. The key is to look like a Mr Average.
– When following a subject into a cafe or a pub, have a cold drink – leaving a hot coffee or meal, let alone one you have only just ordered and not yet received, looks much more suspicious. A man and woman going into a caff together is much better cover – and indeed the whole book struck me as a wonderful advert for women surveillance operators, who surely attract less attention than men.
– Little things can save much time and trouble – particularly enjoyable and helpful are the paragraphs in italics from the author?s experience; such as the time a ?subject? (the term for the person being watched) was described as ?like Bruce Forsyth? – which picked him out at his workplace a treat. And do you want to know if a car has been moved overnight? No need to wait up all night if you can leave a pebble on top of a tyre. One of the author?s many useful maxims is ?there is always another day?.
– Night vision can be lost by staring at bright light. Here Peter Jenkins draws on military know-how; soldiers before night work will sit in the dark for up to 40 minutes to accustom their eyes to the dark.
– If you are carrying out static surveillance from a van out of a window at the back, take the keys out of the ignition.
There are several pages on mobile surveillance, with diagrams on how to do it – follow the subject round a roundabout, deal with the subject stopping at a motorway service station, and when to stop, for instance. The book gives off the impression that surveillance is the civilian equivalent of a modern soldier?s job, and certainly the pages on rural observation posts (don?t pee in your OP, if you might be returning!) and use of camouflage come right out of Northern Ireland, I suggest. Peter Jenkins makes no apology for this – if you have to lie on your front and take a photograph through a hedge, that?s what has to be done, even in Chester or Salford. The final chapter on surveillance photography I found particularly well done – telling you what you need to know, and not in jargon. There?s answers to those tricky questions such as how to photograph a TV screen (use a tripod, darken the room, slow the shutter speed) and how to take a car number plate in the dark (use infra red film and infra red filter glass).
Refreshing book
In conclusion, it?s most refreshing to read a book on an aspect of security work that has clearly come in from the field – perhaps literally. Peter Jenkins? book is rooted in the art of the possible, and in the real world. It?s where investigators have to battle against tedium and over-enthusiasm, and have to steel themselves to stay alert for hour upon hour, besides dealing with hunger and thirst and how to take a leak without ruining those hours of hard (though perhaps silent and static) work. Whereas in Armagh the stakes are higher, arguably, at least the Army can demand resources necessary for the job. In the commercial world, investigators and surveillance teams are in a bind if they want to do a professional and successful job- they are up against incompetents who undercut them, and therefore always get some work. Peter Jenkins has done his specialism a real service, by showing how to do a good job with a minimum number of personnel. At the very end are contact details for northern companies offering surveillance, training, close protection and electronic surveillance devices; I suggest that this book is a good recommendation.
Covert Surveillance – The Manual of Covert Surveillance Training, by Peter Jenkins, Intel Publications, Yate Lane, Oxenhope, Keighley, BD22 9HL. ISBN: 0 953 5378 0 3. Paperback, 187 pages, œ19.99. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.charlieone.freeserve.co.uk
