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Venue
of Experience:
Michigan based L.P.C., Ltd.
Investigators have conducted successful stationary and moving
surveillance operations in such tough environments as Mexico City
and Singapore as well as various border towns and clannish rural
environments around the globe. Most of our experience,
however, has been in North America, where mobile surveillance, in
particular, can often prove to be a challenge.
Types of
Surveillance--Stationary:
Surveillance of manufacturing
plants, warehouses, retail stores and other businesses is a service
frequently performed by L.P.C., Ltd. for a variety of reasons.
Suspicions of theft or drug problems are often the factors which
motivate clients to employ this investigative tool. In many
cases investigators can conduct their observations from surveillance
vans or autos. However, in other cases, we have had to be more
creative. For instance, on one extended Central Mexico job, a
multinational team of investigators took up a position in a
mountaintop barrio to observe a manufacturing plant in a valley two
miles away. Detailed observation of the relevant activity was
possible using a telescope designed for star gazing. A
radio-equipped backup team was stationed near the plant to
follow suspect vehicles and otherwise respond to the observations of
the primary team.
Types of
Surveillance--Moving:
Moving surveillances are
regularly conducted by L.P.C., Ltd. Investigators for a variety of
reasons. Truck surveillances are usually undertaken at the
request of a trucking company's management when there is a suspicion
of theft or "theft of time." Additionally, truck
surveillances are often conducted for a shipper or manufacturer when
gray market activity is suspected. L.P.C., Ltd.
Investigators regularly handle the surveillance of mobile
individuals for a variety of reasons. These range from
complicated counter industrial espionage and ethics cases to routine
matters involving insurance claimants suspected of fraud and
unsupervised field personnel thought to be abusing their positions
or committing fraud.
Surveillance
Equipment:
Typically, we need no
equipment on a routine surveillance, other than a dependable auto, a
good pair of binoculars, a notepad. And a video camera. Our
video cameras can provide visual documentation from long
distances. Surveillance vans are seldom warranted, but we do
occasionally have the need for one. We no longer use our 28'
Mobile Operations Center as a base during extended surveillance
operations.
Surveillance
Equipment We Avoid:
We are traditionalists and
leave the trendy "Spy Shop" gadgets for the less competent
amateur wannabes who have little regard for the exposure they create
for their clients. For example, L.P.C., Ltd. has never placed
clandestine tracking transmitters on the vehicles of subjects without
the consent of the vehicle owner--and never will. While
these devices may have validity--with the client's authorization--on
long-term over the road truck surveillances, they have no legitimate
application in most other cases.
The intrusive use of these
"bumper beepers" without the express consent of the
vehicle owner is clearly illegal in many countries, states,
provinces. In some cases, clients can be charged with
conspiracy or other criminal acts when their investigators use such
devices. |
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