The 7 Principles of Surveillance - #2 DISTANCE

The distance between each surveillance operator and the target needs to be correct for the surroundings and other members of the surveillance team. The distance of the control callsign and the rest of the surveillance team is often dictated by the amount of cover available.

The correct application of distance can be easily visualised in street scenes that are either busy or quiet, with the cover available generally being other pedestrians. In quiet areas it will usually be appropriate to perform the surveillance follow from a greater distance than in busy areas. It should be easier for the surveillance operators to pick out the subject in quiet areas so the greater distance is manageable from a control point of view. They also need to ensure that when the subject has opportunities to look behind them they are at a sufficient distance so that they are not easily identifiable.

If there is more cover then the surveillance team must be following at a closer distance to ensure that the reduced visibility due to the greater amount of people does not result in the subject becoming unsighted which could lead to a loss of the subject. Being closer in this scenario should not increase the surveillance operator’s exposure as the higher volume of pedestrians makes it harder for the subject to pick out the surveillance operators from other members of the public, as long as they are dressed appropriately and their natural behaviour is good.

The distance between the subject and the surveillance team, especially the control callsign, needs to be constantly assessed. Going from quiet to busy areas, and vice versa, is one of the most challenging parts of foot surveillance primarily due to the issue of how and when to appropriately adjust your distance to prevent a loss without unnecessarily increasing exposure.

If we look at the example of a vehicle follow on a motorway on a clear and bright day, the subject is on an empty stretch of motorway and the control vehicle will ideally just be able to see the subject vehicle in the distance on long straights. This will result in the subject vehicle becoming temporarily unsighted for short periods on bends and corners and the control car will only need to close up for approaching junctions, pre-empting these with accurate map-reading and good use of the road signs.

If the control car has none for cover in this situation then at least the subject vehicle will not easily be able to see the make and model of the control vehicle, and certainly not the VRN. This results in the exposure of the control car being reduced and means they can securely participate in more of the subsequent parts of the follow in the hope that the subject will not be able to distinguish the control vehicle from other vehicles of a similar model and colour.

The backing vehicle and the rest of the surveillance vehicles will be spread out at similar distances to that between the subject and control vehicle, safe in the knowledge that they can increase their speed and safely make up ground without having to overtake much traffic, if required to by the control callsign. (NOTE: If the surveillance team does not work for an organisation that has the authority to exceed speed limits then the drivers of the surveillance vehicles must consider their distance behind the subject so they can safely and legally make up ground as required.) This means that they should not be in the mirrors of the subject car at all and their exposure is kept to a minimum until the subject vehicle exits the motorway.

Changing the scenario to a busy motorway means that to effectively control the subject vehicle the control car might be only a few cars back to be able to see and report subject behaviour (speed and lane changes) to the rest of the team. If the control vehicle does not display any unnatural behaviour (mirroring the subject vehicle’s movements or unusual lane positioning) there should be no reason for the control vehicle to stand out to the subject vehicle any more than any other vehicle within the large volume of vehicles surrounding the subject vehicle. Therefore, although the control vehicle is close to the subject vehicle its exposure should not be any higher than it might have been in the earlier example on a quiet motorway. (NOTE: this does not account for subject’s with higher levels of anti or counter surveillance tradecraft who may detect surveillance by noting the VRN’s of vehicles in close proximity to the subject vehicle.)

Next time we will look at the third principle of surveillance and how its application, tied together with COVER and DISTANCE, forms the foundation of safe, secure and effective surveillance...