How Choose Physical Surveillance Investigator

❝ Private sector mobile physical surveillance on an alert subject is the most difficult investigative discipline to perform successfully on a consistent basis. Just as one would not use a primary physician for heart surgery, one should not use a generalist private investigator for a highly specialized investigative discipline, such as private sector physical-mobile surveillance.❞

☑ Checklist

SI = surveillance-investigator

☑️  1) SPECIALIZE IN PHYSICAL SURVEILLANCE: The private investigation agency should specialize in surveillance-investigations and for high-level physical surveillance, the PI agency should provide only one investigative service ⎯ high-level physical surveillance.
Private sector mobile physical surveillance on an alert subject is the most difficult investigative discipline to perform successfully on a consistent basis. Just as one would not use a primary physician for heart surgery, one should not use a generalist unqualified private investigator for a highly specialized discipline, such as physical surveillance.
Part of being a specialist in surveillance-investigations is having the requisite skill-sets and equipment, one of which is operating a camcorder in high stress conditions. Whether gathering video evidence of a stalker violating a TRO or real-time recording of a Person-of-Concern for a threat assessment professional or recording vital evidence for a high-value civil lawsuit. 
Skill-sets such as an SI positioning her vehicle in a discreet position to successfully secure needed information and evidence is a must. 
Example of basic SI practices: Ensuring an SI has the requisite camcorder skills and proper camcorder equipment (typically 40-60 optical zoom and date/time stamp) is one of the most important items. Another important piece of equipment is having a non-descript vehicle with the right amount of tint on the windows.
☑️  2) SURVEILLANCE AS A FULL-TIME JOB: The SIs working your case should perform physical surveillance as a full-time job.
Private sector physical surveillance is the most difficult investigation discipline to successfully perform on a consistent basis, and should only be performed by full-time practitioners. It is an art form that requires extensive experience, regular practice and expensive equipment.

☑️  3) CREDIBLE REFERENCES (Very important to determine if the SIs are effective.): At a minimum, have the prospective private investigation firm provide you with three credible references who have used the prospective firm for the same type of physical surveillance assignment you need.

☑️  4) HOURLY PAY RATE OF SURVEILLANCE-INVESTIGATOR: If possible, find out how much the person conducting the physical surveillance is paid per hour. This may be the best way to determine how effective and competent the SI will likely perform. A quality SI will make around $75 to $ 150 per hour in Southern California.

☑️  5) CA PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR LICENSE REQUIRED: In the state of California, a private investigator license is required to provide the service of physical surveillance, therefore verify the private investigation agency has a valid private investigator license in California: https://search.dca.ca.gov  Note: Persons in the field conducting the physical surveillance should each have a California private investigator license or valid employees of the California licensed private investigation agency.
Watch out for PI firms that say they use "off-duty" law enforcement. There is a good chance that any SI fitting that profile is not a full-time or practicing SI and not properly licensed, hence an illegal service with significant exposure to financial liabilities since insurance is unlikely to be valid. Performing services as a private investigator without a license in California is a misdemeanor.
☑️  6) BUSINESS REGISTRATION: Verify private investigation agency (corporation or LLC) is active and in good standing with the California Secretary of State: https://www.sos.ca.gov/business-programs
☑️  7) EMPLOYEE OR SUB-CONTRACTOR: Will the private investigation firm use employees or licensed PI sub-contractors to conduct the physical surveillance?	The worker classification of the field SI will determine how much more vetting will be needed to ensure legal compliance and the end client's amount of exposure to liabilities. If there is not legal compliance, insurance coverage may not be valid. Watch out for the word descriptions of an investigator "retired law enforcement" with no PI license number listed with name ... often times a red-flag that the SI is not a legitimate employee of a private investigation firm nor a licensed and insured private investigator.
☑️  9) PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE: Verify the private investigation agency has the required general liability (E&O) insurance policy of a minimum $ 1,000,000 coverage.
If you use the investigation firm, you should asked to be added as an additional insured on the private investigation agency's general liability (E&O) insurance policy. A certificate of additional insured will be provided naming your firm. This is standard practice by insurance companies and Third Party Administrators when vetting and adding private investigation firms to their claims investigation panel.
☑️  10) CIVIL/CRIMINAL CHECK ON BUSINESS AND OWNER: Check local on-line civil and criminal superior court and federal court records to determine if the considered investigation firm and/or its officers have appeared as defendants?
☑️  11) EQUIPMENT: Does the investigation agency use the necessary equipment to assist the surveillance-investigators?
Investigation firm's specializing in physical surveillance and their SI practitioners should use high-tech equipment specific to their craft. And most importantly, the SIs should all have HD camcorders with minimum 20x optical zoom that will have a visible date-time stamp.
For example, a qualified private investigation agency will have SI who use long range HD video cameras; FCC licensed two-way radios; rapid deployable compact video cameras that are connected via data (not wi-fi) and drone capability operated by drone experts. Equipment frequently makes the difference between success and failure of a physical surveillance assignment. 
☑️  12) SAMPLE REPORT & INVOICE: Ask for a sample SI report, sample invoice and negotiate pricing for short and extended days surveillance. 
The sample invoice will provide you with those unexpected costs, much like the “resort fees” at some hotels. Typical charges are hourly rates to include gas mileage fees and travel time to and from the physical surveillance location. 
Mileage and travel time fees are typically pass-through costs that go directly to the SI. For example, to cover auto maintenance, fuel costs and auto and professional insurances, which are at a premium expense these days for SIs ... especially in California. 
High-level physical surveillance rates in Southern California ranges around $ 115 to 150 per hour plus mileage and expenses. Hourly rates vary and should be based on the quality of the SI and the amount of surveillance needed. Hourly rates should be reduced when the surveillance time exceeds16 hours. For a Tier-1 SI, over 16 hours, the rate should not exceed $ 125 per hour, per SI. (Tier-1 level is highest rate and Tier-3 the lower rate.)
☑️  13) CASE SUPERVISOR'S SURVEILLANCE EXPERIENCE & COMMUNICATION: Case Supervisor: Does the person supervising the SIs have private sector physical surveillance experience as an SI and managing SIs in the private sector?
An experienced case supervisor will be knowledgeable of the local, state and federal laws related to conducting a physical surveillance, i.e., privacy laws. The supervisor will also ensure great communications with the SIs in the field and providing timely updates to the client. 
Just like a sports team or military unit, an SI team needs a qualified experienced manager-team leader to achieve positive results and avoid negative situations.

The Tooth Fairy Category; Private Sector Physical Surveillance Myths

Off duty/retired law enforcement make good private sector surveillance-investigators  ☞  Government employee surveillance is conducted with extensive multi-million dollar resources to include numerous personnel in multiple vehicles, court ordered electronic tracking and at times, air support --- hence, does not take a lot of individual talent.

Private sector surveillance depends on an SI's private sector surveillance experience, personal traits,  innate talent and refined skill sets as a full-time practitioner. Experience in law enforcement is not an accurate predictor of one's effectiveness in the private sector. If a company hires off-duty LE for a private sector surveillance, ask the person who hired the person, what selection criteria was used.

One surveillance-investigator is sufficient to conduct an extended physical-mobile surveillance tail  ☞  FBI SSG is said to use no less than seven SIs in seven different vehicles, with the added help of other assets. In the private sector, its naive to think one SI can successfully follow a subject through traffic successfully over an extended distance and time.

Conducting private sector physical surveillance over a lot of years is sufficient to conclude one is an effective SI  ☞  Most who are careerist SIs are not good. It is difficult to find quality SIs who have integrity and highly effective.

Surveillance-Investigator = SI

Four Southern California full-time private sector SIs (with over 59-years collective experience) contributed to this article. The collective goal was to come up with the most important information to consider when choosing a private investigation firm for a physical surveillance assignment -- especially for a high-stakes case.
The information provided herein, coupled with common sense and logic, should enable a person without any experience conducting a private sector physical surveillance to make the best decision in choosing the most qualified private investigation agency. 
As with any professon, the past performance history will be the best indicator of future performance. It is a must for a user of physical surveillance services to call credible references and get feedback on items such as performance, costs and communication.

In 1998, CLAIMS Magazine (A Publication of The National Underwriter Co.) published an article by Mike Wolivar titled, "Looking for Surveillance? Zoom in on Results & Reputation"

According to Forbes magazine, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud estimates $ 308,600 billion was lost to insurance fraud in 2024. Insurance companies spend an estimated hundreds-of-millions of dollars annually on surveillance-investigations to fight fraudulent claims. Many of those surveillance-investigations are conducted by unqualified surveillance-investigators, hence lost oportunities to secure helpful information and video evidence.

The 1998 magazine article provides recommendations for improving physical surveillance results. Using effective surveillance-investigators not only helps to reduce fraud, but prevents workers' comp premium increases due to a fraudulent insurance disability claim. The article on this website goes into more detail on how to ensure you are getting a qualified Private Investigation Agency. Please contact us for a copy of the 1998 article.

Surveillance-Investigator = SI

A lot can go wrong when bad judgement is made and an unqualified physical surveillance provider is picked, which includes paying thousands of dollars for a poor outcome. Every month surveillance-gone-wrong stories pop-up, mostly due to an unqualified private investigation agency being picked to conduct a physical surveillance. 

Herein, we intend to provide you with information and private sector investigation insights to help you avoid "bad judgment" when selecting a physical surveillance vendor for a high-stakes case.

These avoidable negative outcomes have led to serious problems with lawsuit implications and have caused law firms to lose clients; a senior VP corporate security executive said to be terminated; and insureds hiring a new TPA that will provide competent and effective claims investigations (physical surveillances). 

What stands out the most in physical surveillance failures, is the frequency that private investigators are picked for a surveillance assignment who have little or no experience in performing the most difficult investigative discipline, which is conducting a private sector physical surveillance on an alert subject. 

Myth #1 is that if one is a private investigator, then one is qualified to effectively conduct a moving surveillance on a subject. Less than an estimated 10% of private investigators can effectively follow an alert and active subject on a moving surveillance over several hours without being detected or losing sight of the subject.

Myth #2 is that prior law enforcement experience and government titles are evidence that one is qualified for private sector physical surveillance. "Titles-don't-matter," is a saying in the private sector physical surveillance industry to denote that until one can successfully (without losing or being detected) follow a few alert subjects around town for an extended amount of time ... one is not "qualified" as a private sector physical surveillance practitioner. When hiring a vendor for a specialty type job, one should look for evidence of past meaningful success doing the same type of job needed for the assignment.

According to ChatGPT, the average daily cost of an FBI physical surveillance ranges from $ 25,000 to 50,000 per day and, unlike the private sector, law enforcement has helpful tools such as court authorized GPS tracking, cellar phone tracking and aircraft. This average cost is based on surveilling one person. The resources needed to successfully surveil one person provides a real world perspective on how difficult in can be to successfully conduct a moving physical surveillance in the private sector, which cannot use GPS trackers or enjoy the multi-million dollar support assets. 

In private sector physical surveillance, physical surveillance success comes down the personal skill-sets and experience of the SI --and a good SI manager-coach. Much like a championship sports team, an effective physical surveillance team will have good chemistry and experience working together --- along with individual talent.

In this article, we will provide information from a surveillance practitioner's perspective to help you choose a qualified private investigation agency with qualified SI.

Private sector physical surveillance is an art form and to be successful, requires following a subject without losing sight of the subject, while not being detected by the subject. 

Few private investigators are qualified and competent at the job of SI in the private sector.

If you are about to spend thousands of dollars to hire a private investigation agency to gather needed information and evidence, it is important to ensure the private investigation agency is qualified to conduct a physical surveillance for your specific situation. Assignments vary, from not difficult to extremely difficult.

Below are notes and asides regarding the Surveillance-Investigation profession.

A physical surveillance assignment to surveil a Person of Concern who has threatened violence at a workplace or school is considered high-stakes, and should only be conducted by qualified high-level performing surveillance-investigators (SIs), often referred to a a Tier-1 level SI.

If you are a private investigation company specializing in Surveillance-Investigations, and believe there was a decision made that an unqualified surveillance-investigation vendor was unfairly contracted by government or academia, you may want to consider filing a California Public Records Act to secure documents to see who did the selection and if the vendor was qualified. There are some exemptions to to the CPRA, one of which would require that an investigation be completed before the requested documents will be provided, such as vendor contracts and related emails and texts. 

A large number of physical surveillances are conducted by private investigators with little to no expertise or do it part-time, hence the need to ensure qualified SIs are used on any matter of importance.

Former co-worker referrals, sometimes called "tribal referrals": In law enforcement, especially at the federal level, retirees who are private investigators or in security positions will often refer physical surveillance assignments to a former co-worker private investigator with little to no experience (non-merit based decision) conducting private sector physical surveillance and/or use unqualified SIs. The results are usually not good. This practice of putting revenue gains over success of case objectives may not be fraud, but it is certainly unethical. 

Getting burned or not being able to maintain visual contact with the person being surveilled are both failures, and in a high-stakes assignment, serious unfavorable consequences may occur.

A high-level physical surveillance-investigator should be getting around $ 70+ per hour on a high-stakes assignment.

Physical surveillance is a necessary tool for most investigative tool boxes. Government agencies from local law enforcement to the FBI to the CIA have full-time dedicated specialized units that are well funded with sophisticated equipment, court approved GPS trackers, aircraft and numerous personnel to conduct high-stakes physical surveillance and gather valuable information and evidence.

According to a ChatGPT inquiry, government physical surveillances cost around $ 26,700 per day and up. The needed resources used by government to successfully conduct physical surveillance on one person well illustrates the difficulty of conducting physical surveillance.

Private sector physical surveillance and government-law enforcement physical surveillance are significantly different; one primarily relies personal traits and skill sets for success, and the other on equipment and technology for success.

In private sector physical surveillance, the numerous and deep resources used by government are not available, so the success of physical surveillance is based almost entirely on an SI’s skill-sets and innate talents, hence the import of choosing a qualified SI. Additionally, just because a person has conducted surveillance as a government employee, it should not be assumed the person has what it takes to be effective in the demanding private sector...rarely does one find a former or current law enforcement person effective at private sector physical surveillance. Most high-level SIs in Southern California do no have backgrounds as government employees.

MEASURING A SURVEILLANCE-INVESTIGATORS EFFECTIVENESS

There are two key industry measuring sticks used by some private sector physical surveillance professionals for assessment and case management purposes:

Surveillance-investigator (SI) rating. Much like an athlete in sports, an SI's skills, innate talent and effectiveness are wide ranging. Some specialty physical surveillance-investigation companies use the following to identify an SI’s level of performance:

Tier-1 level is an SI who is exceptional in performance, has a record of making good split-second decisions in stressful situations, possesses that mystical 6th sense for determining when too close to subject and when too far from subject, and has a minimum of five years experience as a full-time SI with significant experience on high-stakes assignments.
 
A Tier-1 SI will appropriately demand the highest hourly rate. Most of these SIs have annual earnings in the six figures in Southern California. The information and evidence that would otherwise not be obtained makes their cost well worth the pay rate. Tier-1 type SIs will likely avoid the many problems others might create.

Tier-2 and Tier-3 are capable but may lack certain traits needed for that Tier-1 performance.

The fourth rating is referred to as the Unknown and are private investigators who claim to do physical surveillance but do not have a known history. We recommend avoiding the Unknown unless the assignment is low risk and the outcome of the physical surveillance is not that important.

Ratings for the subject being surveilled. The Awareness Rating Scale (ARS) is a subjective measure of the subject being surveilled and how alert that subject is to her/his surroundings. The rating ARS-1 through ARS-5, 5 being the most aware.
  
An ARS-1 on the scale represents a person who is likely not very aware of their surroundings, hence the lowest risk for detecting a tail. For example, the cartoon character with bad eyesight Magoo would be an ARS-1.

ARS-5 is at the top of the rating and represents a very aware subject who is a high risk of detecting surveillance. An ARS-5+ is a subject who actively checks for a physical surveillance, thus requiring extreme measures by the SIs to not be detected. Only Tier-1 level SI's should be used on subjects that are ARS-4 and ARS-5 and up.

How to Choose a Private Investigation Agency for Physical Surveillance (Sub Rosa)

☑ Checklist

SI = surveillance-investigator

☑️ 1) SPECIALIZE IN PHYSICAL SURVEILLANCE: The private investigation agency should specialize in surveillance-investigations and for high-level physical surveillance, the PI agency should provide only one investigative service ⎯ high-level physical surveillance.

Skill-sets such as an SI positioning her vehicle in a discreet position to successfully secure needed information and evidence is a must.

☑️ 2) SURVEILLANCE AS A FULL-TIME JOB: The SIs working your case should perform physical surveillance as a full-time job.

☑️ 6) BUSINESS REGISTRATION: Verify private investigation agency (corporation or LLC) is active and in good standing with the California Secretary of State: https://www.sos.ca.gov/business-programs

☑️ 7) EMPLOYEE OR SUB-CONTRACTOR: Will the private investigation firm use employees or licensed PI sub-contractors to conduct the physical surveillance?

☑️ 9) PROFESSIONAL INSURANCE: Verify the private investigation agency has the required general liability (E&O) insurance policy of a minimum $ 1,000,000 coverage.

☑️ 10) CIVIL/CRIMINAL CHECK ON BUSINESS AND OWNER: Check local on-line civil and criminal superior court and federal court records to determine if the considered investigation firm and/or its officers have appeared as defendants?

☑️ 11) EQUIPMENT: Does the investigation agency use the necessary equipment to assist the surveillance-investigators?

Investigation firm's specializing in physical surveillance and their SI practitioners should use high-tech equipment specific to their craft. And most importantly, the SIs should all have HD camcorders with minimum 20x optical zoom that will have a visible date-time stamp.

☑️ 12) SAMPLE REPORT & INVOICE: Ask for a sample SI report, sample invoice and negotiate pricing for short and extended days surveillance.

The sample invoice will provide you with those unexpected costs, much like the “resort fees” at some hotels. Typical charges are hourly rates to include gas mileage fees and travel time to and from the physical surveillance location.

Mileage and travel time fees are typically pass-through costs that go directly to the SI. For example, to cover auto maintenance, fuel costs and auto and professional insurances, which are at a premium expense these days for SIs ... especially in California.

☑️ 13) CASE SUPERVISOR'S SURVEILLANCE EXPERIENCE & COMMUNICATION: Case Supervisor: Does the person supervising the SIs have private sector physical surveillance experience as an SI and managing SIs in the private sector?

An experienced case supervisor will be knowledgeable of the local, state and federal laws related to conducting a physical surveillance, i.e., privacy laws. The supervisor will also ensure great communications with the SIs in the field and providing timely updates to the client.

Just like a sports team or military unit, an SI team needs a qualified experienced manager-team leader to achieve positive results and avoid negative situations.

Surveillance-Investigator = SI

The information provided herein, coupled with common sense and logic, should enable a person without any experience conducting a private sector physical surveillance to make the best decision in choosing the most qualified private investigation agency.

As with any professon, the past performance history will be the best indicator of future performance. It is a must for a user of physical surveillance services to call credible references and get feedback on items such as performance, costs and communication.