CHAPTER 8
UNLIKE PUBLIC HEALTH SURVEILLANCE, WHICH ATTRACTS attention during an era focused on COVID-19, the art of mobile surveillance is traditional and essential to the basic work of intelligence tradecraft or detective work. Mobile surveillance has complexities that are absent in the more sedentary static surveillance. Since we cannot count on a target remaining in one place, unless it is an embassy or some stationary structure, it is important to understand how to conduct surveillance on the move.
There are three categories of mobile surveillance. The first is surveillance on foot while the second involves use of one or multiple vehicles. The third is an amalgam of foot, vehicle, and public transport. If you think about them, you will recognize that they represent very different challenges and have unique strengths and weaknesses. However, what they have in common is that they are both based on an effort to remain invisible while being on a sidewalk or on a public road. Success in a surveillance operation is dependent on good planning. This means you need to be prepared to go from vehicle surveillance to foot surveillance without delay. If you realize you will be on foot, it is crucial to have clothing that is weather appropriate and will blend in with your surroundings. You need clothing that will enable you to change your appearance so your profile can be different from time to time.
An important step in planning is to conduct a walk-through of the locations that might be used in your operation. This includes identification of access points, side streets, and useful vantage points. The walk-through will be used to identify routes that might be taken by all those involved in the operation. It should cover actions to take if part of the plan does not work as expected.
Mobile surveillance can be conducted against an individual who may be hostile or it may be conducted where you are providing protection for a person. There will be tactics or requirements that are associated with each type of conduct. The overall general concern is that you do not want to be seen as correlating to the target by stopping whenever he stops and moving when he moves. This is true when the surveillance mission is to protect the subject or to observe the activities of a hostile surveillance team. The time of a target’s transition from static to mobile is crucial. It is managed by calculating how long the surveillant can wait for his transition from static to mobile.
The first step in surveillance against an adversary is to study the location at which surveillance will begin. You will want to study the site and check for security cameras or any people who might notice what you are doing. It is important to know the local transportation system, identify the exits, and select a perch from which you can make observations. By surveying the entire area, you should consider how you will follow your subject should he decide to go mobile. Observe the flow of pedestrians and decide if there is enough traffic that you can closely follow your target when he moves. You want to be visible while in plain sight. If your actions fit your cover, there is a better chance of accomplishing this. When your target stops, you don’t want to just stand on the sidewalk. If there is a convenient coffee stand, buying a cup will help you fit in. By looking ahead for plausible stop locations, it will be easier to blend into the area. In all of this, it is important that you do not make sudden or unnecessary moves that could attract the attention of a casual watcher. In a similar fashion, when your subject gets up to leave, wait a few seconds before you move to follow him. This helps prevent the appearance that you are following him.
When your target begins to move, don’t follow him too closely, but do not allow him to get too far ahead of you. If he is too far ahead, you may lose him in the crowd. However, if you are following at a greater distance, it will be easier to adjust if the target happens to stop suddenly. If you are too close and he happens to turn around, he is more likely to notice you following his path. You can reduce this threat if you remain in his blind side behind other pedestrians. A significant danger point is if your target turns a corner and then stops to see if someone is following. Should you be too close to him, this move can ensure your discovery.
If your target moves into a subway, there is an increased risk that you can lose him. Because there are multiple destinations and stops, your target may get off very suddenly. This means you must be closer to him. You can also use windows or other reflective surfaces to observe your subject. This will help you avoid making eye contact with your subject who might then recognize that you are surveilling him. An alert subject might enter a phone booth, something that can still be found in train or bus stations with diminishing frequency, in an effort to pick out a surveillant. Since he might actually make a call, it could be useful to enter an adjacent booth. Even if you cannot hear what he says, you can try to see what page he might be on in a telephone book. With the prevalence of cell phones, this maneuver is less likely to be seen today. If your surveillance-wary target should stop and go back from where he came, do not immediately reverse. Continue as you were and try to reverse as soon as possible.
There will always be speculation about how many surveillants you should use. For maximum flexibility by members of the surveillance team, six is a workable number. If there are more team members, the target is more likely to spot the surveillance. There is a general assumption that three is the optimal number of members in a team. Three will provide reasonable flexibility and if your target changes directions, the lead operative can ignore that change and make no changes in his behavior. The second operative will then assume a position behind the target and continue the operation. This maneuver is referred to as leapfrogging. Utilization of a team also facilitates another maneuver known as the “floating box” in which team members surround the target on four sides. They will be in front as well as behind and also on parallel streets. As the target moves, the box moves. By shifting positions, there is less chance that the target will recognize surveillants.
One reason that three is the optimal number is that with three people you can place one member on the opposite side of the street where he is less likely to be seen but can still have a comprehensive view of the terrain. It will be easier for him to determine where the target is headed and the operative is less likely to be seen. One-man surveillance is not effective for mobile surveillance but it works very well for stationary observation of a target.