I read a ton of articles on how to be an investigator… with great detailed instruction, but none of them ever go into detail on what type of character you must have, probably because there are too many conflicting opinions and frankly, because going into this detail will involve a lot of judgments and stereotypes… so here goes!

Anyone can train to be a decent or even good surveillance investigator, but very few can be great. It honestly does depend on your instincts and personally more than on training. I’ve trained people with the right instincts to be “A-team” investigators within 2 weeks, and I’ve seen investigators with 5-10 years of experience that will never be able to be “A-team” investigators. That alone proves to me that instincts are key.

First, let me define “A-team.” An A-team investigator is an expert in conducting stationary surveillance, one man pursuit, team pursuit, foot surveillance, and outside of the vehicle surveillance.

*Don’t get me wrong, if you plan on conducting only work comp investigations all your life then this article does not apply to you. But if you plan on working hard and fun surveillance in the personal injury, domestic, fraud, and criminal sections… you need to be A-team.

Driving:

Driving instincts are the most important thing to a surveillance investigator. And they cannot be trained. I can train you to drive like an expert… but you will never learn the instincts it requires to negotiate traffic and have all the cars around you respond to you. An A-Team investigator treats the vehicles around him/her as if they are all on the team and can force them to maneuver how the investigator needs them to maneuver.

Your Appearance:

If you have large visible tattoos on your forearms, forehead, neck, whatever… you will never be A-team. You will not be able to follow someone into two location twice on the same day in the summer, because wearing long sleeves all day long will make you stand out when everyone is wearing no sleeves.

If you do not know how to dress appropriately for different scenarios (including high end locations) and you believe people shouldn’t judge you on how you’re dressed… you will never be A-team. Let me go a little more into detail on that… if you are working in Beverly Hills and you’re going to an expensive restaurant, you wear what they wear in Beverly Hills not what they wear in Orange County in restaurants.

Foot Surveillance:

An A-Team investigator can convince a shark attack victim to jump in the ocean. You should be able to get information out of anyone, anywhere, without hesitation. You have to have the guts to follow someone into the scariest place imaginable and blend in. You need to be able to blend into your surroundings well enough to be able to sit right next to your subject at different restaurants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to overhear conversations.

Stationary Surveillance:

An A-Team investigator will sit in his vehicle with the windows and curtains up at ALL times. An A-Team investigator will sit in his vehicle for 12 hours a day without starting the AC. He will sweat for 12 hours pretending that he is in a sauna and he will not move even if it’s 140 degrees inside the vehicle (Yes, I do this often!).

Two Man surveillance:

An A-Team investigator knows how to make the most of a two man surveillance. He will know how to communicate with his partner. He will always have his partners back. He will not depend on his partner to be lead when his partner is lead… he will always keep himself in a position to take over lead by passing traffic when his partner is lead and gets jammed. An A-Team investigator understands that redundancy is crucial and he will film even when he knows his partner is filming.

Can all this be learned…. Yes… but 90% of people are not willing to put in the time and effort it takes to work this hard…. Therefore 90& of people will never be A-Team.