Surveillance Rule Number 1: Blend In

Your Writing PIs

Last month we gave several presentations at the Pike Peak Writers Conference, a fun, informative annual conference held in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. We taught two workshops for writers: “Surveillance 101” and “Missing Persons 101.”

Today we’ll share a few of our “Surveillance 101” slides on the topic of “blending in” while on surveillance:

Rule Number One: Blend In!

Types of clothing to wear on surveillance, based on locale, weather, length of surveillance

Choose an Appropriate Surveillance Vehicle for the Locale

Tips for Picking Effective Surveillance Vehicles

More Tips for Effective Surveillance Vehicles

We loved The Rockford Files, but this is hardly an effective surveillance vehicle!

Have a great day, Writing PIs

Related articles

• Talking Surveillance Cameras Coming to U.S. Streets (640whlo.com)
• Talking Surveillance Cameras Coming to U.S. Streets: ‘Intellistreets’ system now being installed with DHS backing (destructionist.wordpress.com)

Answering Writer’s Question: How Can a Person Stay Hidden?

Writer’s Question: I have a question about people who disappear. What are some of the more successful ways a person could stay hidden? What are some of the ways people have tried, but haven’t worked?

Guns, Gams, and Gumshoes’s Answer: As to successful ways a person can stay hidden, they cannot use banking/financial institutions they previously used.  Their funds need to be liquid, and preferably kept in an account offshore.  They must ignore creating government records (such as auto registrations, property ownership records, government licenses, bidding/accepting government contracts, and so forth).  A crucial element of staying hidden is for the person who is hiding to change hobbies and similar life patterns.  Recently, a criminal fled our region, established residence in a foreign country, kept his funds liquid, refrained from creating any traceable records (such as a driver’s license), used a forged passport, changed his style of dress and hair, even married a local woman in the foreign country (and essentially “buried” himself underneath her identifiers–meaning, everything was in her name).  But he messed up in one big way: he had a notorious hobby and vocation, which he prominently displayed and advertised in the host country.  A person saw this individual on “America’s Most Wanted” and recognized him from this hobby (the person was either a tourist or local and had seen the advertisements this individual had placed in the area).  This man had done just about everything right to hide his identity and ability to be found, but he failed to abandon his established hobby.

Have a great weekend, Writing PIs