Surveillance Operators Course

Instructor

The Surveillance course instructor is a highly regarded Close Protection Officer with over twenty years experience in Surveillance and Close Protection. He has worked at the highest levels of protection and extensively undercover both in the UK and Abroad. During the early eighties whilst working as an intelligence officer in the Military he held the dubious honour of the longest solo operator in the field after a three week operation in South America where his extraction was constantly delayed due to possible compromise. In the nineties during several undercover operations he was solely responsible for the arrests and prosecutions of countless criminals and recovered stolen goods valued at over £25 Million Pounds. Since that time he has been active as a Close Protection Officer in Europe and on the Asian continent. When not working in Close Protection our instructor is employed by Corporate businesses to carry out electronic counter measures and as a consultant to dozens of companies involved in high risk surveillance operations.

Surveillance within Close Protection

The role of Surveillance and Countermeasures within Close Protection is vital to the security and continued safety of the Principal and other team members. Counter measures must be deployed at all times in order to prevent security breaches and unknowns gathering information on a Close Protection team and the Principals movements.

Protective Surveillance

Protective Surveillance is used during high threat Close Protection contracts so that the opposition can be drawn out and identified to the team before any attempt on the Principal is made. This may involve inserting undercover operatives in large crowds, blanket photographing arrivals and departures of the team and the Principal during daily movements or by deploying counter counter methods when gathering intelligence against hostile surveillance targets. This kind of surveillance is at the highest level and all operatives must be highly skilled to carry out this role successfully.

Electronic Surveillance

Electronic surveillance is used quite widely in the surveillance world today, from the deployment of simple transmitters and receivers to the most complex transmitter cameras, telephone taps and covert vehicle tracking units. It is vital that as a Close Protection Officer you are fully aware of the capabilities of such devices in order that you can employ counter measures in order to defeat them.

Photographic and Video Techniques

If you wish to be successful as a surveillance operator you will need a good working knowledge of both stills photography and video filming. You will need to be able to operate in the most difficult and sometimes dangerous situations and guarantee that you get the video or photographic evidence you set out to achieve. Filming in rain, total darkness, from covert observation posts and in pitch black conditions are all skills you will need to learn. You will need patience and the ability to concentrate for long periods of time without being distracted.

Reporting

Reporting skills are of paramount importance to any surveillance role. It completely defeats the purpose of carrying out surveillance if you cannot report accurately and methodically what you have just observed. The gathering and collating of evidence is as important as the actual surveillance itself and at the end of an operation may be used in a Court of Law.

Counter measures

Counter measures are probably one of the most neglected aspects of surveillance. It seems everybody wants to learn how to carry out surveillance but very few actually want to learn how to avoid it. Because of this highly trained counter surveillance operatives can name their own price when called in to carry out counter measures. It is not unusual to earn five thousand pounds for a days work once you gain a good reputation.

Delivery:	Classroom
Regions:	North West England South East England
Category:	CCTV Operator