#surveiilance

[thefreethoughtprojectcom]

An internal U.S. Border Patrol memo claiming that 30 percent of camera towers that compose the agency's "Remote Video Surveillance System" (RVSS) program are broken.

Read More: https://thefreethoughtproject.com/government-surveillance/the-many-failures-of-mass-surveillance-at-the-u-s-mexico-border

#TheFreeThoughtProject

[thefreethoughtprojectcom]

Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested Saturday evening, according to French media.

Read More: https://thefreethoughtproject.com/free-speech/for-refusing-censorship-demands-telegram-founder-pavel-durov-arrested-in-france

#TheFreeThoughtProject

[dorombach]

Cum afli ce fac pisicile acasă, singure. Camera Tenda CP3

Cum afli ce fac pisicile acasă, singure. Camera Tenda CP3

Mi-am dorit de mult o cameră de supraveghere acasă. Dar mi-am dorit și o cameră de supraveghere care să nu fie deloc intruzivă, mai ales să nu iasă in evidență. Asta din două motive. Dacă ai o cameră pusă undeva, atragi hoții, ei vor crede că ai lucruri de valoare acasă. Și am lucruri de valoare, am pisici. Celălalt motiv ar fi securitatea unei camere IP care să și funcționeze corect și să nu fie…

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[melbournepi]

About Melbourne PI

Tell me a little about J P Read Investigations.  How did it get started and where are you now?

J P Read Investigations was started in 2000 with just myself sub contracting to Workcover Accredited Investigations firms.  I had been previously working for another investigation firm in Melbourne on the surveillance team where I got a crash course in surveillance, standing on cold wet street corners watching doors, standing in hallways for hours waiting for the subjects to leave their doctors appointments and I just loved it and I had a real passion for it so I decided to venture out and start my own company.

I decided early on video surveillance would be the only aspect of investigations that J P Read Investigations would provide. Our clients were impressed from the start, our passion shining through in early results. Word got around quickly and a business was born. We still provide video surveillance to our 3 original clients today.

The company has evolved into Melbourne's premier surveillance firms in both the private and corporate sectors. My role now is split between operations and surveillance.

What types of surveillance services do we focus on?

Our primary focus is insurance fraud – major liability claims, income protections claims and personal injury cases where the plaintiffs are suspected of exaggerating their claims to cash in on their lawsuit. We also do surveillance for general liability, matrimonial and disability.

In the end, surveillance is surveillance regardless of what type it is as long as you understand the objectives. Whether it be a subject building a rock wall or a spouse cheating – the video is the same. It’s about strategy and understanding human behavior.

With over 20 years of exclusive dedication to video surveillance, we have become experts in understanding human behavior, putting ourselves in the best possible position to achieve maximum results on behalf of our clients.

Describe what a day in the life of a surveillance investigator is typically like?

We start very early, typically no later than a 5am wake-up as you have to be on location by 6 am before your subject starts their day.

Once on location you take your opening shot, with a date and time stamp to authenticate the video. The opening shot is important, as it is the “beginning” of the story.  Our surveillance videos tell a story, with a beginning, middle and an end.

After you take your opening shot you must establish your surveillance position accounting for the various circumstances each surveillance offers from a rural setting dealing with various routes to the main roads and to urban settings with tall buildings with hundreds of people exiting multiple exits.

Once you have all the logistics worked out, you sit and wait.  This is the hardest part of the job. To maintain your focus for hours waiting for the moment when your subject exit then you spring into action. The rush, the moment you got up in the morning for, it may happen at 6:10 am or 3:55 pm, 5 minutes before you cut off the surveillance some days it doesn't happen at all.

The “middle” when surveillance begins and you follow your subject discreetly to where ever they take you. Could be just to walk the dog or to the deli down the street for the newspaper, perhaps for a days work! You never know where you will end up on surveillance, you must be prepared for everything and anything.

We follow on foot, buses, taxis, trains, cars, sometimes all in the same hour. Hoping in out of our own vehicles, parking them, diving back in, only to park them again.  We do whatever it takes to get video of our subjects, making sure the video is steady and professional throughout.

Ultimately the subject gets to a destination.  Either back home after a series of errands and appointments or a destination like a friends or lovers house. This is the “end” of our story.

Of course there are days where you just sit there all day and nothing happens and at 4 pm you call the surveillance off and arrive home at 6pm. You get out of your vehicle for the first time in 13+ hours and your a bit stiff.

What is the most difficult part of a surveillance investigators job?

The hardest part of a  surveillance investigators job is that unlike the movies we get just one take to shoot our videos just right. There are no do overs or opportunities to go back and try again.

If a subject jumps over a puddle and you miss it on video the opportunity is lost forever.  If a claimant picks up a case of beer on each shoulder at the local bottle shop and carries it out and you are out of focus, the opportunity is gone. You can’t ask them to go back and carry it again. If your subject walks hand in hand with his mistress across a parking lot and your battery dies you missed the shot the opportunity is gone.  You will never get that chance again to film that million dollar video.

This is not Hollywood. A private investigators video surveillance has to be perfect to get the the result clients demand.

What are the keys to conducting a successful surveillance?

Preparation, Planning, Focus & Tenacity.

Preparation - It starts in the office, working up the case to ensure you have all the details on your subject before going into the field.  Checking Facebook/Twitter for a profile, confirming you are going to the right location and that your subject, to the best of your ability lives at that location.  Ensure that you have all your batteries charged and equipment prepared for the field before you arrive on-site and not fumbling with everything when you should be taking your opening shot and watching the door.

Planning - Have a solid plan to approach individual surveillance to maximize the results.  No two surveillance’s are the same. Each requires a plan all their own based on the characteristics of each individual. Work or school schedule, alleged injuries, where they live, age, relationships, modes of transportation available, etc.  Once on-site, the plan must be refined according to the environment. How close are they to any train stations or bus stops.  Additional unknown vehicles in the driveway, can you see the house from the street? Can you park on the street anywhere near the home discreetly, number of exits from the building, etc.

Focus - Maintaining your focus throughout the course of a surveillance is paramount. It only takes a second for a door to open and close. Much can be learned or lost in that moment.

Tenacity - You must be tenacious day in and day out to constantly acquire video on your clients behalf. The environment, weather and location of the surveillance is constantly changing from moment to moment, place to place.  There are a multitude of outside factors trying to prevent you from acquiring great video – whether it be traffic, a school bus, a nosy neighbor, a busy parking lot, a crowded train or an empty train station.  You must be tenacious through it all and press on undetected to get great video… and we do.

What are your biggest challenges in conducting a surveillance investigation?

The biggest challenge we face on a surveillance is identifying the subject or claimant. We are usually given a physical description of the subject or claimant when we receive the case and that is all we have to go on.

When the subject lives in a one family home this is usually sufficient.  However, when there are multiple families living in one home or in an apartment building the chore of identifying the subject becomes a challenging task to say the least. Yet, we do overcome the obstacle through a variety of checks and balances.

What would is the key differentiation between J P Read Investigations and other surveillance Firms?

I believe the number one thing that separates J P Read Investigations from other investigators is that we are exclusivity dedicated to video surveillance. We have been for over 20 years and will always be.  We are experts at video surveillance.  We live, eat and breath video surveillance. We constantly talk about the angles, strategies, setups, environments.  Any advantage we can to acquire video on a subject based on a specific surveillance’s unique challenges.

There is an art & science to video surveillance, which we have spent countless hours perfecting. You don’t just buy a video camera and start following someone and call it surveillance. The outcome will will not yield the same results as a trained dedicated professional.

Another key point that set J P Read Investigations apart is that we shoot all of our surveillance videos in High Definition with a date and time stamp. We have been doing this for a while now and the quality of our videos is superior in this format. I do believe we pioneered surveillance video in HD and have received nothing but high praise from our clients since rolling it out.

Since the company was founded, what has changed about the surveillance business?

The 2014 surveillance landscape is much more competitive today than it was in 2000 due to the inexpensive nature of the cameras making it easy for anyone with a private investigators license to offer the service.

However, this does not mean they are experts or offering a quality product. In fact, I believe it spreads themselves thin from their core focus in which they originally started their business and ultimately diluting all of their offerings. Jack of all trades, master of none.

What type of technology do you use to help streamline your business?

In recent months we have upgraded our internal systems to allow for a paperless office. While it is the trendy environmentally friendly thing to do, it also allows us to update surveillance cases from anywhere pushing information through to our investigators immediately, regardless of where they are.

No more printing assignments and being bound to the “static” paper document.  We are now dynamic, on the fly. If new pictures of a subject are acquired they can be routed to the field investigator immediately, in real time along with new relevant search results or details that may have come in after the fact.  It has made a huge difference in our ability to react quickly to changing circumstances.

For people who are looking for a surveillance investigator, what should they be looking for?

If you are looking to hire a private investigator to conduct Video Surveillance you should look for  five things:

1) Insure that they are licensed in the state in which you intend to hire them.

2) Make sure that all of their videos are authenticated with a date and time stamp on every scene.  If there is no date and time stamp the video will not be admitted as evidence into court, it will be worthless.

3) Ask the private investigator you are hiring what type of plan they would implement for you’re specific surveillance scenario. Every surveillance is different and your potential investigator should have no problem sharing their ideas with you upfront.

4) Don't jump at the cheapest price.  Like in all walks of life – you get what you pay for. J P Read Investigations uses only fully licensed experienced surveillance  investigators on every case a "trainee" will not work alone on your case.  This is not a corner that should ever be cut nor comprised for any reason.  You pay a bit more but the return pays for itself 100 fold in the results as the second most import thing after trying to obtain the video is avoiding getting made.

Once the  surveillance is compromised and a subject is aware you can never follow that person again with out them looking over their shoulder limiting all future success. Experienced Investigators have ability for conducting surveillance undetected, allowing for multiple attempts and increasing your chance for success.

5) Finally, the most important credential to look for when hiring a private investigator to conduct  surveillance is their ability to testify on the stand.  Being an expert witness is the most overlooked aspect of hiring an investigator for video surveillance, yet it is the second half of the service you are hired for. J P Read Investigations has testified many times authenticating their video’s in court and are considered to be highly credible expert witnesses.

Melbourne PI

[bashford]

Cordon multi-target photo-radar can identify and track up to 32 vehicles across four lanes. It can instantly measure a car's speed and position, stores violations on an SD card and can communicate with networked systems via Wi-Fi, 3G and WiMax. (via New Aesthetic)

[bashford]

Candid Portrait Selection from Video by Aseem Agarwala (via DanW).