TIME AND DATE VIDEO

By: Gary S. DeFinis, Pennsylvania Licensed Private Detective
Philadelphia Surveillance Company

Recently I questioned and aspect of the way I do surveillance or shall I say that I questioned the way another investigator did a surveillance for my company. From time to time, out of area investigations arrive to my office. Some times I refer these requestors to investigators in the area of the investigation and other times, I farm out the case to an investigator in that particular area. Either way, you want to insure your customer that the case will be handled by a competent person who can perform as well or better than yourself . A professional and ethical effort should always be expected.

When a fellow investigator contacts me to do a job for them, I work the case to a standard that is above and beyond the call of duty. This is why a large number of private investigators choose me to do their surveillance assignments. I charge lesser rates, do more work and create the report in a timely manner. Maybe it is just me, but being a young investigator, I have to work very hard at my cases to prove myself to those who have more experience. I understood that 15 years ago when I entered this field and I understand that now. My theory was to always provide the best proof possible about any investigation. In doing so, I gained respect among the investigative community and also within my professional clients.

A few weeks ago, I contacted an investigator and asked them to work a surveillance assignment for my company. They accepted the case the two day case and they began working on it immediately. I did not get any updates from this company. I did not know if they where working the case or if they were simply sitting on it and so I contacted them two weeks later about the status of the case. I spoke to the person who I originally gave the assignment to and was told that they had given the case to their other office. They indicated that the case supervisor would contact me on that same day.

The case supervisor called me and apologized for the delay and explained that he was on vacation over the last week but the case was done and he would email and snail mail me the completed case. A few minutes later, I got the report as an attachment as an email. The report was initially short and substandard. That’s expected because they had previously explained that they never saw the claimant on the first day and on the second day they positively identified that he was not home.

A few days later, I went to my post office box and there was a package from this company. It seemed awful flat to me. I was expecting a videotape but then thought maybe the are sending it separately or they are sending me a DVD in this package. My hopes were diminished immediately upon opening the envelope. There was no video and there was no DVD. An invoice and a substandard report. Now, given this, I can make a substandard report look awesome. I rewrite them with detailed descriptions to give them a little fluff. I like to make a report flow like a good story. I realize that my reports are decent as I do put a lot of time into them but it very important to not stray from the truth. I use all the information that the other investigator gives me and I add little details that they may have missed that are clearly present in the video that they send. In this case, I had no video to refer to and so in my hands is a substandard report that is literally not worth using as toilet paper.

My next step was to contact the investigator and ask for a copy of the videotape and or to determine if they were sending one separately from the report. I was told they would send one via priority mail the same day. Two days later, I get the videotape in the mail and I am very happy that I can now finish the report.

I drive to my office, fire up the computer, pop the video tape into the VCR and get ready to start fluffing up this report and I am immediately disappointed. For one thing, there was no videotape of the first day of the surveillance. The tape went right into the second day of the surveillance. The initial time on the film was 8:17 AM.

According to the top of their report, the investigation started at 6:00 AM and ended at 2:00 PM.

Their first entry indicated the investigator arrived at 7:15 AM and yet the first video shot started at 8:17 AM. Hmmm, my suspicions are rising by the nano-second. There was a video shot at 9:36 AM, 11:43 AM and a drive by video shot at 12:48 PM and nothing else with regards to video tape. The report also indicated that the investigator positively identified the claimant was not home at 12:15PM. There were three vehicles in the residence driveway and not one vehicle tag was presented in the report. My suspicions are running wild and now I am starting to get very angry.

I wait a few minutes, gather my bearings and contact the investigator again. Upon this telephone conversation, I learned from him that it was not their policy to film when there is no activity. I told him this was an strange policy given the fact that there was no activity on the 2nd day and the investigator did take time and date video. Shortly thereafter, I hung up the telephone and questioned my colleagues about the use of time and date video as an “Industry Standard” and the responses were both interesting and enlightening to me.

I have learned the consensus on this issue is that there is no consensus. Some investigators indicate that they always take time and date video shots during an surveillance investigation and some say their clients only want video of the subject of the investigation. With regards to insurance related investigations video time and date stamps appear to be the “Unwritten Standard”. But it is important that the investigator has flexibility in his or her decisions when working in the field. I personally feel if a client wants the investigator to videotape the location of surveillance when we arrive, during the day and when we leave to show the time and the date then this adds great integrity to the client, the investigator and the investigation. I do not feel that there is a trust or mistrust issue on part of the client to the investigator, however it is a way to create quality control. When an investigator is on the street working a case, the client usually has an idea that the case is being worked. They might not know what day or what times the case is being worked and they are usually only aware of this information when the investigator contacts them with a daily update of their activities. An investigator could make up times and dates and type them onto his report and the client would never know, however by adding times and dates is a sort of proof positive that you were where you said you were during the investigative periods.

Some scholars believe that the client may request the time and date stamp because they had a problem with a prior detective agency with regards to unethical and unprofessional work. Some believe that taping upon arrival and departure adds nothing to the investigation itself. I however disagree. In the past, the old gum shoe detectives used 8 mm or 16 mm film and time and date on these types of cameras did not exist. No person ever complained in the old days. The investigators testified on their written reports as to when they arrived and departed and everyone was happy. I believe this was the standard of the time. But today, we investigators are different. We are fortunate enough to need the skills of the out of date gum shoe detectives and also the skills of the modern and technological advances of the times. Today, video cameras come with time and date as a standard and it should always be used. But, there must be flexibility and it should not be considered as a “Industry Standard”.

Some insurance companies, employers of surveillance investigators and surveillance firms that subcontract to surveillance investigators have been burnt. Unfortunately we always have some dishonest surveillance operatives and for this reason our entire profession will be viewed with a certain degree of suspect. It is important that we give our clients what they want, but remember we are professional surveillance people and we must advise our clients as to what is the best way to provide them with the best possible results. If obtaining time and date videotape every half hour or hour to prove we were on sight is important to the client then we should do that for them, however if this interferes with the ability to get results on a case then it should be abandoned. Every case is different. Every situation calls for a different plan of action and so the industry standard in investigation should always be results first. Time and date videotaping does add to the results in many situations but it must be abandoned if it effects the outcome of the investigation in a negative way. A prime example of this would be at a location where as there is no place to take a fixed surveillance position. In this case, the investigator would be expected to take video shots every hour or so. In eight hour investigation, this would mean he would have to do drive by video eight times during the course of his surveillance. This could be extremely detrimental to the idea of getting in, getting evidence and getting out. The investigator must try his or her best to never be noticed. And in this situation, time and date video would be detrimental to the results.

In circumstances where time and date does apply, then I think that it can add quite a bit to an investigation. It will allow your client to see what the neighborhood is like, what the residence is like, what the condition of the dwelling is in, if the property is well kept, what the income level of the are is and it can also document what is at the residence. Take for example a situation where you videotape when you arrive and you notice two jet skis on a trailer in the residence driveway. Next the jet skis is a lawn mower and a nicely groomed lawn. From this you could assess that someone in the household is into gardening and takes care of the property. Maybe it is the subject and maybe its another family member but you as an investigator should want to get to the bottom of who in fact is doing this landscaping and who is driving those jet skis. This can only add to your time on the case and to the understanding of the activities of the claimant even though he or she claims that they are totally disabled. Time and date videotaping provides you with a medium which you can go back and review what you have documented. For example, Monday, you videotaped the residence and noticed a large pile of wood for the fireplace on the side of your claimants house. On the following Saturday, you notice the pile has gone down significantly. This medium of video review can provide you with the sustenance necessary to go back to the client and ask for more time in an effort to understand clearly who is in fact moving the wood.

In the end, it all comes down to having a little common sense as to when to use time and date and when not to use time and date. Each situation is different, each investigator is different and each investigation is different and flexibility is the key to this issue. There is no industry standard with regards to time and date. If taking time and date video puts the investigation or the investigator into any jeopardy then it should be abandoned. But this must be explained to the client as to why it was not done.

In today’s society, everyone has to be on the alert. There are predators on our good streets. In a world full of child molesters, drug addicted scum, rapist, thieves, and the mentally disturbed people life has become very much like a chess game. Know what’s around you and make your moves wisely. So, it is important to every person to take notice of what is going on in their neighborhoods, which makes our job more difficult. Getting in to an area and getting out without anyone knowing we are there is important but if time and date videotaping jeopardizes this then it should not be considered.

In rare cases, taking video to show the time and the date may set you up for questioning from the opposing counsel who may question why you did not take any subsequent videotape throughout the day.

It was important to me to question the way this aspect of investigations was viewed by my fellow private investigators. Understanding and educating ones self is the key to all freedom. But we must be very careful as professionals in throwing around terms like “industry standards” when it is applied to something more than qualifications or ethical/moral or professional issues for which we all should operate. Each case should dictate what tactics are used. Those investigators that are with the ability to adapt, modify and mold their approach based on the unique circumstances of each case are the ones who get the clients the facts and evidence they need to reach an appropriate resolution to their matter. Either way, you want to insure your customer that the case will be handled by a competent person who can perform as well or better than yourself . A professional and ethical effort should always be expected as the “Industry Standard“. I would like to thank all the investigators that assisted me with their wisdom for the purposes of my understanding of this matter.