Surveillance

Austin and Central Texas

A private investigator conducts surveillance when they need to discreetly monitor a subject's behavior, activities, or whereabouts to gather factual evidence. This is typically done during specific windows when the subject is active, such as during a commute, at a workplace, or during a suspected meeting. Common reasons for surveillance include missing person searches, cheating spouse investigations, welfare checks, among others.

We perform surveillance in Austin and the surrounding Central Texas area.

What surveillance can and cannot establish

It records what happens in view of the investigator during the hours worked. That is a real and often decisive kind of evidence. A subject who stays home for four hours produces four hours of a subject staying home. Nobody can promise in advance that a particular activity will occur on a particular day.

This is why scoping the hours matters more here than in any other service we offer, and why we would rather talk through what you already know before quoting time. Information about a subject's routine is what turns surveillance from waiting into watching.

How the time is counted

Surveillance is billed by the hour, with a four-hour minimum to start. The rate depends on whether the operation runs with a single vehicle or with two vehicles at the same time. A two-vehicle operation means two investigators working the case together, which is what makes it possible to stay with a subject who would otherwise be lost by a single unit. The surveillance agreement will state whether it will be a one or two vehicle operation, with the fees clearly indicated.

The clock starts when the investigator sets out for the target location, not when the subject is first observed. Inside the Austin area, it stops when the operation is terminated. If the operation takes the investigator outside the Austin area, it stops on arrival back in Austin. We set this out plainly because travel time is real working time and expense.

How long a case takes

It varies, and it depends on what is observed and whether the goals of the operation are met. Four hours is often enough. Those four hours are sometimes best spread across more than one day. This will vary based on the specifics of the case, what is observed at the time of initial surveillance, etc. Longer operations happen when the activity of interest is infrequent or the subject's pattern is unknown at the outset. We always obtain client approval before extending surveillance time beyond the initial four hours.

Where an operation does run across more than one day, we work from three different vehicles and avoid using the same vehicle twice in a row. A subject who would never notice a car once will start to notice the same car on the third morning, and multi-day work is exactly where that risk lives.

We would rather tell you after the first block of hours that the case needs more time, or that it doesn't, than sell a large number of hours at the start.

When we can start

Turnaround varies. An operation can generally begin soon after the signed agreement and payment are received. Sometimes there is a reason to wait: the subject is believed to be out of town, or a particular day matters to the client and is worth holding the hours for. Timing is part of the strategy, not just scheduling, and we'll say so if we think waiting will produce a better result.

What we will not do

We do not place tracking devices on vehicles our client does not own. In Texas, installing an electronic tracking device on another person's vehicle without their consent is a criminal offense, and no investigative purpose changes that.

We do not install monitoring or spyware software on phones, computers, or accounts belonging to anyone other than the client. Depending on what is installed and what it captures, that conduct can violate both Texas law and federal law.

These are the two things we are asked for most often, and the answer does not change with the circumstances. Evidence obtained with these methods may put the person who commissioned it at legal risk.

Lawful use

You need to have lawful purpose for surveillance. We will not conduct surveillance intended to stalk, harass, threaten, or intimidate anyone, and we will not take a case where a protective, restraining, or no-contact order is in effect against the client with respect to the subject. The written agreement includes a certification you sign before any work begins.

Pairing with a vehicle sightings search

A Vehicle Sightings Search can show where a vehicle has been sighted, which often tells us where and when to be before an investigator is ever in the field. Running it first can shorten a surveillance operation and make the hours you do buy more likely to capture what matters. It is not a substitute for surveillance, and it isn't always necessary, but on cases where the subject's pattern is unknown it may be worthwhile.

What you receive

A written investigative report covering the hours worked: dates and times, locations, movements, and what was observed at each. You receive the video recorded during the operation, and the frames that matter are reproduced inside the report itself, so the narrative and the images can be read together rather than having to be matched up afterwards.

The report says what was observed and stops there. Where the observation supports only a limited conclusion, it says that too, rather than stretching to meet what the client hoped for. Afterwards you can call a real person and talk it through.

Frequently asked questions