Secrets Of Surveillance : A Professional's Guide To Tailing Subjects By Vehicle, Foot, Airplane, And Public Transportation

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Summary: A must-read for private investigators!
Review: A very thorough book on all aspects of surveillance. Many tips and useful information for anyone in the P.I. business. A very informative guide.

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Summary: Secrets of Surveillance : A Professional's Guide to Tailing
Review: An excellant book for those who are interested in or who actually employ surveillance techniques. This book provides the reader with an insight into the basic mechanics required to conduct Surveillance operations. If you are new to this game, then this book will assist you in gaining a good grasp of the basics. However, if you are looking for the intricacies of the techiniques to become an effective operator, then you may be let down somewhat. In order to balance this review, the book is let down by the lack of any photographs which would have been ideal for illustrating issues or techniques the writter wanted to impart. By way of example: The discussion on Disguises and the application of using wigs and false facial hair would be greater served using photographs. This would have been invaluable and would assist the non-oporator to full grasp what is actually required. In addition, the lack of templates for such things as Photographic or Video logs would have been a useful tool to be included in this book. Nevertheless, it is a good book and well worth reading.

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Summary: Of Little Value To Private Investigators...
Review: As a licensed private investigator and experienced covert surveillance operative, I can tell you that most of the techniques described in this book are of little value to private sector investigators like myself. The vast majority of techniques described assume that the "surveillance team" has an unlimited supply of resources and operatives (i.e. a law enforcement team). Anyone with even remote covert surveillance experience knows that this will seldom (more likely never) be the case.

Most private sector covert surveillance operatives (i.e. private investigators) work alone or in teams of two (when and only when the Client can afford it of course). Therefore, the vast majority of the techniques covered in this book are of little use to most private investigators. There is some (emphasis added) good information in this book, but certainly not what one would expect based on the title.

If you are looking for a title that actually contains useful (emphasis added) surveillance techniques/procedures, I would highly recommend: "Covert Surveillance: The Manual of Surveillance Training" by Peter Jenkins (ISBN: 0953537803). I have had the pleasure of reading this fine text, which I consider to be the only covert surveillance techniques/procedures book worth recommending. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a copy for purchase.

As always, check with your local library or bookstore to see if you can read/review this or any title before deciding to make a purchase. This method has effectively allowed me to make the most of my investigative library budget.

I hope you found this review helpful. If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me via email at [e-mail]. Respectfully submitted, MB.

Rating:
Summary: Very simple minded
Review: First, this books does have some interesting ideas and is worth buying. However, it is written at an intelligence level that would insult a bright sixth grader. Also, it assumes you will have half a dozen people involved in the surveillance of one person and is not aimed at an individual working at surveillance alone.

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Summary: A few Words From the Author
Review: The following is submitted by the author as a rebuttal to two of the Amazon.com customer reviews of this book:

In general, this book was written shortly after the conclusion of the Cold War, and in a large part intended to be a tribute to the legacy of the cloak and dagger intrigue that characterized that era. In those days we knew exactly who the enemy was. At the time, none of us could have predicted the emergent environment wherein the threats to U.S. citizens and interests proliferated significantly. This new reality has made the book more widely applicable to security professionals now then when it was originally published, which is the reason its sales have steadily increased over the years.

Although the review does state that the book is "worth buying", the three star review submitted by "RunAndShoot" criticizes the book for being written in a "simple" manner.
This book is not intended to entertain, it is intended to inform. A primary purpose for this book is that it be used as a training resource by security professionals. For this reason, it is written in a very detailed and straight forward manner. The feedback received from security professionals is that the book conveys very complex techniques in a manner that is easily understood, and easily translated into training programs.

As to the two star review by "truthsleuthpi" that criticizes the book for being of "little value to private investigators" -- I do not question the reviewer's credentials, but it is misleading to give a publication a poor rating because it does not necessarily apply to the specific circumstance of a resource-constrained PI. In fact, the book clearly addresses the premise of the reviewer's critique in the preface as follows:
"A surveillance operation can be conducted from one extreme of detail to the other. This book instructs to the extreme of a fully integrated, systematic effort employed for extended periods of time with absolute discretion. Granted, the requirements of many readers may not reach this extreme, but the information herein will satisfy the objectives of surveillance at any point along the operational continuum. Although the degree of sophistication detailed in this book may not be necessary for many surveillance operations, any individuals with the expertise to operate at the extreme of sophistication can certainly adapt to any operational requirement."
Therefore, the book is criticized based on its relevance to one reader rather than its technical content. Also, one would assume that even those who operate on a small-scale level would take professional interest in how the world's elite operate. Despite some questionable contradictions, it appears that the reviewer does exercise innovation in that he uses book reviews at Amazon.com as a means to advertise for business.

The reviewers each have a perspective, but the facts are that this book is regarded as a "classic", has steadily increasing sales, is every bit as relevant today as the date it was published, and it is widely used as a training resource by such major professional security agencies as Wackenhut International.

Although the book has five star reviews and the author agrees with these ratings, this "review" is submitted with four stars because a rating is required, but the purpose of this rebuttal is to address specific reviewer issues and not impact the Amazon.com average customer review for this publication.