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Do Private Investigators Conduct Night Surveillance?  I saw that this was being searched for and I didn’t have an article that directly answered this for the general public or future private investigators.  So the quick answer is yes, private investigators conduct surveillance at night.   With that being said, this specific topic reminded me of a surveillance assignment I had over a decade ago.  And during that surveillance, I had a conversation with my supervisor/mentor about whether I should stay on a surveillance because there was no activity and it was pitch black outside.

The surveillance case I was working had been worked before and no one had been able to get video of the claimant (at least that is what I remember).  The reason it was dark when I called my supervisor is because I started the surveillance much later in the day to determine if the subject was active later in the evening/night since the team had been unlucky in getting activity from the subject during daylight hours.  

My boss explained that even though it would be difficult to identify anyone coming out of the house at night I would still be able to follow whoever left the home to a destination like a store.  And when they entered the store that is when I would be able to determine if the individual was the subject I was looking for.  And if it was the subject I was looking for I would be able to get covert video at that time.

He was right, and I think I at the time I was just becoming impatient and I really didn’t think anything was going to happen on the surveillance.  

And then it happened.  A few individuals exited the home, entered a vehicle and departed from the residence.  I tried to videotape what I could and I followed the vehicle to a Blockbuster video store (click on the link if you don’t know what a video store is).  I entered the store with my black and white pager camera and determined one of the individuals to be the person I was looking for.  I then videotaped what I could of the subject.

After Blockbuster I followed the subject to another location and then to subject’s home.  The surveillance day had been successful after all despite my concerns.

I say this all the time in my articles and podcast episodes, but I had some great mentors coming up in this industry.  And that night time surveillance still sticks out in my mind after a decade because I felt as though I took some lessons away from that experience.  I think specifically there was a lesson in patience.  

Now the story I shared was specific to insurance investigations and most of the time surveillance is conducted in the day.  But when an investigator isn’t getting activity in the day they may turn to conducting surveillance at night to see if there is more activity during that time frame.

Challenges of Night Surveillance

For the everyday surveillance investigator night surveillance can come with some challenges that make things even more difficult during a surveillance.  Below or some of the things I personally have struggled with during night surveillance efforts.  All of the challenges listed below come from a specific instance or many instances that I specifically remember having some challenges with.

Keeping Track of the Vehicle I am Following During a Night Surveillance

Generally speaking, following someone at night should be easier for a private investigator.  At night it is even more difficult for the person you are following to determine they are being followed (in most cases).  Because it is more difficult to be noticed during a surveillance assignment, a private investigator can be more aggressive when following someone.

The thing I have struggled with in the past is following someone in a busy traffic area like the freeway or in the city.  If some space starts to develop between myself and the subject I am following I don’t have the benefit usually of seeing the vehicle from a distance because everything is dark.  It can be very stressful for a private investigator to negotiate traffic, pedestrians, and the lack of visibility if things aren’t going to plan during mobile surveillance.

Videotaping in a Neighborhood at Night

One of the biggest struggles for me when videotaping at night is that my vehicle will light up from the viewfinder on my video camera.  So any neighbor walking by or casually looking out their window can see me in my vehicle very clearly thanks to my video camera’s viewfinder.

I try to cover it up but it is difficult to see what you are videotaping when you cover up the viewfinder.   

Who is Who?

Trying to videotape individuals outside at night with no street lights is very frustrating.  If the person you are documenting is walking with multiple people it might be difficult to determine who is who when there is no lighting.   It will be difficult to even determine what movements are being made at night when there is little outside lighting to work with.

If I have the chance/opportunity during a surveillance (usually when I am getting desperate to document activity) I might point my vehicle headlights in my subject’s direction (in specific circumstances) to provide some light the subject’s activity.

No More Hiding Behind Tint at Night

For me, I find myself having to either videotape through the front window or having to roll down one of my tinted windows slightly.  I do this because a tinted window makes it almost impossible to videotape through at night.  So paranoia generally creeps in my head that everyone can see me videotaping through a cracked window.

Getting Attacked by the Sleep Monster

The sleep monster is always hanging around when it is dark outside waiting to help you close your eyes and bob your head.   Loading up on coffee is a must for me in the early mornings and during night surveillance to keep the sleep monster at bay.

Identifying Subjects During a Night Surveillance

If you have a picture of the person you are supposed to follow but no one comes out of the residence until night time, it becomes more difficult to determine if the person leaving the house is your subject or not.

There are more than enough surveillance cases I have worked where I haven’t been able to identify the individual driving away from their residence until they arrived at their location.  Sometimes it was the right person and sometimes it wasn’t. If it wasn’t the right person I had to go back to the residence and hope the person I was there to conduct surveillance on was still there.

Night Time Surveillance Conclusion

There are many different ways that night surveillance can be a struggle for a surveillance investigator and the examples I provided are just some of the night time surveillance struggles I have had in past.  I am sure there are many more struggles you can think of and I hope you share them in the comments.  

Do you use a night vision camera during night surveillance?  Let me know what you are using and tell me how you like it.