Covert Operations

The Professional Witnesses Covert Operations Department specialises in the tactic of Infiltration together with Covert Surveillance. The Department is managed by our our Covert Operations Manager Tracy Webster.

Tracy is a former member of the Royal Military Police who has been engaged as a ‘covert surveillance operative’ for several years. She is particularly adept and experienced in the tactic of housing estate infiltration together with company infiltration. Tracy is involved in the recruitment, training and development of PWL covert staff ensuring that standards of excellence are maintained.

All members of the Professional Witness Covert Operations Department are subjected to enhanced vetting. This is due to the sensitive nature of many of the operations we are deployed upon. Additionally all of our staff is highly trained in evidence and intelligence gathering together with a sound knowledge of the legal frameworks that we operate within such as PACE, RIPA, ECHR and CPIA.

We employ a ‘Can Do’ philosophy and always strive to improve by embracing new ideas, utilising the latest technology remembering that “we are only limited by our imagination” when it comes to deploying new and creative tactics and methodology!

Covert Operations

We present evidence to courts, both civil and criminal, as a matter of course. We also service company needs at industrial and employment tribunals together with internal discipline hearings.

Housing Estate Infiltration

We are vastly experienced in carrying out covert surveillance work on behalf of both Local Authority housing departments and Anti Social Behaviour Units together with Housing Associations.

All our operations are meticulously planned and when carried out on behalf of a public authority are authorised under the auspices of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in respect of Directed Surveillance or the conduct and use of CHIS.
Our operatives once briefed with the ‘intelligence case’ will be deployed onto the housing estate in question and will be set ‘operational and personal ‘objectives with the aim of confirming or disproving the intelligence on which the operation is mounted thereby fully complying with RIPA and ECHR.

The operatives will be deployed in the identified area using approved and tested tactics; they will be supported by our technical staff that will strategically deploy technical equipment when required.

Professional Witnesses employ a cover/welfare operative for each covert infiltration ensuring that the pre deployment Health and Safety risk assessment in respect of the undercover operatives is maintained throughout the operation.
All evidence and indeed intelligence is contemporaneously recorded and wherever possible corroborated utilising technical equipment. The cover officer will also be responsible for the dissemination of intelligence product to the operational team i.e Anti Social Behaviour Unit or Neighbourhood Policing Team.

Any operation Professional Witnesses engage on will be subject to a confidentiality policy which will apply to all within the knowledge base.

Following an agreed exit strategy our operatives will be available for de brief and will be competent and assured in relation to attending court to give any required evidence.

Company Infiltration

Professional Witnesses Ltd specialise in the tactic of Company Infiltration; this can range from ‘shop floor’ infiltration to more sophisticated techniques aimed at uncovering incidents of ‘industrial espionage’ and ‘insider dealing’

Each infiltration is managed by a dedicated experienced PWL manager who will be responsible for the dissemination of intelligence to the client together with advice and support regarding future tactics and methodology, this despite the fact that all our operations will be ‘customer led’.

The issues that PWL have experience in investigation include dishonesty in the workplace, misuse of drugs together with security and management issues such as inappropriate behaviour, bullying and harassment of staff. Health and Safety compliance has also featured heavily in our existing customers thought process.

The recent Corporate Manslaughter Act has led to many members of Company Executive and their senior management teams to examine carefully the existing Health and Safety measures they have in place, however compliance with those measures is an entirely different consideration.

Carefully defined deployment of undercover staff within the workplace will provide the client with a clear, unbiased ‘day in the life’ account of how these measures are being managed and deployed.

We pride ourselves on the presentation of a professional evidence package to our customers on a daily and weekly basis to enable them to deal with the issues as they may wish. Professional Witnesses will attend any court or tribunal in order to present this evidence; invariably however, the quality and nature of our evidence is such that our statements and affidavits are generally accepted in written format as the defence preference is not to have the evidence in chief, visual or oral, exposed in the open court.

Test Purchase Operations or Mystery Shopper

Are your employees treating your customers as you would wish? Is the correct price being paid for the item being sold? Are your staff dishonestly by-passing your invoicing system and charging a lower price for cash which invariably means that others are benefiting from your loss in profits.

A simple yet effective tactic to combat this problem is to use our trained personnel to become part of the buying sequence or as a point of sale purchaser. Again our evidence can be used as an internal tool for training requirements or on a more formal basis at court or other legal tribunal.

Surveillance Operations

The Professional Witness Covert Team is trained and highly experienced in relation to static, foot and mobile surveillance. We are adept at gathering intelligence and evidence using these techniques. Many companies choose to employ PWL as part of a robust proactive tactic within sickness management. Previous clients have had members of staff who have made spurious claims against them citing injury and subsequent disability from workplace incidents.

Our surveillance teams have on many occasions been deployed with a view to establishing the authenticity of the alleged injuries and have evidenced many examples of fraud which has led to the withdrawal of the claims and discipline procedures being invoked. Other examples of private sector surveillance includes the monitoring of potentially dishonest employees who are engaged in ‘moonlighting’ activities whilst being paid by their primary employer. PWL deploy conventional and technical surveillance to confirm or disprove this alleged activity. Once again we are competent and adept at producing evidence packages to be placed before any tribunal or court.

Covert Equipment

The use of our employees can also be supplemented by the utilisation of our fully insured range of covert cameras, microphones and digital recording equipment. We possess microwave transmitters, receivers and covert body worn recording equipment. Whatever the format of the recording, our comprehensive editing suite allows us to provide our clients with easily assimilated polished products consisting of a compilation tape/disc, affidavits, statements and observation logs.

The company has affiliations to other proven specialist companies which provide a full service from comprehensive forensic analysis to the lease/hire/purchase of covert equipment. We are therefore able to provide best value by offering a ‘one stop acquisition service’ for all investigatory and surveillance requirements.

We also provide the very latest AGPS/GSM/RF tracking technology aimed at supporting our conventional surveillance teams in their evidence and intelligence gathering operations. These ‘People and Asset’ tracking devices are supported through Professional Witnesses Limited 24 hour/365 day Emergency Response Centre.

All our ‘technical fits’ are carried out by fully trained, highly experienced technical operatives who emanate from a Police or Military Covert background.

For further information and prices please use our enquiry form or contact us on the numbers posted on this site.