Surveillance Is a necessary part of policing and it is good to see that the TV depict it so badly. It would be awful if they showed the criminals how we really did it.
I was involved in surveillance and indeed was a surveillance instructor on my unit we would do surveillance duties every 16 weeks for 6 weeks.

We would have certain targets prepared and at the start of the posting we would check our equipment and cars and then attend the briefing for the first job

"Right then" said Chris "the target today is a known burglar and we believe he is quite busy, we are not gonna get this guy in the act, but he is known to flog the stuff himself. So we are gonna see what he does and what he sells".

We go through the pictures and the vehicles he drives all the necessary intelligence is passed on and then tasks are given out.. I am on foot and would deploy should he walk around anywhere some one else is tasked to get a view of his house and to give us all a heads up as to when he leaves his house, this can mean hours of waiting and the location that they were gonna watch from was a bastard.

We are all in position and someone is watching the front door we are around the area paired up waiting and trying not to show out.

Contact, contact, contact, Crackles out over the radio.. He is into his car and off….we follow him and if its ok with you I wont go into the ins and outs of how we do this.. and no it does not consist of any type of bugging or electrical devices just good old fashioned coppering, surveillance style.

He is driving down towards Peckham and he stops by a café and goes in…someone goes with him and we find out he has met with another man …after a cup of tea they get in the car and drive to a lock up and load what is believed to be computers into the boot, they then drive off.

They park up and take a computer from the boot. I am out on foot and am now watching them, I and others follow them to a second hand shop. I am into the shop before them as I have anticipated what they were going to do and when they come in I am in a corner looking at some computer stuff.

They try to sell the computer but no joy. And they leave and go back to the car.

The reason we have not nicked them is if we go to soon we won’t get the evidence. And of course there is a slim chance the computer is legit…I said slim…stop laughing.

They drive off and they stop after a short time again I have spotted the second hand shop before they get there and am in like flin and waiting.

They again try to sell the computer and are talking to the shop keeper…” excuser me mate”…"Excuse me” I have to look and the bloke is looking at me "could you help a second mate" he says looking right at me. I go over and the bloke asks me about the expansion slot capacity, I give him a load of bullshit and as I do I see written on the top of the computer is property of St **** school. I held back a smile the shop keeper declined to buy it and they left. I passed on the info to the rest and some checks were done and the school had been burgled 3 nights ago of 10 computers. Mums had sold cakes and held tombola’s kids had done sponsored walks and bake sales..people in the community had all helped to get a IT unit at the school; and the money raised had gone towards the computers. This bastard took it away in one night.

We followed him until he and his chum went back to the lock up and when they went in we went in screaming and shouting scaring the shit out of them.. the computers were all there and some stuff from another school. They were taken in and I was one of the officers who interviewed our man..

After the usual procedure we questioned him about the lock up …he had no idea about the surveillance…he claimed that he had bought the computer in his car from a bloke who had walked into a second hand shop and the bloke he bought it off had told him that the monitor was in a garage in Peckham. He paid the bloke, but the bloke was busy so he gave him the keys to the lock up so that he could get the monitor..(Trusting bloke). Who was the person that he bought the computer off then…”dunno it was today in * second hand shop”.

“Can you describe him”? “Yeah, he was about six two, short hair and glasses , he had a blue shirt on and oh yes and he had a scar on his face just like yours”…….his eyes widened and the penny dropped..