arrange a date to set this project in stone, and finally this was
achieved in late June.
As soon as we met the guy’s, we knew this was gonna be a great
course; we had done all the recce’s on the training areas and
set the syllabus to suit the guy’s operational requirements. Next
was to deliver the training, this can sometimes be unnerving
when dealing with groups that are already conducting live
surveillance. We always aim to raise the skill set and for our
students to achieve their end goal, which in this case was
to become the first company based in the US to be awarded
our OFQUAL approved Level 4 qualification in Covert Rural
Surveillance Operations.
Our TEAM was formed with a group of divers’ investigators
who were raised and worked in the Rural New England area.
Our team’s exposure to hunting and working in the woods
naturally built up our confidence and patience to conduct covert
surveillance in rural areas; we just progressed from hunting
animals to hunting for the evidence our clients expect. We have
now taken that experience to a new level with the training we
received from CROPS Surveillance Ltd www.crops.uk.com
PMCI: Moving on to more recent things, we see that our
friends at CROPS have been across the pond, can you tell us
more about this and how and it came about that you chose
CROPS to run your training package?
RSG: RECON recognized that the UK’s Accredited Training model
provided for a much more realistic method for determining
which companies / investigators are capable of performing
professional surveillance. The regulated Licensing of Investigators
in the US does not account for an individual investigators specific
experience in surveillance. Most licensing requirements in the
US rely on past LE Experience and a knowledge of the law. Any
professional investigator recognizes that prior LE experience
alone does not mean that an individual is capable of performing
commercial surveillance. I was a prior LE officer and I can easily
say that my success today was driven by rural upbringing
combined with my 11+ years of conducting private surveillance
in some of the most challenging terrain.
I researched the UK model of accredited training for many years
in my hopes of eventually being able to obtain some training.
In all the research I performed, CROPS was clearly the company
which would provide RECON with the best training experience.
CROPS experience was current and most in line with the
progression of advanced surveillance in todays market.
PMCI: After learning about the involvement of CROPS, we
through it only right to bring them into the feature. So
guy’s, how was it over in the states with the RECON boys?
NAT
RECON was told from the very start that this was not a paper
pass course like others, that they will be up early and digging
CROPS: Awesome! It’s always great meeting others that
are professionally driven and like-minded. We had been in
communications for just over a year with RECON trying to
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