Since 2019, not even private investigators in Oklahoma have been able to legally place tracking devices onto someone else’s vehicle for surveillance purposes. This is because someone had chosen to hire a private eye to follow a politician around to see where he was going, what he was doing, and with whom. The politician got so angry that he outlawed tracking devices for legal professionals; it was already illegal under Oklahoma’s laws for non-private detectives to do so. Nevertheless, some stalkers, disaffected exes, bosses, and other creeps choose to use them anyway. When this happens, people who suspect foul play has occurred flood our private investigation agency to help them conduct surveillance sweeps to find hidden video cameras, GPS tracking devices, audio recording devices, etc.
Types of Hidden Devices People Illegally Use:
Stalkers and other miscreants sometimes use a variety of hidden surveillance devices to monitor the actions and whereabouts of individuals for a variety of reasons. Some of the most common types of devices these individuals use include, but are not limited to, the following:
GPS Tracking Devices:
From Apple AirTags “Find My iPhone” and even those larger, archaic types of olden days where people used to hide those big bulky devices inside of tire rims, in trunks, or other sneaky places, these items still abound. One needs only do a simple Google search to find all types of available types of devices people can purchase to illegally hunt, stalk, and harass their intended targets.
Hidden Video Cameras/CCTV:
For those seeking voyeurism and those simply wanting to act in a controlling manner, whereby they monitor the whereabouts and actions of a person without attempting to find a private investigator, then hidden camera/CCTV devices do the trick. From Ring cameras and obvious doorbell cameras to hidden cameras disguised as beer cans, clocks, and more, creeps and stalkers alike can purchase these online or at local security stores like Security Options in Oklahoma City.
While hidden cameras and other secret CCTV devices do not track an individual’s GPS location, they can impose a gross violation of privacy and dignity, especially when the criminals place them in spaces like bathrooms, locker rooms, and in spaces where children are present. Unless the space is a public area like a street or business where no expectation of privacy exists – bathrooms are still private spaces regardless – then it is an illegal action under Oklahoma’s laws.
Hidden Audio Recording Devices:
Perpetrators wishing to monitor others and stalk will also use secret audio recording devices. In places where expectations of privacy exist, such as in homes, vehicles, bathrooms, locker rooms, etc., it is illegal to place these devices which record other people’s conversations. Indeed, in Oklahoma it is illegal to record other individuals’ conversations, unless the person doing the recording is a party to what is being said.
These are the main, most common types of surveillance devices that our private investigators discover through countersurveillance private investigations. There are many different discreet styles on the market and plenty of subsequent techniques to secretly hide them, so the victims often do not detect their presence. Our countersurveillance private eyes are adept at locating these and rooting them out for our clients.
Reasons People Use Hidden Cameras, Listening Devices, & Tracking Devices:
There are a wide range of reasons that people use hidden listening devices, cameras, and trackers to monitor the activity of others. While some methods are legal, others are not. The most common reasons for their use include, but are not limited to, the following:
Voluntary Use of These Devices:
Some people gladly welcome the use of surveillance cameras, GPS trackers like Find My iPhone, and other monitoring devices. These individuals want their loved ones and closest family to know where they are, whom they are with, and where they are going. Indeed, the owners of our private detective agency in Del City have Ring cameras placed throughout the inside and outside of their PI agency office, with additional dash cameras placed inside their vehicles and even outside their residential area. The wife-wife duo also shares their GPS location with one another and other family members for added security and safety, while conducting criminal private investigations and doing process serving. If everyone consents, there is nothing morally or legally wrong with doing this.
Law Enforcement Personnel Uses:
Police and other law enforcement and spy agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and others often have valid uses for their wiretap investigations and other types of sweeping surveillance. Their use often requires securing warrants from a judge to obtain such information, with the use sanctioned by the government when catching criminals and providing safe, effective, national security measures – supposedly.
Some critics argue that this sweeping surveillance goes too far and is too intrusive into the lives of common citizens in the United States, coming ever closer to rivaling the tactics leaders of Communist countries like China, Russia, and North Korea utilize to spy on and control everyone living within their borders. Indeed, activists like Chelsea Manning have even helped expose these governmental overreaches in the past, bringing light to just how far intrusive governmental surveillance tactics have evolved over the years.
Stalkers/Voyeurs, Murderers, Rapists, Etc.
Perpetrators with criminal motivations to stalk, harass, threaten, rape, kidnap, or even murder their intended victims. Indeed, there are all kinds of stalkers and criminals, from control freaks to disgruntled exes and more who wish to harm other people. When surveillance devices fall into the hands of these perpetrators or when they locate an unsuspecting private detective to conduct surveillance private investigations, skip tracing, catfishing private investigations, and/or social media scans on their behalf, chaos and privacy violations often ensue – sometimes even murder, as with husband Bryan Walshe’s brutal slaying of his wife, Ana Walshe.
As one can clearly see, there are many reasons why people use surveillance. From the voluntary to government purposes and even criminal activity, our criminal private detectives have seen it all. With ever-increasing technological advances and the evolution of surveillance in society, fifty or a hundred years from now could see an entirely different landscape.
Where Our Private Detectives Sweep for Hidden Listening, Video, and GPS Devices:
Our rape private investigators often conduct surveillance sweeps in a variety of settings for different reasons. The most common locations we use often include, but are not limited to, the following locations:
Vehicle Sweeps:
Due to the number of GPS tracking devices perpetrators like bitter ex-spouses and other partners and other stalkers sometimes put onto a person’s car, truck, or SUV, new clients constantly flood our OKC private investigation agency’s phone lines with calls asking for help doing surveillance sweeps for hidden bugs, listening devices, and GPS trackers located inside of their personal and even business vehicles. There is never a shortage of requests for help with these, because placing the items in an individual’s automobile allows creeps and other perpetrators the potential to not only visually and auditorily monitor someone but simultaneously track the person’s location. This is why a significant majority of our countersurveillance sweeps occur on an individual’s vehicle.
Cell Phones/iPads, Laptop Computers:
As if helplessly watching both the government and “Big Brother” companies tracking our every move were not bad enough, it is alarming at how easily evildoers can hack into cell phones, laptops, and other personal electronic devices and put trackers, malware, viruses, etc., onto them. This is especially true for individuals like close family members and friends who might have easy access to the devices and any protective passwords. Our private investigation agency in Norman receives numerous requests for assistance in conducting bug sweeps on electronic devices.
Residential Locations:
Our stalking private investigations also bring our legal team to the residential areas of our clients. Many of our clients are afraid of retaliatory ex-lovers, intrusive police surveillance and harassment, criminals off the street, and more. They want to ensure that no one has placed a hidden camera, listening device, or other trackers onto their property. Indeed, a person’s home is her castle, and unless the individual feels safe living there, it will raise his, her, or their cortisol levels, causing a decline in health. Thus, our romance scam private investigators work diligently to help detect hidden listening devices with our scanners and personal searching.
Office Settings:
Office settings are yet another area our firm receives call to help investigate. This is especially true of sensitive businesses, such as medical marijuana dispensaries and companies with internal turmoil and discord between the owners and staff. Suspicions can grow, criminal activity like embezzlement, sexual harassment, and even stalking behaviors sometimes occur.
Our surveillance private eyes help bring peace of mind to employers and employees alike. By clearing company workspaces of hidden cameras, audio recording devices, and even trackers, our legal services restore integrity to business environments and remove any predatory threat devices therein. If we do find malicious devices placed within the office environment, our private investigator in Edmond will be sure to inform the clients about its presence once they have removed it and have neutralized the threat.
How Surveillance Private Investigators Find Hidden Devices:
When you locate a private investigator to help you locate hidden tracking devices, CCTV video cameras, and listening devices, she will take great care to try to uncover and neutralize anything adverse she finds. The most typical ways of locating these items include, but are not limited to, the following:
Scanning Device Search:
One of the best and most effective ways to find hidden cameras and listening devices during countersurveillance investigations includes utilizing a special scanning device. Private investigation equipment stores abound, both the brick-and-mortar ones and those online. The have less expensive devices that offer mediocre results, and the best private investigators with financial resources will buy the better ones that cover larger frequency ranges and often yield better results.
As the Oklahoma private eye take these devices and move them over areas in question, if any tracking or audio recording devices give off a frequency within the device’s range, a noise or vibration will go off. When this occurs, the PI will then perform a manual search to see if any auditory, CCTV, or other tracking device is in the immediate area.
To conduct this search properly with a bug sweep scanner, it is first imperative that the private eye in Yukon, OK first turn off all cell phones, Wi-Fi, and other electronics which have frequencies which could interfere with the proper functioning of the bug scanner. By failing to do so, it is much more likely that the GPS tracking device scanner will display false positives when there is in fact no problematic device in the area. Thus, all criminal private detectives must take great care and caution to remove these frequency disrupters before starting.
Red Light Search:
To find hidden cameras, our legal team will use a special red light and viewing lens to spot tiny camera lights. Even in the darkest, most discreet locations, camera lenses appear easily when our team uses this special technique. The average person does not know how to do this and does not know what to look for, so it is important to find a private detective who has the proper education, training, and experience to complete the job successfully.
Manual Search with PI’s Hands & Eyes:
Another important way to locate hidden devices is for the murder private investigator to perform a manual search, both visually and with her/his/their hands. Once the scanner alerts the private eye to potential problematic predatory devices, it is then necessary to look at and feel around the system, removing surrounding objects. It is then feasible to identify and remove any concomitant video camera and audio recording devices and GPS trackers.
These are just some of the types of hidden bugs perpetrators sometimes use, along with the reasons they do it and how our Oklahoma private investigation staff locates and neutralizes them. If you have more questions or are concerned that someone might be stalking you and/or the ones you love, then please give us a call. Our owners and other staff will be more than happy to speak with you and offer a free case consultation about the legal services we can offer.
