SURV

	Case Studies Frequently Asked Questions Statistics

Arson - Unperishable Evidence
In a period of just a few weeks, a warehouse facility had been the site of six arson fires. The sprinkler system had stopped the fires, but not before substantial damage had occurred and the insurance had been cancelled.

Our installers discovered that the perpetrators had stayed in the warehouse and not gone onto the office portion of the facility. We installed a camera to overview the location where the six fires had occurred and, by running a long cable, we installed the recorder in a remote closet area of the office space. Within one week, another fire occurred at the warehouse. However, the arsonists had evidently discovered the recorder; removed it from its waterproof case; thrown it on a pile which they doused with a flammable liquid and ignited. The recorder was totally melted.

We brought the recorder back to our shop and disassembled it. Although the case was destroyed, the tape itself was intact. We removed the cassette from the recorder with pry bars, transferred the tape to another cassette and viewed it on another recorder. We found twelve frames that captured the perpetrators in the act of arson. Using a video enhancer, we produced pictures of the perpetrators and delivered them to law enforcement officials. Criminal charges were brought and convictions were obtained against the individuals identified in those pictures.

Controlled Substance
A major metropolitan hospital discovered shortages in its narcotics inventory. The shortages were found through a comprehensive program of safeguards designed to protect against just such losses.

SURV installed a camera covering the area where the supply of the missing substances were stored. In three days, a coordinated check of the tape and the pharmacy records revealed that one pharmacist had removed narcotics for which he had not filled prescriptions. A second camera was installed which followed the pharmacist into an unused area of the pharmacy - where investigators located a box nearly filled with the missing narcotics. While installing a third camera, the investigator and our video technician saw the suspect remove the box and leave the pharmacy.

Investigators stopped the suspect as he reached his vehicle carrying the stolen narcotics. The subsequent investigation by law enforcement officials resulted in the pharmacist's arrest and loss of credentials.

After-Hour Activities
A well-known restaurant in downtown Boston began to suspect that there was theft going on during the hours that the owner was not on the premises. They hired an investigator who suggested the use of covert video. SURV installed three cameras in an attempt to determine the pattern of theft on the premises. After three weeks the owner was shocked at the amount of illegal activity on the premises. On several nights, the night manager was observed engaging in drug activity in the manager's office and at the bar. A camera at the bar observed the drug activity as well as most of the night shift employees involved in several rounds of after hours drinking. Much of the drinking was after the licensed hours of the premises. The owner immediately terminated all the employees who had been involved. Revenues increased dramatically in the four week period following the terminations.

Sluggish Student
A local college had equipped its dormitories with emergency doors mounted with contacts that triggered an alarm when the exits were used. Someone in one of the dorms was cutting the wiring to prevent the alarm from going off. After several incidents where the college would repair the wiring only to have the same problem reoccur, SURV was recruited to catch the offender. Video cameras were installed to watch over two emergency exits from the inside. Videotape showed the culprit to be a student. He confessed that he had cut the wires because it was more convenient to use the emergency doors than to walk all the way around to the main exits. The student was expelled.

High School Hooligan
A local police department was contacted by a high school after anti-semitic graffiti began appearing on the walls of the school property. Unable to catch the culprit, the school turned to SURV to investigate the situation. A covert camera was positioned outside the private area where the desecration was occurring. A staff member was then assigned to examine the private area at every class period break to check for new graffiti.

When freshly painted swastikas and slogans were discovered, the video revealed that only one person had entered the area in question. The student confessed after being confronted and was charged with a civil rights violation.

Desk Thief
An educational institution in the metro Boston area was having an ongoing problem in their workplace after closing. When employees returned to work in the morning, they discovered that their desks had been rifled through. While the thefts were minor in nature, involving small amounts of money and other personal items, the employees were extremely upset by the activities and violation of privacy.

To address the issue, SURV was consulted and a camera was installed. The video surveillance covered work areas used by several employees containing a number of desks. Shortly after the installation, another theft occurred, which was caught on the cameras. The videotape revealed that a night shift security guard was pilfering the desks late at night. He was immediately terminated from employment.

Leaky Information
Trade secrets, production levels and new product information were being leaked from a Fortune 500 company to a principal competitor. A check of the company's computer-based phone system revealed calls from the engineering area of the facility to the engineering office of the competition. The check further revealed that those calls were made from an unassigned phone available to all engineering personnel.

SURV installed a camera that would view the suspect telephone, providing the best possible picture of the phone's touch-tone keypad. With the sole purpose of generating a phone call to the competitor, a false memo was circulated inside the engineering department delineating a substantial production change. Within three hours a call was made from the phone in question to the company in question. A check of the videotape revealed that an engineer of the company was on the phone at the time that the call was made. Investigators eventually identified the recipient of the information and were able to prove a case against the competing company. Civil litigation resulted in a settlement for over half a million dollars.

Looted Purse
A female executive at a large financial services company frequently left her pocketbook under her desk while attending meetings. On a few occasions, she discovered she had less money in her purse than she had remembered, but, attributed this to her own absent-mindedness. Yet cash continued to "disappear" from her purse, followed by credit cards. The executive alerted management, and the company recruited SURV to use covert video to identify the thief. Hidden cameras were placed in the executive's office, and her pocketbook was left out as bait. Over a two-week period, the cameras caught a secretary going through the executive's purse a total of 14 times. The secretary ’s employment was terminated.

Crashing Computer
A large brokerage firm was in technology hell. One of its multi-million dollar computers would crash, be repaired by the manufacturer, and then crash again. One year after the problem began, the company started demanding that the manufacturer replace the computer. But the vendor had come to believe that the problem was not the result of defective equipment, and hired SURV to determine whether someone was tampering with the machine.

SURV installed two cameras to watch the computer from different angles. Sure enough, the tapes revealed that a company employee was short circuiting the entire machine from an external output, causing the severe damage inside. The company prosecuted the employee under its state's Computer Crime Act and the computer manufacturer was able to recover the hundreds of thousands of dollars it had spent repairing the machine, as well as restore credibility with its multi-million dollar customer.

Cunning Cashier
When its cafeteria cash registers kept turning up short, a large medical facility brought in SURV to help catch the thief. SURV set up a covert camera to survey the registers. During just one shift, a cashier was videotaped stealing cash 70 times. When confronted with the videotape, the employee stood up and walked out of the building, never to return.

Mother Who Didn't Know Best
The owners of a fast food restaurant learned that daily cash totals didn’t match up to the volume of product being sold. They suspected the manager of stealing, but lacked proof. SURV was called in to assist. SURV technicians positioned two cameras to watch over the cash registers and two others to monitor the manager’s office. The videotape revealed that not only was the manager taking money, but that her daughter was in on the scheme as well. The manager was telling workers that their cash registers were coming up short and that they shouldn’t ring in their sales until they had enough cash in their drawers to make up the difference. The manager would remove the extra cash from the registers at the end of her shift and hide it in a drawer in her office. When her daughter came to work in the morning, she would take the money from its hiding spot and transfer it to her purse. Mother and daughter were immediately fired.

Pilfered Provolone
A company that owns several fast-food restaurants discovered that product and cash were mysteriously disappearing from one of its establishments. SURV was recruited to find out what was happening. Three covert cameras were installed to monitor the restaurant's storage area, kitchen area, and cash register. The videotapes, reviewed by SURV at the client's request, showed that food servers were under-ringing customers' meals and pocketing the overages in the cash register at the end of their shifts. The tapes further revealed that these employees were stealing food for themselves and their friends, with one camera capturing a young male worker stuffing a roll of provolone into his backpack. The same company then asked SURV to install cameras at a second location. Similar problems were detected, including under-ringing and theft of cash by a supervisor. All offenders were promptly terminated from employment.

Unreturned Returnables
A major beverage company was experiencing substantial shortages of returnable containers. Management suspected that truck drivers were selling the cans and bottles prior to their scheduled deliveries to a recycling facility but lacked proof. SURV was brought in to capture evidence of any theft on videotape.

The SURV team installed four covert cameras in the rafters of a warehouse to watch the unloading of trucks. The videotapes revealed that the truck drivers and counters were together falsifying paperwork to cover up large thefts of containers. The videotaped evidence put an end to the scheme, but not before the company had lost many thousands of dollars.

Free Meal
An owner of a large, hotel restaurant noticed an abundance of merchandise missing from the restaurant's refrigerator. The walk-in contained items ranging from sides of beef to vegetables, fruit and containers of milk. The security manager was concerned about these losses and contacted SURV to provide him with some answers.

Our engineers, using the latest temperature resistant cameras, endured the freezing conditions to place a camera strategically within the refrigerator viewing the entire walk-in and the only entrance.

The covert cameras caught a majority of the employees entering the refrigerator and eating what they wished. One employee did his weekly grocery shopping in the walk-in, filling a large bag that he obviously shared at home. Our covert installation put a halt to the theft within this restaurant with numerous employees disciplined for their actions.

Misfits
The owners of an alcohol beverage distribution center discovered a profuse amount of trash and "empties" throughout the warehouse. A portion of the warehouse contained storage for single bottles or misfits that were either mislabeled or were no longer a complete "pack" due to breakage.

The owner noticed that this stockpile had been diminished and suspected his employees of drinking the misfits. Eager to settle his suspicions, SURV was recruited to figure out what was happening after hours.

The entire night crew was caught on camera partying on the company every Friday night. Since the entire night crew participated in the wrong doing, the only action the owner could enforce without closing his business was to bring in new shift management and do a complete reorganization.

Surprise Disappearance
A major food manufacturer discovered a substantial number of products mysteriously disappearing from their inventory during its overnight shift. Puzzled by the thefts, management called in SURV to solve the problem. A camera was installed at the employee entrance/exit to monitor how products might be leaving the building - even though there was a security guard on duty during the night shifts.

On the first night, the camera revealed an even bigger surprise than employees leaving with armfuls of products. The evening security guard arrived at 10:00 p.m., punched in her time card, and promptly left for the night - not only allowing employees easy access to the company's stock of products, but creating a more serious security issue at the company. In the morning, the night guard's boyfriend, who was also a security guard for the company, would punch out her time card as if she had been there all night. The security guards were fired immediately.

Dishonorable Bartenders
Bartenders at a private club outside Boston operated under an honor system, where they counted out their own drawers and made out their own deposits for the next day. Meanwhile, the bar was losing a great deal of money even though business was excellent. Management suspected that bar staff was dipping into the profits - but couldn't prove it. SURV was brought in to capture proof on tape. Hidden video cameras caught bartenders slipping money into their pockets while they were cashing out at night. Management not only fired the offenders, but also instituted a new system of checks and balances and installed new computer-operated cash registers to prevent future thefts from occurring.

Shift Shirkers
A nationwide corporation suspected that employees in its New England facilities were cheating on their time cards. Management asked SURV to gain proof. SURV technicians installed covert cameras to monitor the time clocks at the work sites. They also put in cameras to watch vacant offices where workers were thought to be going to slack off. The cameras were connected to a digital recording system and were monitored from Texas over the company's computer network. Employees were recorded punching cards for friends who did not show up for work. They were also recorded entering vacant offices during their shifts and staying there for up to six hours at a time. SURV’s surveillance captured all of this behavior and quickly put an end to it.

Moved Microchips
After a large computer company discovered that $90,000 worth of SIMM chips had been moved over a weekend from their storage place to an area of the warehouse where they weren't supposed to be, the company knew it had a potentially big problem. SURV was recruited to figure out what was going on. A camera was placed in the warehouse where the chips had been moved to and three days later, the camera caught an employee going back for his hidden "loot". The employee was terminated and later prosecuted for the crime. After his arrest, an additional $30,000 worth of "missing" SIMM chips were found in the same warehouse staging area waiting to be stolen.

Overambitious Administrator
At a major consulting firm, management received an anonymous tip that the computer network administrator was ordering parts he did not need and using them in a business he ran on the side. When the company began monitoring the parts this employee was ordering through his supply chains, it learned that he was receiving an excessive number of zip drives. At management's request, SURV placed unseen cameras overlooking the supply room used by the network administrator. The resulting videotape showed this employee removing zip drives - and several other computer parts - from the storage area and putting them into his laptop computer case before leaving for the evening. The company fired him, but not before absorbing significant losses.

Social Worker's Shake Down
A private investigations firm contacted SURV to capture videotaped evidence that would prove the allegations of one of its clients. The client, a woman receiving public assistance, claimed that her case manager was extorting money from her in exchange for continuation of her benefits. SURV put a wireless video system in the client's home, and tapes showed the social worker taking $500 from the woman.

"She Said, He Said"
A female associate at a local high-tech company complained to senior management that a male co-worker in an adjoining work cubicle was sexually harassing her. The male associate claimed that the female had confronted him in his work area with rude and threatening comments on several occasions. He also said he had returned to his cubicle one day to find his wife's image cut out of a photo of the two of them, and that he had received phone calls from a male caller warning him he had "better watch out."

The company called on SURV to investigate the matter. Technicians installed covert cameras to watch both cubicles. It was discovered that the female associate was approaching the male associate's work area and making comments to him. The videotapes also corroborated the male worker's documentation of when specific incidents had occurred. His co-worker was fired.

Obscene Caller
A young, female employee of a Fortune 500 company began to receive sexually oriented, harassing phone calls. Although her internal corporate telephone number was changed, the calls continued. A check of the computer-based phone system indicated that the calls were made from company phones located in areas accessible to numerous employees. Three weeks after the calls began, notes began appearing on the woman's desk, graphically describing the intent of the writer.

SURV installed a camera to monitor the desk area of the woman. Within three days a note was left; the videotape was reviewed; the perpetrator was identified.

The company terminated the employment of the perpetrator. The woman is pursuing civil action against him.

Punctured Tires
The foreman of a major contracting firm was having labor difficulties with workers under his supervision. During this time, his car was severely vandalized while parked in the company lot. Management, suspecting that the foreman's car problems were not coincidental, called in SURV to investigate. Three days after technicians installed a covert camera to monitor the foreman's parking space, the camera captured a union employee getting out of his car and inserting an ice pick into two of the foreman's tires. Management turned over the videotape to state police, and the perpetrator was arrested and fired from his job.

Unauthorized Access
A company-operated health care center for employees and their families included a staff psychiatrist who handled the employee Stress, Alcohol and Drug Treatment Programs. Over a period of time, the psychiatrist noticed several indicators that unauthorized access was being gained to his office.

Due to the extremely sensitive nature of the material of his office, there was tremendous concern on the part of corporate management. There was also very serious concern about violating patient confidentiality if a video camera were installed in this office. In consultation with the doctor and corporate security, we decided that we should install a camera system with a timer set to preclude taping during the normal operating hours of the health care center, when patients were in the psychiatrist's office.

After two weeks, the videotapes were reviewed. They showed that a member of the evening security staff and another unauthorized employee of the health care center were entering the office after hours. Appropriate action was taken by the health care center administration.

Missing Materials
A Rhode Island machine shop was experiencing severe increases in their production costs that were attributed to unexplained losses of raw materials. Subsequently, two employees arrived for work early one morning and thought they heard people in what should have been an empty production area.

The company contacted a private investigator who brought in SURV Cameras were installed in the production area and discovered that on particular nights unauthorized individuals were accessing the property.

Based on the pattern determined by the cameras, undercover investigators planted themselves inside the facility and waited. In the early morning hours, several individuals entered the property. Local police, who had been previously forewarned, were immediately called and arrested the culprits.

Forgotten Yards
A company that manufactured a clothing product out of bulk rolled fabric couldn't figure out why its costs were rising so dramatically. On closer inspection, management found that the business was purchasing much more fabric than was needed to process its product. Yet there was never any excess fabric. Confused, the company hired a private investigator who in turn brought in SURV. Although management had suspected three employees of stealing, hidden cameras disproved their suspicion.

Management finally came up with a possible answer and decided to test it out. Unbeknownst to workers, the managers entered the factory one weekend and measured several rolls of raw fabric. They discovered that the rolls were ten to fifteen yards shorter than what the company had ordered. That week, management had workers open up and measure every roll of fabric on the premises. All of them came up short. It turned out that the vendor had been cheating the company for several years.

Hit-Upon Hospital
Recurrent theft prompted a major hospital to contact SURV. Cash and personal items had been stolen from a small room where hospital workers stored their belongings. SURV's hidden cameras caught two employees entering the room with flashlights and combing through pockets and drawers, stealing whatever they liked. One of the perpetrators was a maintenance worker; the other, a security guard. The videotaped evidence put an immediate end to the problem.

Pinched Password
A major Boston hospital was equipped with computerized machines for dispensing patient medications. In order to access these pharmaceuticals, nurses had to punch in their employee password followed by a patient code. Only then would the machine release the medication, and only in the prescribed amount. Efficient though this system was, it was not fool-proof. Nurses on various shifts began having problems with one of the machines, where they would enter in a patient's code only to learn that the required medication had already been dispensed. Knowing the patient hadn't received the medication, the nurses would then have to contact the pharmacy to get the medication reissued.

After consulting with SURV, hospital administrators agreed to put in a hidden camera to monitor staff activity. Videotapes showed one nurse using the machine who should not have been on the unit. Upon further investigation, administrators confirmed that she had been stealing pharmaceuticals by using an old employee password. The hospital removed her from her nursing duties and reassessed its security coding system.

Larcenous Lottery Buff
The owners of a garden store and farm stand noticed large shortages in the supply of state lottery tickets sold to customers. SURV was called in to investigate, and technicians set up two cameras to watch the area where tickets were purchased. SURV hit the jackpot when the videotapes showed a worker with six years at the company pocketing numerous tickets. When confronted by police, the suspect admitted to over $90,000 worth of ticket theft. She kept all the losing tickets at her home, so she could claim them as a tax deduction against here winnings. Once the owners had her number, they fired her immediately.

Nailed Associate
The owner of a local hardware store noticed that a long-time employee was voiding an unusually high number of sales when ringing up his cash register. Further scrutiny showed that many of the items that had been voided had actually been sold to customers. SURV was called to install a covert camera to watch the cash register area. The suspected associate was caught on videotape canceling out legitimate sales and then pocketing the cash. The store is now attempting to get restitution from the employee, who has the financial means to pay. The storeowner estimates that he lost approximately $40,000.

Washed-Up Crook
A company that supplies coin-operated laundry equipment to apartment buildings didn't understand why several of its washers and dryers were coming up empty in cash. There were no mechanical problems with the equipment. There were no signs of vandalism. What was happening to the coins?

SURV was tapped to determine the source of the missing money. A pinhole camera was installed inside the control panel of one of the client's washers. The resulting videotape showed a man opening machine cash boxes with a key and stealing the money. The face shots of the subject couldn't have been clearer. The matter is now under investigation by police.

Shady Saddle Salesman
An equestrian shop was approached by a salesman who wanted to sell a new saddle on consignment through their store. The shop, suspicious of the low price he was asking - saddles can cost thousands of dollars - discretely wrote down the serial number of the saddle to check if it was stolen. Sure enough, the saddle the salesman was peddling was still listed in inventory at the manufacturer's warehouse, but wasn't there. The manufacturer hired a private investigator, who called on SURV, to help catch the thief.

Covert cameras were placed in the manufacturer's warehouse and near the exit. Then a "sting" operation was set up. The manufacturer had the shop owner call the salesman and request another saddle in a specific color and model. A few days later, the camera caught one of the manufacturer's employees stealing the saddle from the warehouse and he was promptly fired.

Sweetheart Deal
A small chain of liquor stores was experiencing a serious decline in their gross and net revenues. At the same time, they were ordering more and more product, indicating that sales were actually up. Management knew they had a problem and covert cameras were installed by SURV to observe the cash registers in the store.

The night cashier was quickly captured on camera passing merchandise across the barcode scanner in a manner that would preclude the product from being rung up. The employee was stealing approximately $200 per night.

In addition, the cameras showed the night manager, "sweet-hearting" numerous items - meaning he was letting friends pass through without paying for all their purchases. Both employees were terminated after agreeing to make restitution for their thefts. The owners also decided to prosecute these employees.

Gift Shop Scam
An operator of several gift shops at a major airport discovered, over a period of time, that store inventories were not coinciding with the total number of units allegedly sold. Disturbed by the discrepancies, management hired a private investigator. He in turn recruited SURV to install covert cameras to monitor sales staff. The videotapes showed that employees were stealing merchandise -- and cash to boot. Unbeknownst to management, each cash register had a button in the back that, when pushed, would cause the drawer to pop open. Employees would remove money and adjust their cash by not ringing up units sold. Once irrefutable evidence was obtained, the company pursued criminal complaints against the major violators (some employees were stealing as much as $1,000 a day) resulting in their arrest. The remaining employees were terminated.

Mismanaged Deposit
The cash-out procedure at a well-known retail store was straightforward: receipts were placed in a night deposit bag and left in a locked drawer in a back room for the manager to deposit the following morning. But one morning, the money bag was missing. The store manager alerted security and reported the incident to the regional supervisor. Security found no signs of forced entry. The bag was later discovered dumped behind a cash register. It had been slit open and its contents removed.

Faced with a loss of several thousand dollars and worried about future losses, the company contacted SURV. Technicians installed a covert camera without the knowledge of store employees. As documented on tape, the perpetrator turned out to be the very manager who had reported the missing bag in the first place. He was fired immediately.

Missing Freight
At the warehouse of a large air freight carrier, shipments of merchandise were broken down into smaller loads and distributed to various locations across the country. Over time, the owner of the carrier received several phone calls from vendors complaining that deliveries were coming up short. The owner, suspecting an internal thief, contacted a security firm, which in turn brought in SURV. Within two weeks, the owner learned exactly what was going on. Covert cameras, strategically placed in the warehouse, captured the entire night shift slashing open cartons of goods with knives and helping themselves to the merchandise. Because they were unsupervised, it was easy for them not only to short-load the outgoing freight, but also to leave the premises with the stolen goods concealed in their personal belongings. The owner took immediate action against these workers.

Midnight Shift
A major air freight handler had received information that many late-night employees were not working the full shift for which they were being paid. Due to a strong union, long waiting lists of employment, and continued hiring of family members, it was impossible to place undercover investigators to pursue the investigation.

We developed a system of long range lenses and recording equipment to note the time of entry and work habits of the employees. The tapes revealed and documented that employee time theft was rampant at the facility, involving most of the employees.

Over a period of six weeks, twenty-three employees were documented as punching in, then being absent for all but the last five minutes of their shifts. The former national union president was shown as the most flagrant and repeat offender. When the investigation was revealed, union representatives were present with the employees. The videotapes proved the guilt of the accused.