Unknowns in Prepping will do you in
Many of my past experiences have contributed to the current prepping skills that I have now. I have learned that it is the Unknowns in Prepping that are what will do you in. I reflect back on my past career dealings often and use the experiences to better my skills.
A Learning Experience
I was working a workers compensation surveillance case down in Belle Glade Florida several years back the Claimant was an older Haitian migrant worker who had been injured in an automobile accident while being transported to the Orange Groves. I watched him for two days documenting his travels around the community and his range of movement while he walked. His reported injury was a knee injury and it was obvious by his gait that his knee was still bothering him.
Throughout the course of the investigation, I went up to his living quarters and introduced myself under a pretext cover story. I was able to verify his identity and got an insight on how he and his fellow workers lived in such a small apartment.
What I did not realize at the time was that I was also under surveillance by the local drug dealer and gang. As I was departing my surveillance location two vehicles proceeded to try and block me in at an intersection forcing me to resort to defensive driving.
I reported the activity to the local law enforcement agency only to later read about that Chief of Police being arrested for corruption involving the drug dealing activity.
Escaping by the seat of my pants
Another 24-day surveillance in Polk City Florida resulted in me being chased out of an orange grove by the claimant’s brother who was armed with a shotgun. We had permission from the grove owner to be there, but these investigations are not worth killing anyone over. What we did not know at the time was the grove location had a history because two Lakeland individuals had recently been murdered there during a drug rip-off.
In Daytona Beach Florida I was investigating and older individual who had been injured in a motorcycle accident. During the surveillance I followed the subject to Beach Street where he proceeds to enter the OUTLAWS motorcycle club house. The personal risk factor just increased 100 percent. This was after the big law enforcement bust of the late 90’s so I suspected they would be alert to surveillance, yet it turned out to be a quiet evening there.
In Sarasota Florida we were watching a young claimant’s residence we had been told that he had been previously schooled by his attorney on surveillance techniques, so we introduced ourselves to a young couple who lived in a nearby cull de sac and for the price of dinner out we were granted permission to sit in front of their residence unbothered.
After several days our investigation was coming to an end when we picked up a tail from a different individual who thought we had been watching him. After a few tense moments we were able to calm the gentleman down dispel his fears without giving away who we were watching.
We all make mistakes
On night back when I was a wet behind the ears deputy we were off duty having dinner with a more seasoned fellow deputy and his family at a Long Horn Steak house when three individuals wearing tee shirts for masks bust into the restaurant and snatched a twenty something white male out of his booth by the front door of the establishment.
I was about to clear leather and go after them, but the seasoned deputy stopped me saying “Wait, something is not right”. He was processing the scenario quicker than I was, we learned from the waitress that this was a staged bachelor prank while the groom was having dinner with his wife to Be’s parents his friends decided they would scoop him up for a night out. Big ha-ha on me.
What I am getting at is nothing is ever what it seems, things that should be hard go easy and things that should be simple become a mess. Don’t be in a rush to act especially with force, truly read and understand the situation but don’t let your guard down either, have an exit plan because you do not know who may be watching you. Use you’re experiences to prepare yourself for the Unknowns in Prepping
Be safe and healthy my friends
Ralph Tcat.
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