Why Investigative Trends Change Throughout the Year

Private investigators tend to see certain types of cases become more active at different times of the year. There is rarely one simple reason. People’s routines change, schedules change, and sometimes those changes create opportunities that were not there before.

School starts and ends. Vacations come and go. Work schedules change. Some industries become busier while others slow down. Weather improves or gets worse. Daylight becomes longer or shorter. Holidays interrupt normal routines. Children start sports and other activities. Families travel. People spend more or less time outdoors.

All of those changes can affect when certain behavior occurs, when a client begins noticing it, and when an investigator has a good opportunity to document it.

People also tend to take advantage of opportunity. Changes in work hours, school schedules, travel, childcare, family responsibilities, or other parts of everyday life can give someone more free time or create periods when their spouse or partner is not around.

Partners and spouses should be aware that those changes can sometimes create an opportunity for an outside relationship to begin. In other cases, someone may already be involved with another person and deliberately watch for changes in schedules or routines so they can take advantage of those openings without drawing as much attention at home.

Of course, there are many other reasons behavior or schedules can change. The concern usually develops when the same unexplained activity begins happening repeatedly or no longer fits what the spouse or partner is being told.

Infidelity is a good example. The beginning of the school year does not cause someone to have an affair. But once the kids are back in school, a spouse or partner may have more free time during the day, work schedules may leave them apart for longer periods, or other changes in their normal routine may create more opportunity. For someone already involved in an outside relationship—or looking for one—those openings can make the relationship easier to maintain and keep hidden.

The same idea can apply to other types of investigations. A parenting problem may become easier to see once school schedules return. A cohabitation pattern may become clearer once vacations end. A workers’ compensation claimant may become much more active outside when the weather improves.

After more than 17 years working investigative cases, I have learned that timing can matter almost as much as the investigative method itself. Knowing when someone is likely to follow a certain routine can mean the difference between useful surveillance and spending hours watching nothing happen.

Sometimes the pattern is obvious. Sometimes it is not.

A spouse starts staying late at work after school begins. A parenting-plan issue becomes easier to document once school pickups resume. A workers’ compensation claimant who showed very little outdoor activity during winter becomes much more active in spring. A vehicle starts appearing overnight at the same residence after summer travel ends and normal schedules return.

None of those things proves anything by itself. They are simply changes in behavior that may be worth looking into.

Fall: Normal Routines Return

Fall is one of the more noticeable changes during the year because several routines return at about the same time.

Children go back to school. Parents return to regular transportation and childcare schedules. Summer vacations end. Many people settle back into normal work hours. Sports and after-school activities begin. Weekdays become more predictable.

That can create opportunities that were not there during summer.

In an infidelity case, one spouse may now have several hours of free time while the children are in school. A lunch period, gym visit, remote-work day, or regular evening activity may suddenly give someone more time away from their spouse or partner.

In some situations, that opening may make an outside relationship easier to start. In others, someone already involved with another person may know exactly when those openings occur and deliberately use them.

In a custody case, regular school pickups and exchanges can make it easier to see who is actually handling the parenting schedule.

In a cohabitation case, someone may return to a regular overnight and morning routine once vacations and summer travel are over.

Workers’ compensation subjects may also return to regular medical appointments, school transportation, hunting, yard work, home projects, or other activities that happen more often in the fall.

Fall does not create these cases. It can simply make an existing pattern easier to see.

Winter: Less Daylight, More Time Indoors and Different Activity

Winter changes both people’s behavior and the way surveillance is conducted.

People generally spend more time indoors. Days are shorter. Weather affects transportation, work, recreation, and how much time people spend outside. Some industries slow down while others get busier.

For domestic cases, spending more time around home can sometimes make household routines easier to recognize. A vehicle that repeatedly stays overnight may become more noticeable. Morning departures and evening returns may also show a more consistent pattern.

Winter can create different opportunities too. Holiday parties, travel, family gatherings, evening events, and seasonal work can all change a person’s normal schedule.

From the investigator’s side, winter surveillance can be more difficult. Darkness comes earlier. Rain can affect visibility and video. Fogged windows, headlight glare, wet camera equipment, and changing traffic conditions are all part of working surveillance during Washington winters.

Winter can also reduce some types of workers’ compensation activity. Someone who spends spring and summer boating, landscaping, working outside, or doing home projects may simply be much less active during cold and wet weather.

That does not make winter surveillance useless. It just means the investigator has to consider what the person would normally be doing during that time of year.

Spring: Activity Picks Up Again

Spring usually brings another noticeable change.

Days get longer. Weather improves. People spend more time outside. Yard work starts again. Home and vehicle projects pick up. Boats, motorcycles, bicycles, and other recreational equipment come back out.

That can make spring particularly useful in some workers’ compensation cases.

Someone who showed very little activity during the winter may suddenly begin:

• Mowing lawns.
• Landscaping.
• Working on vehicles.
• Moving equipment.
• Completing home repairs.
• Fishing.
• Boating.
• Hiking.
• Riding motorcycles.
• Playing sports.

None of those activities automatically means someone is committing fraud. A person can have a legitimate injury and still be able to perform some physical activity.

Our job is to document what actually happens. Attorneys, insurers, medical professionals, and others involved in the claim can then decide how that activity relates to the restrictions being reported.

Spring also changes domestic investigations. Longer daylight gives investigators more usable surveillance time. People go out more often. Social activity increases. Sports and recreation pick up. Someone who was difficult to observe during winter may simply be more active once the weather improves.

Summer: Travel, Vacations and Less Predictable Schedules

Summer can be one of the busiest times of the year while also being one of the hardest times to predict someone’s routine.

Children are out of school. Families travel. People take vacations. Work schedules change. Weekends are spent away from home. Camping, boating, hiking, sports, and other outdoor activities increase.

That creates opportunities in several different ways.

Workers’ compensation surveillance may benefit from more outdoor activity. Someone may spend more time doing yard work, home projects, recreation, side work, or travel that would not normally happen during winter.

Infidelity cases can also change during summer. Travel, vacations, longer days, social events, and different household schedules may give someone more opportunity to spend time away from home.

Someone already involved in another relationship may also take advantage of those schedule changes on purpose, especially when travel, vacations, social events, or changing family routines make time away from home easier to explain.

Custody cases may involve vacation schedules, extended parenting periods, summer camps, relatives providing childcare, and disagreements over travel or where the child is actually spending time.

Summer can also make surveillance harder to plan.

Someone who normally leaves home at 7:00 a.m. every weekday may work remotely one week, take vacation the next, and leave town the following weekend.

That is why up-to-date information from the client can be especially important during summer. If the routine has changed, the investigator needs to know that before surveillance begins.

Holidays Create Their Own Patterns

Holidays tend to interrupt normal life.

Work parties, family gatherings, school breaks, travel, shopping, overnight visits, and different parenting schedules can all change where people are and what they are doing.

That can create opportunities that are not there during an ordinary week.

In an infidelity case, holiday parties, business events, or evening functions can give someone a legitimate reason to be away from home while also creating an opportunity to meet someone else.

Someone already involved in another relationship may also deliberately use those events or schedule changes because they provide a convenient reason to be away from home.

In custody cases, holiday schedules can be some of the most difficult parts of a parenting plan. Travel, family gatherings, and special exchanges may create disputes over pickup times, return times, transportation, and where a child is actually staying.

In cohabitation cases, longer holiday periods may result in more overnight stays, shared travel, and time spent together at one residence. That can be useful information, but a holiday visit alone does not establish cohabitation.

Workers’ compensation subjects may also be more active during the holidays because of shopping, decorating, travel, winter recreation, or home projects.

The important point is that holidays change the normal routine, and that change may affect what an investigator sees.

Infidelity and Changing Opportunity

Infidelity cases are often tied closely to opportunity.

Someone involved in another relationship usually needs time and somewhere to go. Those opportunities may increase or decrease depending on work, school, travel, childcare, family obligations, and the normal schedule of their spouse or partner.

Once children return to school, for example, someone may suddenly have several hours of free time during the day.

A couple may also work different hours, one spouse may work remotely certain days, or one may regularly be away from home for work, sports, meetings, or other activities.

Those situations do not cause infidelity. They simply create more opportunity.

Sometimes that opportunity may lead someone to start an outside relationship. In other cases, someone may already be involved with another person and deliberately pay attention to changes in work, school, family, or travel schedules so they can take advantage of those openings without drawing as much attention at home.

Partners and spouses should be aware that schedule changes can sometimes create exactly that kind of opening. Of course, there are many innocent reasons someone’s schedule or routine may change, so a change by itself should not automatically be viewed as evidence of an affair.

Clients often start noticing a pattern before they know exactly what is going on.

A certain afternoon seems to disappear every week. A late meeting always happens on the same day. A gym visit starts taking several hours. A short errand regularly turns into a long absence. A work trip does not quite match what the spouse was told.

One event may mean very little. Repetition is usually what starts raising questions.

That same pattern can make surveillance much more effective. If a client can tell us which days and times seem unusual, we can focus surveillance around those periods instead of choosing random days and hoping something happens.

For additional information, see our Infidelity Surveillance Investigations page.

Custody and Parenting Plans Follow the Family Schedule

Child custody and parenting-plan investigations can change a great deal during the year because children’s schedules change too.

Summer may involve vacations, camps, longer parenting periods, relatives helping with childcare, and fewer school obligations.

Once school starts again, the family returns to regular responsibilities:

• Morning drop-offs.
• Afternoon pickups.
• Parenting exchanges.
• Sports practices.
• After-school activities.
• Medical appointments.
• Homework schedules.
• Weeknight routines.

Those regular activities can make a parenting problem easier to document.

A parent may say they are handling school transportation when someone else is doing it most of the time. Exchanges may regularly occur late. A child may repeatedly be left with someone other than the parent exercising residential time. A parent may spend the night somewhere other than the residence being represented.

School can also expose problems that were easier to manage during summer. Work schedules may conflict with parenting responsibilities, or a new relationship may begin affecting the household routine.

The purpose of surveillance is not to decide who is the better parent. It is to document what is actually happening so the client and attorney have facts to work with.

For more information, see Child Custody Surveillance & Parenting Plan Documentation.

Cohabitation and Household Patterns

Cohabitation investigations are another good example of why routine matters.

One overnight stay tells us very little. People stay with friends. They visit relatives. They spend weekends with partners. Vacations, holidays, and emergencies can all create unusual overnight arrangements.

The real question is whether the activity begins to look like an ongoing household routine.

An investigator may look for repeated activity such as:

• A vehicle remaining overnight on multiple dates.
• Early-morning departures for work.
• Returning to the residence after work.
• Regular transportation of children.
• Repeated weekend household activity.
• Routine shopping or errands connected to the residence.
• Consistent use of the property over time.

A vehicle present one Saturday night is very different from a vehicle repeatedly staying overnight, leaving for work the next morning, and returning again after work.

That begins to show a routine.

Summer travel can sometimes make living arrangements harder to understand. Once normal work and school schedules return, the household pattern may become much easier to follow.

See our Cohabitation Investigations page for additional information.

Workers’ Compensation Surveillance Changes With Activity

Workers’ compensation investigations can show some of the clearest seasonal differences because people’s physical activity changes throughout the year.

Spring and summer usually bring more opportunities for outdoor activity:

• Working in the yard.
• Landscaping.
• Moving equipment.
• Working on vehicles.
• Completing construction or home-repair projects.
• Boating.
• Fishing.
• Camping.
• Hiking.
• Playing sports.
• Riding motorcycles.

Fall may bring yard cleanup, hunting, firewood, home maintenance, seasonal work, or preparation for winter.

Winter may reduce a lot of that activity simply because the opportunity is no longer there.

Work itself can also be seasonal. Construction, landscaping, hospitality, retail, agriculture, delivery work, and other industries may get busier or slower during different parts of the year.

That can affect side work, physical activity, time away from home, and where someone spends the day.

Surveillance should not start with the assumption that an injured worker is lying. Our job is to document activity.

Sometimes what we observe raises questions about reported restrictions. Other times it supports what the claimant has reported. Either result can be useful when the activity is documented accurately.

One Day May Not Tell You Much

Workers’ compensation surveillance is also a good example of why several surveillance dates can be more useful than one.

A legitimately injured person can have a better day. Someone exaggerating restrictions can also spend an entire surveillance day sitting at home. Rain can cancel outdoor plans. A medical appointment may be rescheduled. A vehicle may never leave the driveway.

Sometimes nothing useful happens at all.

In my experience, when the case warrants it, surveillance over several separate dates can give a much better picture of someone’s normal activity than relying on one day.

The goal is not to produce the most dramatic video possible. The goal is to document what happened, how often it happened, and under what circumstances.

For more information, see our Workers’ Compensation Surveillance Investigations page.

Not Every Change in Behavior Is Seasonal

Not every change in someone’s behavior has anything to do with the time of year.

Major life events can change someone’s routine much more than the season.

A death in the family is one example. Grief affects people differently. Someone may withdraw, travel unexpectedly, reconnect with friends or relatives, spend more time away from home, change sleeping habits, work longer hours, drink more often, or stop doing things they normally enjoy.

Those changes can understandably worry a spouse or partner. They do not automatically mean the person is having an affair or hiding something.

Other major changes may include:

• Job loss.
• A new job.
• Financial trouble.
• Relationship problems.
• A medical issue.
• A new group of friends.
• Substance use.

Drug Use Can Change More Than Mood

Drug use can also change a person’s behavior, daily routine, friends, and schedule over time.

Changes may include:

• Spending time with a different group of people.
• Sudden new friendships or associates.
• Unusual departures from home.
• Longer unexplained absences.
• Changes in sleep patterns.
• Missing work or changing work habits.
• More secrecy about whereabouts.
• Frequent unexplained stops or trips.
• Unexplained spending or cash withdrawals.
• Loss of interest in established hobbies or activities.
• Less contact with longtime friends or relatives.
• A daily routine increasingly centered around new people or locations.

Over time, someone’s social circle may change quite a bit. New associates may become a larger part of daily life while family members, coworkers, and longtime friends see less of the person.

None of those things proves drug use. Similar changes can happen because of grief, stress, depression, financial problems, relationship issues, employment changes, or other circumstances.

That is why an investigator should not start by assuming what the explanation is.

The more useful questions are simple: What changed? When did it change? What is happening now? Does it keep happening?

Patterns Usually Matter More Than One Event

This is the common thread in most surveillance cases.

A spouse stays late at work once. A parent misses one exchange. A vehicle stays overnight at another residence. A workers’ compensation claimant carries one heavy object. A grieving person unexpectedly spends a weekend away from home.

Any one of those things may have a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Repeated behavior gives us more to work with.

When the same activity happens again under similar circumstances, we can start comparing one observation with another and determine whether there is really a pattern.

Sometimes surveillance confirms exactly what the client suspected. Sometimes it shows something completely different. Sometimes nothing unusual is observed.

All three outcomes can be useful.

A professional investigation should document what actually happened, not try to force the evidence to fit what someone expected to find.

Using Routine to Plan Better Surveillance

If you are considering hiring an investigator, one of the most useful things you can provide is a good picture of the person’s normal routine and what recently changed.

Helpful information can include:

• Normal workdays.
• Approximate departure and return times.
• Remote-work days.
• School schedules.
• Parenting-plan exchange times.
• Known appointments.
• Sports or regular activities.
• Vehicle information.
• Known alternate locations.
• Days or times when the concerning behavior most often occurs.
• Recent changes in routine.
• New associates or locations.
• Major life events that happened around the time the behavior changed.

It also helps to separate what you have personally seen from what you believe may be happening.

For example, “He has been leaving home every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and returning around 10:00 p.m.” gives an investigator something specific to work with.

“I know he is cheating every Thursday” is still a conclusion that needs to be proven.

Good surveillance starts with good information. The better we understand someone’s normal routine, what has changed, and where the opportunities may be, the better we can decide when surveillance is most likely to produce useful information.

The time of year may change the opportunity, but the investigation still comes down to the same thing it always has: watch carefully, document what happens, and let the facts speak for themselves.

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