The meaning of "I have him staked out"

[kjc0123]

What is The meaning of "I have him staked out" in the following sentences?

 

"Where exactly are you, Lieutenant Collet?"

Collet gave him the address. "The estate belongs to a British national named Teabing. Langdon drove a fair distance to get here, and the vehicle is inside the security gate, with no signs of forced entry, so chances are good that Langdon knows the occupant."

"I'm coming out," Fache said. "Don't make a move. I'll handle this personally."

Collet's jaw dropped. "But Captain, you're twenty minutes away! We should act immediately. I have him staked out. I'm with eight men total. Four of us have field rifles and the others have sidearms."

"Wait for me."

"Captain, what if Langdon has a hostage in there? What if he sees us and decides to leave on foot? We need to move now! My men are in position and ready to go."

"Lieutenant Collet, you will wait for me to arrive before taking action. That is an order." Fache hung up.

[Grunty]

He and his men are watching the premises and probably have it surrounded.  He is a bit sick that the Captain is telling him to wait, when he is capable of either making an arrest or shooting the suspect.

[jno]

Hello kjc. A 'stake-out' is a police action, where people are kept under observation and probably surrounded to prevent them getting away if they realise they are being watched, as Grunty says.

[Peter Pedant]

Yippee KJC - you're back !

Ignore silly questions like can't this guy speak English, and keep on posting.

A stake out is a place that is observed closely by police, army, robbers. Robbers could stake out a bank before raiding it for example.

Here the author is staking out the person rather than the place where the person is. There is a grammatical term for the transfer of place to person - personification ? perhaps.

anyway good to read your postings again.

I'd rather do this, than your jesus-boring eighteenth century constitutional history.