The PPIAC conference is Friday & Saturday, September 23 & 24, 2011, at the Embassy Suites at Denver international Airport.

There is still room for your attendance and we look forward to having you join us – and tell your friends and colleagues! SpyTek (from National Association of Investigative Specialists) just sent over $600 in prizes to be raffled!  More prizes have been donated – this will be a great conference, networking and fun!  And we are excited that PI Museum will be joining us as part of their inaugural year tour.  Come learn about the history of private investigators in Colorado and nationally.  Colorado had one of the first licensing laws, and licensing was the first law passed in Colorado after becoming a state!

This week we present the final speaker of our lineup, Rebecca Roberts from IRB Search. Rebecca will discuss the various laws and regulations that impact our use of records and databases, recent changes and potential considerations for our profession.

This has also been approved by NALI for 8.5 hours of CE credit!  So far we have told you about these speakers that we are excited to have join us.

For complete details, visit www.PPIAC.org/training/annual-conference.

Our speakers include Jimmie Mesis (PI Magazine), Steve Farese (Attorney, Mississippi), Steven Rambam (Pallorium / PallTech, Bronx NY), IRB Search, Tim Schmolder (Timeline Investigations, Golden CO), Rory McMahon CLI CFE (McMahon & Associations, Ft. Lauderdale FL), Brig. Gen. (ret) Rashid Malik (WAD Chairman, Pakistan).  View all of our speakers, topics and bios at http://ppiac.org/uncategorized/conference-speaker-bios

Speaker Spotlight

Rebecca Roberts – Laws and Regulations of Records and Databases

Rebecca Roberts is the National Marketing Director for IRB Search. She joined IRBsearch in the spring of 2006 as the online private investigator database company’s National Marketing Director. Ms. Roberts initiated and guided the launch of numerous value-added customer services, including an IRB online training department, a marketing-your-business webinar series, an online investigator’s equipment store, and social business networking.

Her adjunct teaching days at Florida State University received rave reviews from both students and professors for facilitating roundtable discussions with guest speakers on topics of American and Florida history. She holds a Bachelor and Master of Science from FSU in the fields of Interdisciplinary Social Science and American and Florida Studies.

A conference is no fun if you don’t walk away with something.  Well, we’ll do our best to make sure you have something.  PallTech, IRB Search, Yergey Insurance and Tracers Information will be on hand, The National Association of Investigative Specialists – Lawmate America / SpyTek have again donated many prizes – gadgets and gear for the PI.  Additional renowned authors of our profession have donated autographed books, and more.  Don’t forget that JJ Associates International,  PI Magazine, PI Store, CRC Press, Pursuit Magazine / PI Education have donated prizes and are sponsoring and/or vendors and have donated prizes!

Please consider joining us to network, learn and share or even as either a vendor or sponsor – or both.  We have conveniently placed it near Denver International Airport at the Embassy Suites, which provides free shuttle services to and from the airport for your convenience.  Details are at: Embassy Suites at DIA (think free happy hour drinks and breakfast daily).  Rooms are $119/night and need to be booked by calling Embassy Suites at DIA direct at (303) 574-3000 and tell them “PPIAC Conference” (using Priceline or other online services will NOT get these deals)!

The PPIAC conference page has all of the details at http://ppiac.org/training/annual-conference.

PPIAC Member after September 1st: $200.00
Non-Member after September 1st $250.00
Last-minute walk-ins: $275.00

On behalf of the PPIAC members, conference committee and board, thanks!

Dean A. Beers, CLI, CCDI
PPIAC Board Chairman
NCISS Region 5A Director (CO WY NE & AZ)

Our conference committee has been working diligently on the annual fall conference for the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado. We expect this to be a HUGE event for a couple reasons. First, for the first time in 34 years, we now have a PI licensing law in Colorado – and we want to celebrate! Second, we have some exciting guests and speakers wanting to celebrate with us!

I would like for you to consider joining us as an attendee looking to network, learn and share or even as either a vendor or sponsor – or both. We also have advertising available in the program and other options.

The conference will be held this year on September 23rd and 24th, with a fee-based seminar by Jimmie Mesis, PI Magazine, for PIs looking to expand their market and income on the 22nd. We have placed it near Denver International Airport at the Embassy Suites, which provides free shuttle services to and from the airport for your convenience. Details are at: Embassy Suites at DIA

To register call (303) 574-3000 and tell them you are registering for the “PPIAC Conference”

The PPIAC website – www.PPIAC.org – is being finalized with the conference registration information for attendees, vendors and sponsors.  This page will redirect when that is completed.  However, you can register right now using this secure PayPal link and form:

To register for the conference:

Follow this link

For complete conference information:

Follow this link

Vendors – please send the necessary form, using this link:

Vendor Registration Form

Speaker Spotlight

Tim Schmolder, PPIAC Member
Time Line Investigations

Tim was once the unwitting target of a drive-by shooting who became a private investigator by mistake. He is a UC graduate in Psychology that continues to shape his dynamic, layered approach to surveillance. Mr. Schmolder apprenticed with one of the founding members of the California Association of Licensed Investigators and has spent the last 20 years elevating the grind of surveillance into something akin to art. His published article, The Simple Art of Surveillance, offers a rare glimpse into a secret world. His libretto, HERAKLES AND HYDRA, showcased at Carnegie Hall.

Case Profiles and Story Dynamics in High Stakes Surveillance

This is a presentation that distinguishes the kind of surveillance work I perform that is unique from your standard fare.  It pulls from my background in Psychology, my years as a playwright, my physical athleticism, my interest and curiosity about people.  I present a number of case profiles, including video clips of actual cases, and weave the clips into a discussion about my approach.  Guaranteed to generate discussion.

For additional conference information and a list of the rest of our exciting speakers, please visit the PPIAC Conference web page here.

Thank you for considering joining us at our annual conference, we have much to celebrate and some very special guests and speakers!

Again, thank you!

Sincerely,

Dean A. Beers, CLI
PPIAC Board Chairman
chairman@ppiac.org
(970) 691-0813

NCISS Region 5A Director (CO, NE, WY, AZ)
Region 6 CLI Representative, NALI

• scene investigation
• body assessment
• medical records
• and the forensic autopsy

This is finalized in three documents:

1. the death certificate
2. the investigator’s report
3. and the autopsy report

In order to understand the importance of the autopsy report, and how to interpret it, you should understand how all the other factors influence the report and why you cannot rely on the autopsy report alone. ‘Autopsy’ is from the Greek ‘autopsia’, meaning ‘to see with one’s own eyes’. The following discussion will dissect the autopsy report and supporting death investigation in order to allow the professional Legal Investigator to view death and non-death cases ‘with one’s own eyes.’

For simplicity, all references will be to medical examiners and not on the difference between the medical examiner and coroner systems, or a hospital autopsy and forensic autopsy. For our purposes, the focus will be on the forensic autopsy conducted by a board certified forensic pathologist and autopsy technician. In addition, there are exceptions to every protocol, and jurisdictional policies will differ. Two important things to consider are: 1. the medical examiner’s office is an independent, often law enforcement based, agency which is supposed to be neutral as to their findings; they conduct separate investigations; and 2. these investigations are often concurrent and cooperative investigations between the medical examiner’s office and the law enforcement agency.

AN OVERVIEW OF DEATH INVESTIGATION

At all death scenes there are two scenes: location(s) of the incident; and the body itself. If a crime is suspected (and all suspicious death investigations are treated as such) the incident will belong to the investigating law enforcement agency; and the body, together with all items on or about it, will belong to the medical examiner’s office. The agencies will work independently of each other with overlapping goals. The death investigator has certain responsibilities and a duty to pursue those responsibilities. Of course there are legal and cooperative exceptions to these based on the greater good of the needs of all investigating agencies, particularly involving possible homicides. The body is exclusively under the custody and control of the death investigator. Until they arrive on scene no other person can touch, move or remove the body, or those items on or about it. The assessment includes complete photography, documenting wounds and injuries, or lack thereof, rigor and livor mortis, body position and relationship to the scene and condition of the body due to postmortem interval and environment. If the body has been moved, possibly to a remote area, there will be another crime scene at the place the death actually occurred.

Another component of death investigation concerns the confidentiality of medical records [HIPAA – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act]. Medical records are a very important component of the investigation and may be referred to in the autopsy report. In addition to medical history, these records may include mental health history, prescription and medication history, family history, and social history. It is important for the medical history to be shared with the forensic pathologist at the time of autopsy or as soon thereafter as possible. What might be seen as a fall and head injury at autopsy may instead be a spontaneous bleed with previous history and consequential falls.

The ‘CSI Effect’ has influenced the perceived value of an autopsy. Autopsies are valuable and are a component of a complete investigation, if one is performed. All violent, suspicious, unnatural and unattended deaths are investigated, which account for a small percentage of reported deaths. A preliminary investigation, statute and protocol will dictate if an autopsy is performed. The authorization of the autopsy depends on the circumstances of the death and the protocol of the medical examiner’s office. The autopsy consists of the gross external examination (detailed examination and documentation of the body), gross internal examination (detailed examination and documentation of the organs and internal body structure), toxicology tests, and microscopic examinations. The external examination is head to toe and includes measurements of all wounds, scars, marks, tattoos, and condition of the body and structure.

The internal examination is what is often thought of when ‘autopsy’ is mentioned. This surgical procedure includes the in situ examination of the organs, removal of them with weights, and complete external/internal examination of the organs. This examination also includes the assessment of bullet trajectory, wound tracts, ligature markings, etc. One area of specific forensic pathologist training is wound (all injuries and trauma) examination. Specimens of each organ are collected for microscopic examination, part of the anatomical and clinical certifications preceding a pathologist’s forensic certification. At the conclusion of the autopsy the functions of the forensic pathologist and death investigator temporarily separate into two different tasks. The death investigator will submit his report, detailing the findings of his scene investigation, evidence review, and medical records review. The forensic pathologist will review the death investigator’s report and case file to finalize his autopsy report and certify the Cause and Manner of Death. This is a very similar role to ours as professional Legal Investigators. We conduct our investigation, complete detailed reports and present our findings and supporting documentation to the attorney. The attorney enjoins our findings into their legal strategy to advocate for our client.

AUTOPSY REPORT FORMAT AND CONTENTS

The autopsy findings will have a Cause of Death, which will include any factors directly contributing to or causing the death (i.e. blunt force trauma or a cardiac event); and Manner of Death, which include Natural, Accident, Suicide, Homicide and Undetermined. The Mechanism of Death, or the instrument or action causing death, is often overlooked. This notation may include stab wounds, gunshot wounds, ligature strangulation, drug overdose, etc. The autopsy may support the pre-autopsy investigation and medical records, or possibly make a determination that seems unrelated to the event. An example of this is a motor vehicle collision caused by the driver having a sudden cardiac event which caused death before the accident. This is a natural death which caused the accident. Often we see deaths caused by blunt force injuries as a result of the accident, which is ruled an ‘Accident’.

The least desirable or used finding, ‘Undetermined’ is used when there has been no definitive finding as to the Manner, and possibly Cause, of death at the conclusion of the complete autopsy protocol and concurrent investigation(s). This is often seen in cases where the preponderance of one Manner does not prevail, but is consistent with or equal to another. One example of this might be a hunting incident where the decedent was alone, had suicidal history and a thorough autopsy and investigation was inconclusive as to the totality of ‘Accident’ versus ‘Suicide’.

Autopsy reports are not casual or interesting reading material. They are very informative when reviewed with all concurrent investigative reports and evidence. All autopsy reports follow a general format as approved by the National Association of Medical Examiners (thename.org). Although they may differ in appearance, the general content format consists of:

• Diagnoses
• Toxicology
• Opinion
• Circumstances of Death
• Identification of the Decedent
• General Description of Clothing and Personal Effects
• Evidence of Medical Intervention
• External Examination
• External Evidence of Injury
• Internal Examination
• Samples Obtained – Evidence, Histology and Toxicology
• and Microscopic Examination

When the autopsy report is reviewed by the lay person their focus is on the first four items, as these are the summary of the remaining medical details of the report. It is important to review the report and all of the information contained therein for the complete picture. It is also important to understand what is in an autopsy report before we can begin to decipher all the latent and patent information it contains.

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The above is an excerpt of Dean Beer’s entire article Reviewing and Comprehending Autopsy Reports.

A condensed version of the entire article also appeared in The Legal Investigator, The National Association of Legal Investigator’s official journal. See http://NALIOnline.org for more information about NALI membership.

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Dean A. Beers is the owner and Senior Legal Investigator of Forensic Investigators of Colorado, LLC, based in LaPorte, Colorado. He has been a legal investigator since 1987 with extensive experience in skip tracing. He left the private sector from 2005 to 2008 to work as Deputy Coroner / Certified Medicolegal Death Investigator for the Larimer County Medical Examiner’s Office. He returned to the private sector in late 2008 and now focuses primarily on the legal investigations of Personal Injury, Negligence and Death, as well as Criminal Defense. His wife, Karen, handles agency administrative matters and is also an Associate Legal Investigator. Please visit the agency website for detailed information at www.Forensic-Investigators.com.

Over 20 years ago, when I started my investigative agency, I asked as many investigators as I could what the most valuable tool in their arsenal was. The dominant answer (other than our skills) was the telephone. About 10 years ago I asked the same question and was surprised that it was the computer, and all the accessible information. At that time I still thought the telephone was the most useful tool. When I ask that question today it is usually the computer followed by the telephone. With many of the changes that have taken place regarding the access, or lack thereof, to information, many investigators have turned back to the ‘old’ methods of the telephone. In my opinion the answer is both. We can now take the benefits of the telephone and computer and develop some unique tools. The key is to first understand that virtually every person and business has a telephone, especially cell phones.

Technology has seen some significant changes since I presented my original article on traplines. Some are to our favor and others work against us. I hope to impart some new wisdom that I have experienced in the most recent several months. The toll-free trapline is a very useful and powerful tool. You no longer need a telephone number to call and pretext; you can now take advantage of cell phones, text messaging, email, website contact forms, social networking sites, and other forms of communications. The goal is to get your trapline number to the subject and entice them to call it. I freely endorse the vendors I mention in this article, but I am not compensated in any manner or responsible for the services they provide.

The idea is that your subject will call your trapline number, at least identifying the number they have called from, and possibly the subscriber name and address. This will work even if they call and hang-up without completing the call. Of course a message is nice – often telling you when they are home (or at work) and verifying certain information (i.e. non-published numbers, spouses, etc). If they call from the number that you initially called, you have located them (subject to verification); if they call from a different number, it is likely either a work or home number. Those that are suspicious will call from a friend, relative, payphone, or hopefully from work or home. Oftentimes they will leave a different number to call – sometimes a pager, cell phone, friend’s, or relative’s.

The premise is that calls to toll-free numbers are similar to collect calls. When you have a toll-free number, you are essentially agreeing to accept the charges for the long-distance call and are therefore entitled to the number calling you. The billing company must provide the subscriber data for calls on your bill. That is a headache, time consuming and, in our line of work, just not practical to wait for the phone bill. Unlike your common toll-free number and phone bill, which gives you information monthly, your trapline account can notify you by fax, email, website, pager or even connect your caller to you. The use of this is perfectly legal – the pretext you use to get the return call may or may not be, and caution should be used. Illegally obtained information is both a crime and inadmissible as evidence, together with any consequentially developed information. Keep in mind – the fruit of the poisonous tree.

An old trick smarter subjects used was to call a suspect toll-free number via payphone, calling card (not many allow this, some do), or an Internet long distance service (i.e. Net2Phone). Sometimes, especially with calling cards or PC based telephone services, only a one or two digit number or a non-working number is ‘trapped’. The current trend is to use prepaid cell phones and VoIP telephone services (i.e. Vonage, MagicJack, etc.). When ‘trapped’ these may leave a number that is not reversible to the subscriber or the main ‘trunk line’ number (common on PBX phones). If a complete number is provided it will usually not have a subscriber name and will not lead to an address via common search methods. It is new information that should further assist you in your investigation and there are methods to obtain additional information.

Related concerns are services offered by phone companies: Caller-ID, Anonymous Call Rejection, Caller Screening, etc. These services are designed to require you to disclose who you are to the party you are calling or attempting to locate – not exactly in our best interests. How do you get around this? Most use calling cards (try them first), or a ‘Blindline’ offered by any of the toll-free and trapline companies. On the Caller-ID, the calling card usually appears as ‘Anonymous’ or ‘Out of Area’ and the ‘Blindline’ usually returns a generic office number. You can also use this feature with Kall8, as detailed below.

A word of caution about forwarding numbers. Many years ago, more than I care to remember, you could forward a number and be anonymous. This is no longer the case. For example, if you forward your office number to a cell phone or toll-free number and then call your office number from a third phone, that originating number will show up on the Caller-ID. This bit of information is handy to know because that also means our subjects cannot use call forwarding to hide from our traplines.

Deciding which service is right for you depends on your needs and the size of your office. I used commercial trapline companies for many years and still recommend their use. If you have a large business, account volume, and multiple employees, I recommend using a commercial service. The other consideration is if you have the need to send pre-paid calling cards, which are only available through a commercial service [see Calling Cards]. These turnkey solutions come with monthly and per call costs that do have associated benefits. If you have low volume and few employees, you can gain many customizable features and cost savings creating your own trapline system, such as with www.kall8.com.

MY PERSONAL PICKS: MAJICJACK.COM, SLYDIAL.COM, AND KALL8.COM

• MajicJack.com is a very inexpensive device that your phone plugs into and then into the Ethernet port of your computer. It works incredibly well, has your choice of phone numbers throughout the USA, voicemail, customizable greetings and call forwarding features (except to a toll-free number, which would be an added bonus for our profession). The Caller-ID shows ‘Unknown’ and your assigned number. Many people do not answer ‘unknown number’ or ‘blocked’ calls. Although this will not forward to a toll-free number, I have had some luck with the voicemail greeting that says ‘We are experiencing technical issues. Please hang-up and try your call again. You may also call our customer service department at [trapline number]’. This usually entices them to call your trapline.

• SlyDial.com is a free service that connects your call (from any phone) directly to a cell phone voicemail service. This bypasses the possibility of the subject answering if you do not want them to. Be forewarned that although most calls will not even ring to the mobile phone, but some will ring once and show your Caller-ID. To be safe, use MagicJack or a calling card feature to complete this call. The idea here is: 1. listen to the voicemail greeting and see who owns the cell phone; and 2. entice a call back from your subject but from a different phone by blocking the ability to call from the cell phone [see Kall8]. It is also handy if you want to simply leave someone a message, but not talk to them – such as a meeting reminder.

• Kall8.com is my personal choice for a customizable trapline for a small office. The basic service is a few dollars per month. This includes do-it-yourself programming of your account online – voicemail, fax receiving, ring-to destination number, call blocking, etc. For about $10 per month you can add automatic call recording; check your state statutes for use and legalities. This feature starts as soon as they complete dialing the call and before it is answered. You will be amazed at what people will say before you answer the call (let it ring 2-3 times).

After activating the service you should first decide if you want to block calls from payphones. There is a one-time charge for this. In my opinion calls from payphones are useless (have you found one lately?) and you are charged a fee for each call from a payphone. Next decide the ring-to, or destination, number for the call. You can also choose voicemail and record a custom greeting. The last necessary steps are to provide your email for call reports and recordings, as well as activate the automatic name and address record. This service provides the published Caller-ID or subscriber data for each call to the trapline. From here you are ready to begin.

Each time your toll-free number is called you will receive an email(s) that will include the call date and time, length, call from number and (if opted) the name and address of the subscriber. If you have opted for call recording you will receive a separate email of that recording. This information is also stored real-time with your Kall8 account.

After receiving and identifying your calls, what do you do to prevent more calls? Simply login to your account and block that number. You can also block by state, area code, or area code and prefix. This is particularly handy to force your subject to call from a number that is different from the one you already know (see ‘Cell Phones’ below). You may add as many numbers and uses to your account as you need. You may also disconnect any number. One of the most useful tools of Kall8, and the commercial trapline companies, are ‘blindlines’. With the commercial companies you can choose from a variety of options that include spoofed names and numbers, such as ‘Government’ or ‘Customer Service’. With Kall8 you do not have that benefit. Kall8 is simply a calling card that you use to make a call, which I use to disguise where I am calling from. Make the call using your toll-free account and the receiving Caller-ID shows your choice of either your ring-to number or your toll-free number. I use my toll-free number to call a subject (including via Slydial). This works to receive a call back even when I cannot leave a message (some people still do not have answering machines or voicemail); hopefully they have Caller-ID or use *69 and are curious who called them. We are all curious by human nature.

This article is an updated section from Dean Beers’ book, ‘Professional Locate Investigations;’ and is one of the most popular subjects on which he receives requests for advice.

Dean A. Beers is the owner and Senior Legal Investigator of Forensic Investigators of Colorado, LLC, based in LaPorte, Colorado. He has been a legal investigator since 1987 with extensive experience in skip tracing. He left the private sector from 2005 to 2008 to work as Deputy Coroner / Certified Medicolegal Death Investigator for the Larimer County Medical Examiner’s Office. He returned to the private sector in late 2008 and now focuses primarily on the legal investigations of Personal Injury, Negligence and Death, as well as Criminal Defense. His wife, Karen, handles agency administrative matters and is also an Associate Legal Investigator. Please visit the agency website for detailed information at www.Forensic-Investigators.com. After ‘retiring’ from the private sector, he completed his book ‘Professional Locate Investigations’.

Dean has extensive training, experience, skill sets and knowledge in Personal Injury, Negligence and Death, and all contributing causations. Related areas include motor vehicle collisions, workplace incidents, elder abuse, child abuse, slip and fall, premises liability, as well as related evidence collection and analysis. In addition, he continues to provide detailed Criminal Defense investigations, now with the benefit of POST certification and extensive familiarity with the local law enforcement community and judiciary.

Part two of this series will be posted soon…