Private Investigation
Surveillance: A Story from the Field
We got an assignment to drive up north close to the state line to work a surveillance involving a guy who was working light duty a few hours a day, two or three days a week because he had been injured on the job. He worked for a small manufacturing company near the edge of [...]
5Mar2010 | TW Person | 0 comments | Continued
A Culture of Infidelity?
Part 1: The Question
Do some settings tolerate, if not outright encourage, infidelity?
This idea knocked on our door last year. We had a couple of infidelity cases in an affluent suburb. On more than one occasion, independent cases from different clients, the team wound up sitting in the parking lot of the same fitness [...]
Property Title Forensics
Real estate title records are a valuable source of investigative intelligence. By going beyond a simple “title search”, an investigator can discover factual data and intangible patterns which cannot be found elsewhere. True title research goes beyond just a database search of online or electronic title records. Obtaining the actual physical documents for examination takes [...]
7Jan2010 | David Pelligrinelli | 0 comments | Continued
The Security, Compatibility and Portability of Your Investigative Reports
First, It is never wise to send an editable document or investigative report to a client; if you MUST send it in MS Word then you should protect the document from any unauthorized edits or changes. If you are using MS Word 2003 or later, click on “Tools” in the toolbar and select “Protect Document” [...]
7Jan2010 | Scott Harrell | 1 comment | Continued
Pretext: An Essential Recognized Investigative Technique
Recently the media reported on a $1.8 million verdict in an invasion of privacy lawsuit in Cook County, Illinois. The plaintiff, involved in litigation against her former employer, became the subject of a private investigation by a detective agency hired by her former employer, a defendant in the action. Some of the facts are like [...]
22Dec2009 | ISPLA | 3 comments | Continued
When Does Surveillance Become Stalking?
Surveillance is a critical skill for any private investigator (PI). In our investigative agency, over half our cases, from criminal defense to personal injury, require some degree of surveillance. For PIs who specialize in insurance or infidelity investigations, surveillance can be the bulk of their work.
Sometimes the issue arises of when legal, permitted surveillance crosses [...]
A Private Investigator’s Many Roles
“All the world’s a stage. And all the men and women merely players.” -from As You Like It by William Shakespeare
As I prepared to send this article an article in the Los Angeles Times made my case. If you Google the LA Times and search for “Crashers” you will see what a determined and [...]
Understanding and Fighting Fraud
On the fundamental level, Webster’s Dictionary defines fraud as “deception in order to gain by another’s loss; craft; trickery; guile“.
As the owner of a private investigation company, I have found that on a practical level, fraud is much more and takes many diverse scenarios. Fraud is a loose term that is somewhat over-used within [...]
Using Private Investigator Subcontractors: Fortune or Curse?
For most private investigators, sub-contracting assignments is like stepping off into the proverbial black hole. Many have had bad experiences, while some have never sub-contracted to other PI’s and instead simply turn away the client. There are several points-of-view that frame the idea of subcontracting, one being “the best thing I can do for my [...]
9Sep2009 | Kelly Riddle | 0 comments | ContinuedPrivate Investigator Finds Profit in Loss
Uncovering crime was the America dream for Jeffrey-Peter Hauck until the economy turned bad. The former paratrooper and 15-year police veteran even worked his way through college and law school before starting his own investigative business.
“It was a job where I could blend my experience, education and skills,” he said. “I watched many people immigrate [...]
Derailed by Details? Memory Tips for the Long Haul
It can happen at the worst time. You’ll be knee-deep in a day with contacts, cases and paperwork. Then a sick feeling surfaces from within. “What did I forget?” you ask yourself. “What am I missing?” Your eyes look up at the clock and then down at the papers in [...]
31Jul2009 | Clay Renick | 0 comments | ContinuedBuried Deep in Data? New Search Options Can Help
It could have happened to any insurance company at any time. Joe, not his real name, claimed he was disabled after a one-car accident. No one else was involved.
Who’s to say he was wrong? Joe had the paperwork. His story sounded real. But that’s when Michele Stuart got involved.
She’s been a private investigator for the [...]
Private Investigators: How to Win Working on a Flat Rate
Since many insurance companies and large law firms are requiring investigators to work on a Flat Rate basis more today than in the past, it occurred to me that there must be a way for investigators to work Flat Rate assignments and make a better profit.
The concept of keeping control of costs is not new. [...]
Investigative Notes: Keep Them or Destroy Them?
While in the field there is nothing more important to the veracity and foundation of your investigation than to take extremely copious notes. Whether it be in writing on a legal pad or a little memo pad or on a voice recorder, no detail is too small to not note and record! These [...]
12Jun2009 | Steve Johnson | 1 comment | Continued
