This page was created for articles/information pertaining to the private investigation industry.  I’m looking for articles from people who are in the PI industry. This page will hopefully help those being investigated and those needing and investigation done.

Stay tuned I hope to have more info for everyone.

 Tracy Collins

 The following article was submitted by

Pierre A. McLean of Peace of Mind Private Investigators

 Surveillance Art  

It is very common within the private investigation industry to refer to surveillance as part art and part science. Some even state the longer one does it he/she can become an alchemist and transforms it from the science into the art at a highly developed level, well I modified that statement a little to get my point across. Surveillance art and its esoteric components will be addressed and surveillance science and its exoteric components will be addressed in the next article. 
 

Surveillance can be defined as the continuous watching (overtly or covertly) of persons, vehicles, places or objects to obtain information concerning the activities and identities of individuals. To achieve the successful objective of obtaining information the operative whether law enforcement personnel or private investigator utilizes intuition, street savvy, equipment and pre surveillance information. Being a private investigator for Peace of Mind Private Investigators, http://www.peaceofmind-pi.net that specializes in surveillance and former law enforcement officer gives me a perspective on how surveillance applies in both contexts. However, its applicability to the private investigation industry will be explored and emphasized. 

The most important equipment a private investigator has available during the course of conducting surveillance is his mind and its esoteric components. The pre-surveillance information may indicate that an insurance benefits claimant maybe working and leaves for work at 7:30 a.m., but if your intuition tells you that the day of surveillance he will be leaving at 6:30 a.m. follow it and be on site one hour earlier. There is no tangible reconnaissance information for the earlier start, but a successful surveillance assignment is dependent on more than tangible components. You can have the best camcorder, digital camera, surveillance vehicle modified to be non descript, excellent pre surveillance data on subject, but the intuition of the investigator about where to set up for surveillance, when to back off when following a subject, is subject going to leave earlier, etc., becomes an innate attribute that develops with time if the investigator listens to that intuitive voice within that is your sixth sense getting information from sources beyond the normal. I was working a corporate case locally in New Jersey trying to acquire a positive ID on a subject for a client who had been scammed a significant amount of money through an elaborate fraud scheme. I stakeout the subject’s house for six hours with no activity, I made a call to his residence, I received his answering machine and there were no vehicles parked in the driveway or nearby. 

I had no idea of his schedule, but had a deep feeling he was home. This case was a one man surveillance restricted by the budgetary restraints of the client so I had to think on my feet. I approached the subject’s residence, parked my vehicle, positioned my camcorder through the passenger side door of vehicle, turned it on and proceeded to the front door of his residence. I knocked and moved to the left to allow the camcorder to capture the potential meeting. He opened the door and asked how he could help me. I stated that my car had broken down and I was waiting to be picked up and considered it prudent to notify the occupants of his residence because my vehicle would have to remain in front of his house until the following day when I would return to retrieve it. He said okay, while everything was captured on videotape. I returned to my car and uploaded the video to my client who positively identified the subject and will be pursuing legal actions against him. How did I know he was at home? I had a hunch, a gut feeling, intuition. Herein manifests the art of surveillance, the intangible component that cannot be learned from a book or course, but must be developed by the surveillance investigator out in the field doing his craft. The art is being able to think on your feet, trusting your intuition, adapting to the case requirements, using unorthodox methods if necessary, but staying within the parameters of the law. The more one develops in proficiency, it is poetry in motion, living in the moment transcending the actual surveillance and tapping into faculties that can be applied to all aspects of life.    

Pierre A. McLean is the owner of Peace of Mind Private Investigators, located in Linden, New Jersey, an investigative firm which specializes in surveillance and provides services for Insurance Companies, Corporations, Attorneys, private individuals and strives to combine the art and science of surveillance. He is a former New Jersey law enforcement officer of eleven years and licensed private investigator for six years. His agency has specialized in surveillance since being established and he holds the designations of Certified Surveillance Investigator (CSI) and Certified Insurance Claims Investigator (CICI) issued by the National Association of Investigative Specialists (NAIS). He can be contacted at Peace of Mind Private Investigators, P O Box 2056. Linden, NJ 07036, Tel ((908)587-9118, Tel (609)971-0356, Tel (888)587-9118, Fax (609)971-3999, email: macself@aol.com, website: http://www.peaceofmind-pi.net

 

The Impact of the Internet and Television on the PI Industry.

By Tracy Collins

 

The Internet has become a valuable source of information. Without the Internet, this information would normally take hours maybe even days to discover. So yes, in a way the Internet is making it easier for private investigators to do their job.  However, the Internet has so much information for the general public that investigators are also finding it harder to do their jobs.

 

What do I mean by harder? Well, with all the information that is out there, the person being investigated has all the tricks of the trade right there at his fingertips. With all those tricks of the trade available, PI’s have to get much more creative as well as staying within the lines of the law.  That’s getting pretty tough anymore.

 

Some people may be saying that I am knocking the Internet.  This is not the case at all, I am not one that believes in censorship and I do believe in freedom of speech (which I believe we don’t have as much freedom of speech as we once did, but I digress).  In fact, if it weren’t for the Internet, I wouldn’t have my business right now.  But I do believe that with the Internet also comes the ability to know more than the average Joe should know.

 

What about television?  Well, let me first say that I enjoy TV, if it wasn’t for TV what would I do when it’s crappy outside. I’m one who really enjoys CourtTV.  Although their shows are very informative and interesting, they are, in my opinion, giving every potential criminal ideas on what to do to avoid being discovered and prosecuted.

 

So how is this impacting the PI industry?  There are other “reality” shows out there that are showing the tricks of the trade. Some shows are giving away the tricks of bounty hunters and the tricks of collectors.  Since these shows are, in my opinion, glamorized they are getting a lot of viewers and that includes bail jumpers, debtors and others.  Since these people are watching these shows, they know exactly what to look for.  That in turn gives bail jumpers and debtors the upper hand in getting away without being prosecuted.  This is causing the PI industry to be more creative, spend more money, etc just to do the work they love. As well as causing taxpayers and consumers to have to pay more in taxes, interest rates, and just prices in general.

 

So in conclusion, while I understand the benefits of the Internet and television, lets not forget about the downfalls of them to different industries.  The industries that are paid to protect businesses and the general public.

 

 The following article was submitted by:

Rainer A. Melucci, CFE,CSC,CFC,DABFE,FACFEI,CHS-III P.I.
From EED Co, Inc

Privacy Watch

It’s time to report on news affecting our freedoms and privacy.  At the risk of sounding melodramatic please allow me this discourse.

The foundation of our “Democracy” is constitutional freedom, any intrusion no matter how small can seriously undermine its original intent.  There are some, who, at this very moment for instance; wish to “alter” our 2nd Amendment saying it is “outdated.”

 This time, some good news, the law that would have required banks to monitor all activity without regard to size and report anything some “employee” thought was suspicious has been withdrawn from consideration.  Bank regulators said they will withdraw the controversial “know your customer” rule after being overwhelmed by more than 140,000 complaints that the rule is a massive invasion of privacy.  In one week they received over 54,000 calls about the law.  Exactly (1 callers were for its implementation.  “The proposal should be promptly withdrawn,” said John D. Hawke Jr., comptroller of the currency.  He was sworn in last December just as the four federal banking agencies issued. The proposal-requiring banks to monitor their customers’ accounts keep customer profiles and report “suspicious” activity to federal law enforcers.  The rule was intended to “hear we go again” help Catch drug lords… 

Mr. Hawke said it inadvertently undermined confidence in the banking system by violating the traditionally confidential relationship between banks and their customers.  “Law abiding Citizens will understandably be apprehensive that their banks will report any transactions that maybe the least out of the ordinary,” he said and the people may come to view banks as “An extension of the law enforcement apparatus.”

 Christie Sciacca, associate director of the Federal Deposit –Insurance Corp. said most of the 140,000 people who wrote the agency about the rule, oppose it as an invasion of privacy and several bills have been introduced in Congress to overturn it. (Writers note) “How did it get there in the first place??” 

“The FDIC is listening and has received the message loud and clear.”  She said.  “It is obvious to us that the proposal cannot become final.” 

The Federal Reserve appeared the reluctant to concede the proposal was a mistake.  Richard A. Small, an assistant director at the Fed, said that many banks already routinely monitor their customers’ activities.  The “know your customer” program “would be no more than formalizing existing procedures” he said. 

One Fed official said the public uproar over the proposal was “unprecedented” and he acknowledged that is “raises privacy concerns that also pose a real danger of eroding customer confidence in the institution at which they bank.” 

The rare withdrawal of a regulation by the nation’s powerful banking agencies was prompted by the heated opposition of organizations as diverse as the American Civil Liberties Union, The Eagle Forum, the Free Congress Foundation and the Consumers Union,  These groups set off alarms with their members and helped stir up the whirlwind of complaints.  

 The rule “assumes that every bank customer is guilty until proven innocent” (sounds familiar IRS tenet) said Gregory T. Nojeim, legislative counsel for the ACLU.  “A fifth-grader establishing a savings account for their allowance will have to worry that a generous cash gift from their grandparents may bring federal agents to his or her door.”

 

The following article was submitted by

Carrie Wang
Steele Business Investigation Center

Some Warning Signs of Occupational Fraud 

The economy develops at very fast speed while traps are immanence in the world. How to detect and prevent it? In general, there are often subtle clues that fraud is afoot. By being aware of what these warning signs are, you can be alert to them and possibly help avert a loss from fraud in your company. 

1.      Accounting Irregularities If the fraud is big enough, it will usually show up somewhere in the company’s books and records. For example, when a company adds millions of dollars in phony inventory, it makes the chain’s profits look abnormally high. And at the same time the company was showing record profits, it did not have enough cash on hand to sustain its operations. One of the first clues to trouble is a company showing record “profits” but no money. 

2.      Rule-breakers Breaking rules includes ignoring generally accepted accounting principles when preparing the company’s financial statements and routinely violating the retailer’s own written set of internal controls for his/her own purposes.  

3.      Big Spenders Big spending has led to the discovery of countless fraudsters. Some of the stories border on the absurd: A crooked banker who had the company jet fly to France regularly to bring back chefs to cook special dinners for him and his guests; a clerk for an insurance company that frequently took her co-workers to lunch in a limo; a middle-level supervisor who bought a multi-million dollar mansion adjacent to a golf course.  

4.      People With Financial Problems Just like big spenders, people with financial problems may be more motivated to commit occupational fraud. While most of us with money woes do not steal, some do. In one case for example, two employees worked in the same office. One of the workers could ill-conceal the fact that she was receiving constant telephone calls from creditors demanding money. But one day, the calls simply stopped. Later, the co-worker discovered why: She saw her colleague steal a company check and put it in her purse. Even though it was difficult to do, the co-worker turned her friend in. 

Through subtle unmoral clues maybe help the company beyond from fraud, by being aware of what these warning signs are, you can be alert to them and possibly help avert a loss from fraud in your company. But the most important is to develop a standard, precise, strict company system and financial system to protect the company.