September / October 2006 - Issue 87

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COVER STORY:
Unity of Effort:
Private Security, Private Investigative and Law Enforcement Partnerships
By Vincent Boves
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts when investigators and agencies pool resources and share information.
Excerpt: The private investigator’s ability to develop, maintain, enhance and be confident about private security and law enforcement partnerships is critical to his or her success. Current trends exemplify the significance of partnerships and serve as a model for the cultivation of private investigative, private security and law enforcement partnerships...

FEATURES:
DNA for Investigators
By Bob Wick
Tips to detect, collect and transport DNA evidence – perhaps the most reliable source of supporting evidence.
Excerpt: Over the past few years, we all have seen crime scene television shows that resolve the most complicated cases within the hour. I have been lulled into watching these shows only to walk away shaking my head at the level of exaggerated skills the actors portray on these shows. I know it is entertainment and it makes for great TV, but for those of us who are tasked with resolving real cases it makes our job a little more difficult. For example, how many times have you heard someone say, “I see them do this on TV all the time. Why can’t you?...”

How’s Your: Spanish? Korean? Polish? Portuguese?
By Jane Cracraft
With more and more cases having a foreign language component, investigators have an increasing need for translators and interpreters.
Excerpt: As the 21st Century unfolds, professional investigators see that more and more cases have foreign language components.
Cases may require doing interviews of Spanish-speaking workers who witnessed a rail yard accident, or taking statements from a family of Hmong refugees who rescued victims of a boating collision...

Metal Detectors at the Crime Scene
A Vital Tool For Effective Crime Scene Management
By Eugene Nielsen
The use of metal detectors by private investigators and police detectives compliments investigations – including crime scene processing.
Excerpt: Metal detectors play a variety of vital roles in today’s law enforcement and private security environments. Although most of the attention is directed towards their role in weapons detection, their utility as crime scene management tool has, unfortunately, been all too
often ignored.
In the hands of a skilled operator, metal detectors can locate metallic evidence at crime scenes better than other methods. They aren’t difficult to learn to use...

DEPARTMENTS:
North Carolina Establishes Innocence Inquiry Commission
A look at NC's bold initiative to investigative wrongful conviction claims.
Excerpt: On August 3, Governor Mike Easley of North Carolina put his signature on a first-of-its-kind new law: An “Innocence Project” of sorts operated by a state government. The Innocence Inquiry Commission’s sole purpose is to investigate claims by those who allege they were wrongfully convicted.

The IRS Wants All Its Due:
New Estimated Tax Payment Rules
By Mark E. Battersby
Newly proposed regulations and how they apply to the investigative business.
Excerpt: Although the Internal Revenue Service was forced to ease the rules allowing extensions of time for filing those 2005 federal tax returns, at the same time they proposed new rules to ensure that they get the 2006 quarterly estimated tax payments on a timely basis.

Communicating with your Clients
By Susie Wright and Ed Hodges
In many cases, company outsourcing and the Internet have removed the “service” aspect from “customer service.”
Excerpt: I want some legislative clout so I can push a new law called the “Answer Your Phone Act of 2006.”
I am tired of sending money to big corporations that do not want to hear from us little people. These days it seems that everybody in business wants to hide behind a Web site. If you have a complaint or a question, you are supposed to compress it into 50 words or less

Marketing to Insurance Companies: Doing Your Homework is Paramount
By Dan Draz
The final installment of this two part series covers many key aspects to consider before marketing to insurance companies.
Excerpt: So, you want to conduct insurance investigations? Well, you’re not alone. Many other private investigators do as well and it’s very competitive out there. It doesn’t matter what type of insurance company, or what lines they carry, the insurance industry provides a significant source of work for private investigators around the country.

The Business of Investigation and Security
By Gary H. Kuty
Whether you operate a business in the security sector or work as a private investigator – the key to success begins with marketing.
Excerpt: The longer I work in the private security profession the more I understand how little separates private investigators from contract security professionals as it relates to managing their businesses. In many cases larger contract security agencies also operate an investigation division within their company, blurring the line even further. Therefore, regardless of what service you sell, the goals are obviously similar

Nation’s Top Security Directors Saw Increased Compensation
As security concerns around the world increase, so too does the price companies are willing to pay top security officers.
Excerpt: The nation’s top corporate Chief Security Officers (CSO), those executives in charge of security for global companies in the U.S., are paid, on average, more than $293,000 annually in total cash compensation (base salary and bonus paid), according to a survey by leading compensation consulting and research firm

Rootkits: Spyware on Steroids
Why Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus Software is No Longer Enough
By Drew Robb
With developers focused on virus protection software that combats spyware, a new threat has emerged in computing.
Excerpt: There was a time there a little while back when it seemed that security software companies finally had the hackers, criminals and unscrupulous businesses on the run. After years of difficulties with viruses, it appeared that maybe, just maybe the anti-virus (AV) and anti-spyware (AS) vendors were at last gaining the upper hand.
Such hopes, however, proved to be futile. The malware writers once again have the upper hand and AV/AS vendors have been caught napping. According to CERT — a computer security group run by Carnegie Mellon University — vulnerabilities in applications jumped by over 50 percent in 2005 after three years of little or no change.

Forensic Identifications Now Available for Eyeglass Fragments
New technology could lend support in body identification for the forensic community.
Except: A process developed to aid in identifying the bodies of America’s recovered MIA/KIAs has resulted in a new forensic tool for identifying the remains of crime victims and others.

PI Buzz (www.pibuzz.com)
By Tamara Thompson
Topics Incude:
PI related issues from the top investigative blog on the web.
Local Search Makes it to Crime Mapping
ChoicePoint Ever Shifting also Delivers Some Free Online Tools
This Week in Public Records: Pennsylvania - North Dakota - Arizona
Free 50 State Real Property Assessor Search
Sell Internet Research Services to Your Clients

Gadgets Gimmicks and Tricks of the Trade
By Julius “Buddy” Bombet, Associate Editor
New technology, equipment and advice that every PI should know.
Have any contributions for this section?
Send them to me at Buddy@Bombet.com or by fax 225-272-3631.

Book Reviews
A review by Don Johnson of The Process of Investigation:
Concepts and Strategies for Investigators
in the Private Sector by Charles A. Sennewald and John K. Tsukayama.
A review by Gary Kuty of Mergers and Acquisitions Security:
Corporate Restructuring and Security Management
by Edward P. Halibozek and Dr. Gerald L. Kovacich

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