Answering Writers’ Questions: PIs at Crime Scenes, Website as Crime Scene

Below are some recent writers’ questions and our answers regarding the probability of PIs being allowed into an active crime scene investigation, and when an Internet site might be deemed a crime scene.

WRITER’S QUESTION: It seems like I’ve seen crime scenes (with all that yellow tape) in TV shows and movies where cops invite a PI into the crime scene.  Or maybe the PI enters the crime scene and a cop will chat with the PI.  What I’m getting at, it comes across that cops will welcome PIs into their crime scenes sometimes.  Is this realistic?  If it’s not commonplace, is there a reason a cop might welcome a PI?

 

GUNS, GAMS, AND GUMSHOES’S ANSWER: Any police officer who allows a member of the public onto a crime scene is more than likely allowing the the entry because it serves the officer’s purpose.  The officer would not allow a member of the public into a crime scene in a situation where such presence would taint or pollute the crime scene.  Of course, police are much more careful about crime scenes now since the O.J. Simpson case.

 

Here’s a few hypothetical reasons a cop might allow/invite a PI onto a crime scene.  Maybe the PI was allowed by a court order to be on the crime scene.  Or maybe the cop wants the PI there to milk him for information.  This last reason plays out in other scenarios because police and private investigators both trade in information.

 

WRITER’S QUESTION: I’ve read where PIs were purchasing illegal products off some Internet selling site to bust a counterfeit operation.  They referred to the Internet site itself as a crime scene.  Could you explain what this meant?

 

GUNS, GAMS, AND GUMSHOES’S ANSWER: In any case involving counterfeiting or piracy, an essential element to be proven is the promise by the seller that the product is identical to the real, licensed product.  A website, or for the sake of an example let’s say eBay ad, that sells any counterfeit or pirated items, provides ample proof of fraudulent misrepresentations.  Therefore, the pictures and language of these websites/online ads become primary evidence of the intent to defraud, and are therefore crime scenes.

Our next Writing PIs in Novels (Quick Studies on the Shady Side) online class:

November 16-23, 2009: Surfing the Web & Digging for Dirt
Ways a sleuth uncovers data, from Internet/database searches to getting down and dirty in someone’s trash. One week, 2 classes, questions answered by email in-between.

For more information/to register: http://www.writingprivateinvestigators.com

How to Do a Free Reverse Phone Number Look-Up

There’s lots and lots of ads out there for free phone look-ups–what they give you is free information that’s available from numerous other sites, then they ask you to “click here” and, for a mere $34.95 (or some price), you can get the full background report on this person.

Buyer beware.

There’s no magical 100% correct database out there that’ll spit out the latest and greatest information associated with a phone number.   We’re not saying you can’t get correct information.  You might.  But you, the buyer, should know you’re paying for information that could be old, outdated, or input incorrectly into a database (after all, human hands originally typed in the data).  Or the phone number might have been correct at one time, but has since been ported to a new carrier. 

So, saying all that, we’ll provide some free tips on doing a reverse check on a phone number, with some caveats thrown in for good measure.   Last note: Type phone numbers in different formats (123-456-7890, 1234567890, 4567890).

Step 1:  Run the phone number in Google.  We love Google.  It’s comprehensive search engine gives you a great starting point.  It might give you more information than you were even looking for (for example, the number may display on someone’s online resume, ad, or social networking site).  We once found a missing person by running her cell phone number in Google–although she’d hidden her whereabouts well (hopping from city to city, staying in different people’s homes, had no identifiable vehicle, had discontinued service on her cell phone although the number was still listed on her site), she was taking the time to log into her MySpace account to chat with her friends!  She hadn’t made her account private, so it was easy to see what her activities were , who she was staying with, etc.  on a daily basis!

 Step 2:  Run the number in various databases.   Although it’s hard to compete with Google’s search engine, doesn’t hurt to follow up and check the number in other databases.  For example, run the number in boardtracker.com, a forum search engine, or spokeo.com, a social networking search engine.

Step 3: Double-check if the number is a landline or cell.   Helps to know if it’s a landline or cell phone number.  If the latter, the person could be living anywhere (for example, their number might start with a Colorado area code, but they’re living in Delaware).  There are dozens of sites that offer free checks for type of phone line, name of carrier, and geographical region of the phone number.  One of our favorites is Phone Validator: http://www.phonevalidator.com/.  (Again, keep in mind that the information returned may be outdated, or the number has ported to a new carrier).

Step 4:  Still no leads?  Rather than pay an unknown online database service that promises background information such as a person’s name, address, and more, we recommend contacting a qualified private investigator to research the phone number for you.  Why?  Online database background/reverse check services are automated, and as we’ve already stated, you might be paying for old, outdated, or incorrect data.   Also, there’s no “live” person to field your questions, or read the results with an eye on accuracy or legality.

At our investigations agency, we’ve run many reverse phone number checks nationwide.  Drop by our website, give us a call or send us an email: Highlands Investigations & Legal Services, Inc:  www.highlandsinvestigations.com

Links to articles on catching cheaters, ordering background reports & safeguarding your Internet ID

Today we’re posting links to articles we’ve recently written on catching cheaters, ordering tailored background reports, and protecting your identity on the Internet.   The techniques are good for real-world application as well as fictional stories.   Have a great week!

 

How to Outwit Your Cheating Spouse and Catch Him/Her in the Act:
http://tinyurl.com/y9f2daz

 

How to Check if Your Date Is Telling the Truth:
http://tinyurl.com/ylp4twk

 

How to Select a Tailored Background Report:
http://tinyurl.com/ydyluzg

 

 

How to Safeguard Your Identity on the Internet:
http://tinyurl.com/yd9qsf8

 

 

Online Class: Quick Studies on the Shady Side: Tips and Techniques for Writers Developing Sleuths and Villains

November 16-23, 2009: Surfing the Web & Digging for Dirt
Ways a sleuth uncovers data, from Internet/database searches to getting down and dirty in someone’s trash. One week, 2 classes, questions answered by email in-between.

To register, go to www.writingprivateinvestigators.com

Marketing the Private Investigations Business

“Let me explain something to you, Walsh.  This business requires a certain amount of finesse.”
-Jake Gittes in Chinatown.

A private eye is a business person.  Has to be.  It’s not all about running after felons and solving cases, it’s also about paying the bills.  Even Sam Spade carefully extracted money from his clients, and Phillip Marlowe spent a lot of time worrying about money. Although writers shouldn’t write pages and pages about their fictional sleuth filling out a business credit card application, checking in with his/her CPA, revising contracts, ordering business cards (all that humdrum stuff!), managing a business is still part of the sleuth’s world.  Understanding this means a writer can add a touch of reality/plausibility here and there.  If the PI is wrangling with a testy bill collector, a critical CPA, or a disgruntled subcontractor, it could even be a humorous sub-plot.

Let’s take a brief look at how a private investigator (PI) markets a business.

Marketing the PI Business

As writers, think about all the ways you market your stories: ads in hardcopy and online publications, websites, blogs, electronic newsletters, giveaways to readers, etc.  Pretty similar to what a PI does to market his/her business.

When we decided we wanted to start an investigations company, the first thing we did was sit down and brainstorm two plans: a business plan and a marketing plan.  We worked both of these plans concurrently because we knew as soon as we were ready to open our doors (after following the business plan) we wanted to have customers knocking on those doors (hopefully, thanks to our marketing plan).

In our marketing plan were tasks such as:

• Designing and printing brochures, letterhead, and business cards
• Writing/mailing introductory letters about our business and services to attorneys
• Analyzing what information and focus we wanted on our website
• Hiring a webmaster we believed could fulfill our vision
• Advertising with numerous Internet PI sites
• Joining reputable PI organizations, some of which offered free advertising for its members
• Making cold calls to different courthouses and attorneys’ offices (with brochures and business cards in hand)
• Writing articles (with bios that advertised our business)

We’re living in a digital world, but interestingly enough, our first few clients came to us after receiving one of our letters or our brochure/business cards from a cold call.   The latter is still one of our favorite marketing approaches whenever work gets slow–we’ll visit attorneys’ offices and/or hit the courthouses and pass out our business cards (think about your fictional PI–maybe he/she picks up a case while shmoozing in the halls of justice, or maybe he/she sees a criminal they once investigated–both have happened to us).  

Marketing Never Ends

Advertising never stops, even after the PI business is up and running.  Frank Ritter, a well-known California PI who specializes in personal injury investigations, regularly sent out newsletters to attorneys (he swears his cartoons are what pulled in new clients).  One local financial investigator gives workshops on how to detect financial fraud, after which he personally hands out his business card to every single person in the room.  Another local PI, who’s built an extremely lucrative business over the years, courts the newspapers with articles about his successful investigations (free PR!).

Branding the PI Business

What about brands?  Does your fictional PI have a brand for his/her business?  There’s power in a brand—the first American private detective agency, Pinkerton National Detective Agency, had the “all-seeing eye” as their logo (with the motto “We Never Sleep”).  The term “private eye” came about because of their brand:

Marketing to an Audience

Just as writers should know their audience, so should PIs.  Because our firm specializes in legal investigations, we primarily market to law firms and attorneys.  A loss prevention investigator might market heavily to department stores.  Or maybe an investigator uses his physical location as a launching pad for marketing—for example, an investigator who lives near a large, recreational lake or other large waterfront area might market to insurance companies who specialize in marine insurance (boats and watercraft).

Maybe Jake Gittes should’ve said, “This business requires a certain amount of finesse…and a lot of marketing.”

How Does DNA Get to a Crime Scene?

We just wrapped up teaching our Crime Scenes, Homicides, and DNA class.  As part of the DNA course, we discussed how DNA gets to a crime scene, and how a private investigator is used in a case where DNA evidence is employed–topics we’re sharing today in this post.

There is known DNA evidence (produced by the victim) and there is evidence produced by a suspect (foreign depositor.) This evidence must be collected by a definite protocol because deviation from this collection method might spark a courtroom challenge to the reliability of that evidence.

How is a private investigator used in a case where DNA evidence is employed?

A private investigator may be retained and used to challenge the manner in which DNA evidence was gathered and handled by their opponent. The private investigator might look for evidence to substantiate a challenge to laboratory staff’s credentials or he might look for evidence that their test results have been successfully challenged in other cases.

When Is DNA Evidence Used?

DNA evidence is used in criminal prosecutions (to show a suspect is the perpetrator of a crime) and in an increasing variety of civil cases (to prove that an individual was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for a crime, to show paternity, and to establish lineage in estate matters.)

As an example, “wrongful conviction” cases have created a new type of litigation. Civil lawsuits are routinely brought by those exonerated through DNA evidence against police, prosecutors, and the forensic laboratories who helped bring about the wrongful conviction. For example three young men who played on Duke’s Lacrosse team and were falsely accused of rape and wrongfully prosecuted for that crime over a twelve-month period sued a North Carolina District Attorney and thirteen others. The trio also sued the laboratory used by the prosecutors for withholding evidence that pointed to their innocence. This is the laboratory that initially attested to a match between their DNA and samples taken from their accuser. This laboratory is now under scrutiny for its handling of evidence in this and other cases. Your fictional PI (who could easily have a scientific background) might be involved in gathering evidence about how certain laboratories are crooked, how they employ “bad science,” or even what makes some scientists charlatans.

Answering Writers’ Questions: Can a Private Eye Get a Police File?

Today we’re posting a writer’s question about how a fictional sleuth might go about obtaining a law enforcement report.

 

Writer’s Question: In the book I’m trying to write, the sister of a woman is missing. The police have finished their investigation and decided that the woman ran off. (Maybe not closed the investigation, not sure how that works in real life.) Her sister doesn’t believe that, so goes to my PI for help. My questions are: Can a PI get the file on the woman from the authorities? Is there sharing and corporation or is there conflict between them?

Answer: It’s very difficult for anyone from the private sector to obtain an open investigation file, although any private citizen can obtain access to a closed file.  But back to open investigation files: law enforcement officials might share verbal conclusions, but they would not share the entire body of the file. Often, there is conflict (or at least a lack of cooperation) between the private and public sectors. Things get even more complicated when you factor in the federal agencies because they consider most local law enforcement to be inferior agencies. For example, federal agencies frequently defer missing person investigations to local authorities absent special factors, which include kidnap with inter-state transport, kidnap with ransom, child kidnap, international kidnap, and  kidnapping related to international or domestic terrorism.

Saying that, there are a number of famous cases where PIs have solved missing person and homicide cases. Recently, several retired El Paso County Colorado law enforcement agents formed a private investigations agency that uncovered a serial murderer responsible for anywhere between 7-30 deaths (many of which had been unsolved for more than 10 years). This is an example of dedicated law enforcement work by those in the private sector, although we also surmise they must have had a tremendous amount of cooperation from their former agencies.

Locating Members of the U.S. Military Service

 

Today we’re posting a few links for helping writers and others locate members of the U.S. military service:

Access to Military Records by the General Public, including genealogists who are not next-of-kin:
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/public/general-public.html

Air Force Freedom of Information Act:
http://www.foia.af.mil/

Department of the Navy, Freedom of Information Act Office: http://foia.navy.mil/

United States Marine Corps Freedom of Information Act Online:
http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/FOIA/index.htm

Service Members Civil Relief Act:
https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/scra/owa/home

Air Reserve Personnel Center:
https://arpc.afrc.af.mil/vPC-GR/

Have a great week, everyone.  Writing PIs

Bored to Death: Tips from a Couple of PIs Who’re Also Writers

We’re hooked on Bored to Death, the new HBO series about a writer moonlighting as an unlicensed private eye in a state that requires licensing (ahem).  The latter point is a stickler with us because no way a person in any state that requires PIs to be licensed can simply place a craigslist ad that says “Hey, I’m unlicensed, hire me” as though that makes it all okay.  Sooner or later (more like sooner) a real PI, or someone associated with the regulatory agency, will see that ad or hear about the unlicensed PI’s activities, and the moonlighting will come to a cold-hearted, screeching halt.

But that aside, we love the show.  Love the goofy premises, love the pot-smoking magazine-editor boss George Christopher (played by Ted Danson, who steals the show), dig the PI’s sidekick pal Ray (played by Zach Galifianakis of The Hangover).  Being a couple of PIs who also write, we emphathize with the PI-protagonist who steals time from his writing to sleuth.  But being real-life PIs, we have to offer him these tips on being more professional:

Stop drinking with clients.   Most of your clients need PIs because they got themselves into a mess if not completely because of alcohol/drugs, at least partly.  Maybe Sam Spade drank with his clients, but why get fuzzy-brained when you need your brains the most?  And, oh by the way, don’t carry weed on your investigations.  The smell attracts more trouble than it’s worth.  Of course, this is part of the charm and funk of your fictional world–and where would that Ted Danson character be without that skunk?

Stop viewing clients as potential girlfriends.  Entanglements with troubled women will only drag you down.  Cases are tough enough to work, you don’t need the extra baggage of your heart on your sleeve.  Saying that, your fooling around with fair-haired damsel clients harkens back to the fictional greats (Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe), although it’d be nice if your writers let you occasionally score like the fictional greats, too.

Lose the trench coat.  It worked for Columbo back in the 70s, but this is the digital age.  Pitch it to the Salvation Army.  Try camel hair or a nice Gor-Tex.  But then, this is an offbeat comedy, and a trench coat is so cliche, it’s funny.

Try getting a retainer that reflects the difficulty of the work.  You’re going for desperate retainers–a hundred bucks on a whim, or a freebie because you got a crush on the client.  Thought you were moonlighting to make money, bud.  Fix an hourly rate, figure the hours and expenses to be worked, and get that upfront in cash, not kisses. 

Buy a camera.  So far, we’ve only seen you documenting cases with your eyes–that’s not convincing proof.  A visit to a pawn shop for a digital camera can go a long way toward convincing a judge or anyone else that your claims are truthful.

Speaking of a judge, back to your licensure situation.  You got a problem proving any case because you’re openly breaking New York state law.  If you work a case that goes to court, you’d be in a pickle.  The court may report you to the police or even disregard the evidence you’re presenting.  After all, New York state has a very active lobby for licensed private investigators and they don’t like interlopers, even cute ones with surfer boy haircuts.  On the other hand, you’re building some great conflict for future stories–can’t wait to see how you handle explaining to the judge that being unlicensed is just part of your charm as a character.

But fiction is fiction, not reality, so we’ll be back next week, watching our favorite new fictional unlicensed PI cavorting with babes, haggling for retainers, and dressing like a surfer-boy Columbo.  Here’s watching you, kid.

Answering Writers’ Questions about PIs: Crime Scenes, Naming Sources

This post, we’re answering writers’ questions about crime scenes and naming sources.

Crime Scenes

Writer’s Question:  Is there a time frame that an area remains a crime scene? I’m picturing the yellow caution tape in a public place and wondering how long that remains up.  What kind of time frame might apply to a crime scene in a residence (for example, if someone is found dead in a family room, how long do the residents of the house need to stay out of the room?)  I’m thinking that from the time the police leave to when a PI shows up, a lot could happen in that room if a family member so desires.

Guns Gams and Gumshoes’s Answer::  A police crime scene excludes all but those who are trained to respect procedures for preservation and collection of evidence.  Generally speaking, after a period of approximately 1-24 hours, the area is returned to normal use.

Regarding a crime scene in a residence, specifically (per your question) a dead body found therein: Be mindful that police will remove those parts of the family room that they consider important evidence (for example, blood-stained carpeting and drywall spattered with blood).  Also, police will photograph/videotape the family room in the exact state in which they found it.  In other words, by the time the family returns and changes anything, the PI will have copies of police photographs as well as access to physical evidence that’s within police custody.  There are certainly instances where PIs would still seek access to the home (for example, to photograph the layout, measurements, etc.) but that is accomplished through court order or consent of the victim’s family.

Naming Sources

Writer’s Question: Do PIs always need to name their sources? You know how reporters don’t need to name theirs?

Guns Gams and Gumshoes’s Answer: PIs working for attorneys cannot reveal sources without the attorney’s permission. If a PI isn’t working for an attorney, and there is no state statute protecting the PI (for instance, some state statutes create a legal privilege ensuring confidentiality for PIs and their investigative sources), then the PI can be ordered by the court to reveal her source. Under these circumstances, if a PI is on the stand and she refuses to identify how she obtained said information (the source), she could be held in contempt of court and jailed (similar to what’s happened to reporters).

October 19-26, 2009: We’re teaching Crime Scenes, Homicides, & DNA at www.writingprivateinvestigators.com.  Class blurb below:

Crime Scenes, Homicides, & DNA: An introduction to crime scenes and homicide investigations (topics include key tasks covered by law enforcement, a general introduction to estimating time of death and types of wounds, and how a PI might be called upon to aid in a homicide investigation). Class concludes with a discussion of DNA, its testing, how it might be deposited by a suspect, and how it’s used in court proceedings. One week, 2 classes, questions answered by email in-between.

A Week in a PI’s Life: From Hard Luck to Good Times

We’ve had quite a week–but then, every week is quite a week.  We thought we’d share the high points of this week, from breakfast with our favorite PI author to closing a tough case.

Good Times: Breakfast with Reed Farrel Coleman

We picked Reed up at the airport and whisked him to the Moonlight Diner on Tower Road, which is fitting as he’s on a book tour promoting Tower (by Coleman and Ken Bruen, Busted Flush Press).  Had a blast at breakfast, talking about PI cases gone bad and good, sports, writing, you name it.  Great guy.  Great writer.  For those who haven’t read him yet, we suggest starting out with his PI Moe Prager series.  Colleen, being a fountain pen nut, brought several for him to sign books with (below is a picture of him holding Tower and the first Moe Prager book Walking the Perfect Square, and a close-up of his signing with Colleen’s vintage Pelikan 140, a pen she thought perfect for his blue-collar, tenacious, vintage PI Moe):

 

Good News: Closing a Case

We’ve been working a tough case where an individual was being accused of committing a crime.  The more we dug, the more we realized he was an innocent guy who’d been set up.  We got the good news yesterday–all charges are being dropped.  Case closed, and happily so.

Hard Luck: Bar Exam Results

Got the results of the bar exam, and Shaun didn’t pass.  Tough news.  But when we thought back to last summer (when he was studying for the bar) and all the chaos he had to deal with *on top* of studying, we realized it’s going to be saner next time around.  So, as Biden said repeatedly in his campaign speeches, “Get up, Champ” and that’s what Shaun’s doing.  He starts studying next month to re-take the exam in February.

Fun News: We Gave a Presentation with an Hour’s Notice

When Bobby Brown (of the Dog the Bounty Hunter) couldn’t make a speech to Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers group this week, we filled in at the last minute.  Presented “Skips, Lies, and Videotape–How PIs Find People, Nail the Fraudulent, and Obtain the Proof.”  Fun time, great audience.  Shout out to Bonnie and Bill who finagled a projector at the last moment.

It’s the end of the week, more cases are coming in, we’re reading Reed Farrel Coleman and Ken Bruen when we have downtime, Shaun’s arranging a new bar review course, and all’s good.  Have a great weekend.

October 19-26, 2009: We’re teaching Crime Scenes, Homicides, & DNA at www.writingprivateinvestigators.com.  Class blurb below:

Crime Scenes, Homicides, & DNA: An introduction to crime scenes and homicide investigations (topics include key tasks covered by law enforcement, a general introduction to estimating time of death and types of wounds, and how a PI might be called upon to aid in a homicide investigation). Class concludes with a discussion of DNA, its testing, how it might be deposited by a suspect, and how it’s used in court proceedings. One week, 2 classes, questions answered by email in-between.