Colorado Private Investigators | Denver Investigations

Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado Senior Member Ricky Bennett will be the presenter of PPIAC’s first Quarterly Training Session which is scheduled for March 16th, 2012 with a venue in the Denver metro area.  Mr. Bennett will present a day-long class on Interviews. Keep an eye out on VP of Training Tan Smyth’s announcement for further details.
300. Most of us, when we hear this number, the first thing that might come to mind is the blockbuster movie that was released a few years ago. However, that number also holds a great deal of significance to Colorado private investigators. 300 (and counting) are the number of private investigators that are interested in Colorado’s Voluntary Private Investigator License. The spreadsheet with the contact information of the 300 was presented to Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Agencies. Further information can be located at http://www.dora.state.co.us/private-investigator/index.htm
PPIAC is diligently monitoring bills that have recently been introduced at the 2012 Colorado Legislative Session. HB12-1036, which is to provide clarification to the Colorado Open Records Act, was recently introduced and could potentially have a significant impact to private investigators if passed. The two page bill, which seeks to provide clarification of the exemption from the Colorado Open Records Act, might appear to be non-impactful, but it is far from it. In its current form, the bill specifies that the custodian of records may deny the right of inspection, on the ground that disclosure to the applicant would be contrary to the public interest, any records of the investigations conducted by any sheriff, prosecuting attorney, or police department, or any investigatory files compiled for any other civil, administrative, or criminal law enforcement purpose. Can there possibly be a much larger swath of a denial of records at the discretion of the custodian? Keep in mind these files were previously viewable in accordance to the Open Records Act. PPIAC has been working to create exemptions for licensed private investigators. If exemptions for licensed private investigators cannot be achieved, PPIAC will likely have no choice but to oppose this bill in its entirety alongside other opponents. You can read the bill by going to http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2012a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/F910975289BD2B1D87257981007F3A47?open&file=1036_01.pdf
HB12-1231, with regards to the Colorado Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, looks to be a much friendlier bill to the investigative profession. This bill seeks to bring the Colorado DPPA in line with the Federal DPPA. The PPIAC Board has not had the opportunity to review this bill, and thus has not taken an official position on the bill, but I anticipate the bill will receive the support of the association as it recognizes the licensed private investigator when requesting records from the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles.
In the last couple of years, there has been an ever-increasing concern and focus on privacy, identity theft protection, and limiting access to public records. While legislators may introduce bills with good intentions, many of these bills can quickly go awry if not closely monitored and guided by PPIAC. It’s this type of legislative representation where an association can demonstrate its value and importance to its membership, and it’s this type of legislative representation PPIAC continues to provide for the benefit of the members year in and year out.
Please consider joining PPIAC in March for a Background/Integrity Interviews topic presented by Steve and Erica Davis.

Passing a licensing bill into law was a significant accomplishment for Colorado private investigators, one that was 34 years in the making. After the analysis of all the other PI licensing laws across the country, Colorado private investigators really took an unconventional approach. The approach would be a fist of it’s kind voluntary license. A voluntary licensing program was the best solution that Colorado investigators could put forth to satisfy all the investigative professionals who were involved or potentially affected. For those who desired or needed a Colorado license, they will finally have one available. For those who do not want a Colorado license, they simply need not opt in. For those who strive to be licensed but may not yet meet the qualifications, they are able to continue working toward their goal of qualifying for a license unimpeded.
When I first heard about a voluntary approach, I had a difficult time understanding what this approach would accomplish. After giving a few days of thought to the idea, it struck me how creative and effective this licensing program truly could be. The idea then seemed head-smackingly simple. Colorado will offer a license only to those who want it and qualify for it.
However, it’s important to understand that a voluntary licensing program is actually a leap of faith program. The only way for the program to be successful in the long term will be for enough investigators to sign up and pay the fees necessary to sustain the operational costs needed to run the program. Colorado’s voluntary license was designed to be available not just to Colorado investigators but to anyone else in the US who met the qualifications and wanted a PI license. The eyes of PI’s all across the country will be on Colorado’s licensing program in 2012.

To submit your interest in Colorado’s licensing program, please visit http://licensing.ppiac.net

Recent Colorado medical marijuana legislation passed at the Denver Capitol has caused a rise in the use and abuse of that drug in the workplace. Drug use in the workplace is a type of misconduct that employers should curb, as this type of behavior can be costly down the road. Drug use, to include illegal drugs, alcohol, and even the abuse of prescription drugs can impair an employee’s ability to perform their work functions in a safe manner. An employee who is impaired is more likely to suffer an injury in the workplace, and can subsequently claim worker’s compensation benefits as a result of the injury. Impaired employees are also a danger to others around them, which increases liability to the employer. Impaired employees in general can be less productive and less efficient than those who are not.
Other behaviors which could fall under employee misconduct include falsely claiming sick days, falsely claiming FMLA ( Family Medical Leave Act ), claiming lack of transportation, inaccessible roads, involvement in vehicular accidents, breakdowns, and other forms of excessive absenteeism.
Of course, surveillance is only one part of the equation. Employers need well written policies and procedures. Legal advice from an employment attorney will help the employer ensure that the professional investigator’s documentation is used in measures and resolutions that are compliant with labor laws.

Do you suspect one of your employees of misconduct? Let Advanced Professional Investigations of Colorado be your surveillance specialists in verifying and documenting misconduct so you don’t continue to experience losses in your company! Our office is conveniently located between Denver and Colorado Springs, with investigators located throughout the Denver metro area.

Do you know if your employees are stealing fuel at your company’s expense? Employees with company vehicles typically have company credit cards for gasoline purchases. This is another potential area of major losses for employers, particularly with the $3-4 / gallon fuel prices. Fuel theft can occur when the employee simply uses the credit card to fill up a personal vehicle. Sometimes, unscrupulous employees use the card to fill up the company vehicle and have a friend or family member line up at the gas pump before the transaction is closed to fill up or casually place a few gallons of gas in a personal vehicle to prevent large purchases which could arouse suspicion. Employees might also keep gas cans which are filled up and then emptied out into personal vehicles. Though not they are not large losses per occurrence, frequent fuel thefts can cumulatively cost employers tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the span of a dishonest employee’s career.
Time theft is another area that should be of concern to employers. Field employees and delivery drivers are often not under the supervision of an employer. Time theft can occur when the employee ends the work day early while charging for the hours, running personal errands during work hours, or even missing an entire day of work while claiming to have been at work. Similar to fuel thefts, theft of time can quickly have a cumulative effect with an individual employee, and the effect can be compounded with other employees involved in the same behavior. Some employees tend to emulate the behavior of one or two employees who are not being identified and disciplined.
Do you suspect one of your employees of misconduct? Let Advanced Professional Investigations of Colorado be your consultants in verifying and documenting this behavior so you don’t continue to experience losses in your company!

With the downturn in the economy, many corporations, small business owners, and even government entities are looking for ways to keep their businesses and work places running efficiently and maximize profits. One method for achieving this goal is to examine the productivity, honesty, and integrity of a company’s employees. Often, dishonesty, illegal activity, and unscrupulous behavior start as an isolated incident, or with one employee. However, problems can quickly escalate with an employee and can even spread to other employees if they believe everyone else
is “getting away with it.”

In recent years, there has been a growing trend of employers installing security and video surveillance systems in offices and company property as a way to create a safer work environment, to limit liability, increase productivity, cut down on losses, and as an investigative tool when an issue arises. So how can an employer monitor his/her employees when these concerns arise outside of an office or company property? The answer is through physical surveillance provided by a professional private investigative agency, and specifically one that specializes in surveillance.

Do you have increasingly missing or unexplainable losses in company equipment? Many companies, particularly construction and similar industrial related businesses have valuable equipment which is used by employees on field locations away from company property. Surveillance investigators pick up where stationary surveillance cameras drop off. Surveillance investigators are more mobile, more flexible, and can even be more covert in the ability to document equipment theft.

For several months now, I’ve seen growing concerns from investigators across the United States regarding the direction of private investigations. These concerns have been raised perhaps as a result of the economy, privacy laws, and even national investigative agencies.

Let’s assume for a moment that those concerns are valid and the scope of the investigations work as we know it will soon be gone and will never be the same. Assume that the private investigator will even cease to exist, as many concerns have been expressed. Does that mean that society simply has no use for the services that investigators provide? Let’s examine the role of the private investigator.

At its core, the private investigator is an information locator and gatherer. The right type of information can be very valuable and powerful to the client. Information therefore is the key to the value a private investigator has to his/her client. However, most clients are becoming more demanding with the information they want. No longer is it enough to provide a client with information simply to satisfy the client’s curiosity. Most clients of the private investigator are looking for a PI because they need information for a current legal action, a pending legal action, or to minimize the possibility of a future legal action. Private investigators must make sure that the information they provide to their clients can withstand legal scrutiny if need be. The investigator who can obtain valuable legally and ethically obtained information will continue to be in demand regardless of outside factors driving the profession. We are, after all, in the information age.

So what should the private investigator do to not only survive, but perhaps thrive in the coming years and even decades? A good start is for us to change our mindset of who we all are. Rather than private investigators, we should look at ourselves as professional investigators, or professional private investigators. The private investigations field will continue to bring never-ending changes. Some changes will be better than others. Some changes should and will be challenged.  Today’s investigator must be willing to embrace the challenges of the changing scope of investigations. For the changes that are inevitable, the successful investigator must be willing to embrace or at the minimum adjust expeditiously to those as well.

Today’s successful investigator must be not only an investigative professional, but a business professional. Being well-versed in business and marketing practices is critical. Many clients, including the private clientele involved in domestic matters, are seeking out investigative firms with a more professional, corporate look and feel. Every facet of the investigator is scrutinized by the client, from the website to the equipment to the knowledge of laws. Even the style of dress is scrutinized. Clients are moving away from choosing investigators with websites containing scandalous, salacious photos of couples “caught in the act” or websites filled with assertions that the investigator is willing to “dig for dirt.” Investigators who maintain a professional demeanor will have a competitive advantage in today’s world.

So are we all witnessing the death of the private investigator? That is unlikely. Rather, I believe that private investigations will continue to evolve and is constantly progressing more and more towards a professional field. For those who already view and hold themselves as professionals, the evolution should be manageable and even welcoming.

Can Social Network Investigations Make a Difference in Your Cases?

By now, everyone has heard of social networking. It’s not a fad or something restricted to teens. Private investigators utilize the social networks to help them
develop leads, locate individuals, and follow the information to confirm and document the findings. All of this sounds good, but how can it be applied to
your case? Is social networking just a nicety?

Social networking is quickly becoming a massive part of nearly every private investigator’s case. It is an integral part of most people’s lives. Not only do
people open their networking sites almost immediately upon starting up their home computers or netbooks, but many people now use their social networking
applications (such as Facebook and Twitter) on their smart phones 9% more often than they use it on their computer. The need for people to stay connected with
others outpaces their need for privacy.

Private investigators can use this to their advantage. Advanced Professional Investigations checks dozens of social networking sites for your cases, but for our example let’s look at Facebook. Many subjects are among the 800 million active users on Facebook. Facebook posts can provide leads, confirm information, supply photos and hobby data that will help to fill out a case profile that can save both time and money in confirming or denying questionable data.

API is keenly aware of how much time, effort and money social network and internet investigations can save. Subjects that have a prolific presence on the internet use more than one social networking site; searching these sites may provide invaluable information. It is due to these recent developments that API has created the cost-effective Advanced Social Profile Division. If you would like a more extensive search package added to one of your cases, please contact us for pricing. The information gleaned from this often-requested search greatly helps the chances of the case being resolved quickly.

Unwritten Rules of Private Investigations

What do professional private investigators think about?  Here is a checklist for scrutinizing the investigative process:

The Private Investigator is an Extension of the Client.  Advanced Professional Investigations represents you, the client.  Whether it’s in the courtroom or in the field, we always remain aware of the fact that we are your representatives.  We dress professionally, behave accordingly, and never forget that our credibility stems from the way we present ourselves as your representatives in the aspect of investigations, from the beginning of the case to the end.

The Private Investigator must withstand legal scrutiny.  Legal scrutiny may come from at least three different areas:  the investigator themselves, the investigation process, and the evidence produced.

Investigator:  How well do you know your private investigator?  How well do you know their background?  Do they have anything in their past that may come up on the stand?  Restraining orders, stalking and harassment charges and convictions are just a start of what you should know about your investigator’s past history. Do they have a professional demeanor?  Believability and credibility in the eyes of the judge and jury are dramatically affected by the impression that an investigator creates on the stand.  Could your investigator pass this scrutiny?

Investigations:  The methods of investigating a case may come under intense scrutiny when brought to court.  Legal ramifications must always be at the forefront of a private investigator’s thought processes.  Does your investigator know the differences between surveillance and stalking?  Do they know Colorado’s statute regarding harassment?  Do they understand what ‘reasonable expectation of privacy’ entails with regard to a surveillance or other private investigation?  Do they understand the pitfalls of GPS tracking devices and certain types of searches in social media? 

Evidence: In this case, evidence describes any documentation produced for a court case. Examples might be a word document, pdf, video or electronic communication.  Will the evidence stand up in court?  For instance, is there a date and time stamp on the video or photo?  Has any documentation been altered or edited?  Was the evidence obtained in a legal manner?

There are many other considerations that we as professional private investigators must take into account. Where does your investigator fit into the process?

What defines and distinguishes Advanced Professional Investigations is specialized expertise and ethical standards that set the bar in the private investigator field. What we do and how we do it are core to our mission and working philosophy.

Observe

Whether we’re conducting surveillance or another type of private investigation, our purpose is to observe objectively. Our impartiality is your greatest strength.

Record

We obtain expert video surveillance evidence and audio statements that are recorded professionally and legally. We do not use wiretapping or GPS tracking devices.

Report

The culmination of our observations and recordings are delivered to you in a professional and concisely written report.  No opinions.  No speculation.  No suppositions.  Our objective reports provide you with the facts and support you need to make your best case.

Advanced Professional Investigations is a Colorado owned and operated private investigations company, with highly experienced investigators conveniently located throughout the Denver metro area.

We are Denver surveillance specialists, and for that matter we are Colorado surveillance specialists: we wear that hat proudly. Our private investigators each have 10 to 30 years of field surveillance experience. Field experience has a large impact on your bottom line.

Fast Turn Around – Time is money. The quicker we can turn over the results and completed documentation to you, the better. Upon completion of surveillance we send you the report and video within 48 hours.

Did you know API offers Statements and Interviews?
Interviews help you uncover information from potential witnesses that is critical for litigation and to support the facts for your case. API can provide video or voice recorded statements for your cases that have a legal purpose.

As worker’s compensation plaintiff attorneys become more aware of the use of surveillance
in workers compensation (and other related) claims, they have responded by
focusing on the investigation itself. Many of their strategies lay in questioning
the impartiality of the surveillance investigator conducting the investigation.

Using an unbiased private investigator is critical when insuring there has been no
conflict of interest on a case, and that the results produced from the
investigation have truly remained objective. The use of ‘in-house’
investigators has proven to be an especially vulnerable area for attorneys to
attack the impartiality of surveillance.

A private investigator has no part in adjusting or administering the claim; the only
association they have is in conducting the investigation itself.  Their compensation does not hinge on the
outcome of the claim, nor is it affected by the video documentation obtained.

Accusation of bias is far less likely to adhere to a private investigator conducting
surveillance on a claim than to an in-house investigator. Our surveillance investigators
document ALL of a claimant’s activities that can be observed in public,
assuring the case cannot be discredited through bias. API’s investigators have
a thorough knowledge of Colorado laws pertaining to surveillance. API’s
investigators are highly experienced at conducting surveillance in all of
Colorado, from downtown Denver to Denver International Airport, and from Vail
to Boulder.  We incorporate that knowledge into EVERY case we take.

Our impartiality is your greatest strength.