Louisville, Kentucky Private Investigations

Louisville, Kentucky Private Investigations

by | Nov 14, 2019 | Private Investigations News

When you think of private investigators, you don’t usually imagine the state of Kentucky as their stomping ground, but the flexibility of a private investigator’s skills can be applied in any city, any state, as long as the investigator meets the state requirements for independent licensure—and Louisville private investigators are never hard-up for casework. The city of Louisville, Kentucky is synonymous with so many well-known aspects of American Culture. It’s the home of legendary boxer, Muhammad Ali, the annual Kentucky Derby, Louisville Slugger bats, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. It’s a vibrant cultural hub smack in the middle of America that combines metropolis energy with southern charm. Despite the fact that it’s one of the safest cities in America, Louisville also experiences a higher rate of violent crime than the U.S. as a whole. With The speed, anonymity, and geo-social aspects of the city make it an ideal place for a private investigator to set up shop.

Relative to its size and population, Louisville is comparable to Baltimore or Glasgow (U.K.). It has a crime rate of 647 violent crimes per 100,000 people. In 2017 the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department fielded 4,428 violent crimes, 44% of the entire state total. That’s an average of 12 violent crimes reported every day. Even police departments that are well-funded and well-manned have difficulty juggling the caseload per investigator, and that is where private investigators come in.

Private investigators as a profession have a reputation for seedy surveillance and cloak-and-dagger tactics, but the same services that expose cheating spouses and hidden assets can assist in casework for violent crime. In a 2018 investigative piece, Louisville’s radio station WFPL 89.3 reported that LMPD closed 51% of its open rape cases over the course of three years. However, the Louisville station also determined that in a majority of those cases, they closed them with the classification of “cleared by exception,” a status meant for cases considered “exceptional situations,” often resulting in no arrests. This has been characterized as Louisville’s PD attempt to improve their closure rate. Jessie Halladay, a spokesperson for Louisville Metropolitan Police Department said, “What it means is that we have done all that we can. We don’t use that as a marker of success when we use ‘cleared by exception.”

Case closure does not mean there’s closure for the survivors of these brutal crimes. In the best-case scenario of “cleared by exception,” it could simply mean that the Louisville police hit a roadblock in investigative methods such as witness location, evidence-gathering, or jurisdictional boundaries that prevent them from investigating further. Private investigators have a similar tool chest to that of law enforcement officers. Survivors of violent crime without closure in their case can hire private investigators to pick the case up where law enforcement left off—locating vital witnesses, performing surveillance, and documenting casework that can be helpful if the case is resurrected within the justice system, or if the survivor wishes to face their attacker in civil court.

One of the nation’s foremost experts in missing persons, private investigator Thomas Lauth (Lauth Investigations) recently expanded his independent investigation firm to serve the Louisville population. “When cities like Louisville have difficulty closing cases within their respective police departments, that’s where private investigators can ‘pick up the slack,’ for lack of a better phrase. We can follow leads that law enforcement cannot and we can bring justice to survivors of violent crime who previously had no recourse.” With their autonomy, private investigators can pick up leads that law enforcement might have dropped, or locate witnesses that might have left the jurisdiction. Lauth went on to say that Louisville provides some unique opportunities for a variety of investigations. “Cities the size of Louisville have a level of CCTV surveillance that is beneficial in investigations for locating witnesses, getting accurate accounts of how an incident transpired, or capturing license plates for investigations involving vehicles.”

When police departments are overwhelmed, private investigators can pick up the slack, and bring closure to victims of violent crime or otherwise. They possess a similar skill set, juxtaposed with a level of autonomy not afforded to law enforcement. This means jurisdictional issues will never be a hurdle to stall case progression. Because private investigators only have 3-4 cases on average at any given time, that means caseload will never interfere with their ability to follow a lead in a timely matter. This can lead to the recovery of new evidence, witness statements, and ultimately, closure in your case. If you’re the victim of an unsolved crime, call Lauth Investigations International today for a free consultation, and learn how we can help you find justice today. Call 317-951-1100 today or visit our contact page.

3 Most Common Types of Corporate Crisis

by | Apr 26, 2019 | Corporate Investigations, Investigations, Resources, Tips & Facts, Workplace

What is a corporate crisis? While exact definitions may differ, a corporate crisis is generally defined as “an event, situation, or public initiative that threatens the company’s ability to effectively operate its business. A crisis can escalate into a disaster or long-term impediment to business growth if not handled with efficiency and sensitivity to all involved.” This is a large umbrella that encompasses many of the internal issues we associate with companies, including (but not limited to) fraud, theft, misconduct, and harassment of all kinds.

A majority of corporate crises fall into one of three categories: personnel, systemic, and contextual.

  1. A personnel crisis is an internal issue that is a direct result of an individual employee or a group of employees’ bad behavior. Theft by personnel is one of the most widely-reported crises in corporations throughout America. The scope of this problem can be as small as stealing office supplies all the way up to executive embezzlement. Sexual harassment is a type of personnel crisis receiving a welcomed new level of attention in corporations. In the age of the #MeToo movement, corporations are viewing their workforce very differently when it comes to identifying potential predators in their midst in the name of a “pound of cure.” Prudent steps taken when vetting potential hires and current employees has saved companies difficulties down the line, especially in legal fees and public relations.
  2. A systemic crisis refers to a major breakdown in operations negatively impacting business. A common example is food service corporations that receive a sudden influx of food poisoning complaints. Source of the outbreak may be traced back to how the supplier or distributor handled the food product, and suddenly, there’s a systemic crisis: A misstep in operations led to a large sum of incidents. Systemic problems manifest themselves in many forms, including external theft. Repeated theft, both in cyberspace and the real world, is often the result of insufficient security within a company. Consequently, the company incurs loss because they remain vulnerable. Companies who have chronic turnover due to employee misconduct may have flaws in their vetting system for potential employees. That is another example of a crucial operation where a breakdown occurs and erodes a company’s profits with labor hours to hire a new individual to fill a vacant position.
  3. A contextual crisis has exponential consequences for a business relative to its size. These are the types of crises that companies cannot anticipate, because they influence public perception of their brand based on real-life events. A major news story like a mass shooting, or a major criminal case, or a lawsuit, can negatively impact a brand even if that event is not directly associated with that company. These external events can drastically change a company’s internal operations, and can weigh heavy on employees at every level. Sexual harassment is another example of this type of crisis in motion. The media coverage regarding high-level Hollywood executives like Harvey Weinstein and his alleged history of abuse have executives in companies of all shapes and sizes revisiting their human resource policies and practices when it comes to addressing sexual misconduct in the workplace. Internal operations receive a major overhaul to the benefit of a healthier work environment for everyone.

When it comes to corporate crises, not all businesses will be able to afford specialized investigators to work in-house to resolve issues that arise. Even if they can afford these professionals, investigators employed by the company—regardless of the quality of their work—by definition cannot provide a truly objective solution to any problem. Because they’re employed by the corporation, they have a potential stake in the outcome of the investigation, whether that stake be real or perceived. Hiring an independent professional, like a licensed private investigator, to conduct an external investigation is the best way to ensure that the solution is objective. This is particularly important personnel crises, because terminating personnel based on an unbiased investigation is kerosene for a disgruntled employee that can manifest itself with many devastating consequences—most commonly wrongful termination lawsuits. Private investigators can assist in systemic crises as well, like the example of repeated thefts with regards to security. Private investigators who specialize in different kinds of risk assessment can identify a company’s vulnerabilities to thieves and scammers, and provide them with a game plan to improve their security.

If your business has encountered a corporate crisis, call Lauth Investigations International today for a free consultation. Learn how we can provide you with an objective solution to your corporate crisis. Call 317-951-1100, or learn more about our services here.