Restoring a Sense of Justice After a Crime

Restoring a Sense of Justice After a Crime

Restoring a Sense of Justice After a Crime

In the wake of personal crimes such as assaults, muggings, sexual assaults, and other violations, victims often grapple with the slow pace of justice. If law enforcement is unable to identify the assailant in the first couple of days after the incident, it can result in serious delays or even unresolved cases. This is where the expertise and dedication of a private investigator (PI) can make a significant difference, offering a more focused approach to solving these crimes.

The Critical Role of Private Investigators

Private investigators step into the breach with a set of skills and resources uniquely tailored to address the intricacies of crimes against persons. Their work encompasses several critical areas:

  • Targeted Surveillance: PIs conduct surveillance operations to gather direct evidence and observe suspects, providing concrete data that can be crucial in legal proceedings.
  • In-Depth Interviews and Witness Statements: Through their investigative work, PIs can locate and interview witnesses that law enforcement might not have the capacity to reach, gathering valuable testimonials and statements.
  • Comprehensive Background Checks: They perform detailed background checks on individuals involved in the case, uncovering patterns of behavior or past crimes that can be pivotal in understanding the current situation.

Bridging the Gap in the Justice System

While police departments are often burdened with an array of cases, private investigators bring a laser-focused approach to each investigation, dedicating the time and energy necessary to delve into the finer details of each case. This level of attention can uncover leads and evidence that might otherwise go unnoticed, significantly increasing the chances of resolution and justice for the victim.

The Tools and Techniques of PIs

Private investigators leverage a wide array of tools and methodologies in their work, including:

  • Digital Forensics: Utilizing technology to uncover digital evidence, track online activities, and gather data that can support the case.
  • Legal Knowledge: Understanding the legal framework and requirements for evidence, ensuring that all gathered information can be effectively used in court.
  • Specialized Databases: Accessing extensive databases for information on individuals, properties, and more, which can provide crucial links and insights in an investigation.

The Emotional Aspect

Beyond the technical and procedural aspects of their work, PIs also offer emotional support to victims. Navigating the aftermath of a personal crime can be a traumatic experience, and PIs understand the importance of empathy and discretion in their dealings with clients, offering not just investigative expertise but also a measure of comfort during a difficult time.

Finding Your Path to Resolution

Hiring a private investigator can be a game-changer for victims of personal crimes. With their dedicated approach, specialized skills, and the ability to devote substantial time and resources to each case, PIs represent a valuable ally in the quest for justice. They not only enhance the prospects of recovering stolen property or resolving crimes but also provide a sense of momentum and hope for victims seeking closure and justice in the often-overwhelming aftermath of a crime. Let us help you restore your faith in justice. Contact Lauth Professional Private Investigators today.

When Police Go Rogue: Continuing Service Through Private Investigations

When Police Go Rogue: Continuing Service Through Private Investigations

Since 2018, the number of working private investigators in the United States has been expected to rise exponentially in the coming years. The continued development of the internet, ubiquity of information technology, and the budding applications in both the professional and private sector are all factors that have directly influenced this rise. The private investigation industry has seen a lot of professional transplants, in which individuals who previously worked in a similar or completely different industry have begun the process of getting their private investigator license and opening their own private investigation firms.

Two professional areas that are seeing a lot of transplants are journalism and law enforcement. In their pursuit of the truth behind a good story, journalists are realizing that they can apply private investigator methodology to their journalistic pursuits, and vice versa in applying journalistic integrity to private investigations. In the same process of application, law enforcement officers are finding a third act in their professional lives by transitioning from law enforcement to private investigations.

Private investigator methodology is often compared to that of law enforcement. This is because fact-finding and following leads typically demand the same approach. This makes former law enforcement officials often ideal individuals to become private investigators. Police officers and detectives in particular are natural doers—professionals who thrive on action and progress. As such, many law enforcement officials find retirement disagreeable, and seek to apply their professional knowledge to private investigations.

Police turned private investigators can continue their careers of service to the community. While police turned private investigators can also apply their due-diligence and methodology to corporate investigations, their expertise is best put to use helping families get justice. Former police officers know the system, and in many cases, they remain living in the communities where they served during their retirement—so not only do they know the system, but also THE system in local law enforcement that might have failed to get justice. The reasons why criminal investigations fall apart are not exhaustive. Sometimes local police departments do not have the resources at their disposal to carry out a comprehensive investigation. They might lack the manpower to properly exhaust every lead. As a result, evidence disappears, witnesses disappear or cannot remember details accurately, and the trail towards the truth goes cold.

Police officers and other investigating bodies often run into bureaucratic or jurisdictional issues that prevent them from moving forward with a case. And the lack of communication between departments in different jurisdictions allows suspects and subjects to move between jurisdictions. The result is the same—the trail goes cold. Private investigators are not members of law enforcement. They are not bound by jurisdiction. They are only bound by their limits of licensure. As long as a private investigator is licensed in the state in question, they can follow tips and subjects wherever they lead. Private investigators don’t need substantial evidence to follow someone, nor have to clear their next step with a bureaucratic ladder of command. Private investigators can strike when the iron is hot, and increase the chances that answers will be found.

Police officers’ knowledge of the system allows them to collect evidence and witness accounts with great detail and discipline. They know exactly what law enforcement would be looking for and how thorough to be. They can take special professional care that no evidence is mishandled for later use in a criminal trial, and preserve the integrity of witness testimony by serving as an expert in the courtroom. Testimony of a former police officer always adds another veneer of integrity to the case.

Skip Trace | Callous Corporation

Skip Trace | Callous Corporation

Case Study | Skip Trace | Callous Corporation

Skip Trace | Callous Corporation

Lauth Investigations was contacted by a lawyer, the Client, who was representing a man who had recently been in an automobile accident.

A forwarded report indicated that the driver of the other vehicle, a driver for a local freight service, was at fault for the accident. The injured driver remained unconscious in a coma following the accident and the Client had reached out to the freight service provider to let them know their insurance carrier must contact him. Having received no answer from the freight service, the Client reached out to Lauth, interested in locating the driver of the vehicle to serve him with a letter while he waited for a response from the insurance company.

The Investigation

Lauth conducted interviews with the Client, gathering all relevant information available regarding the driver, the freight service, and available documentation from the state.

Once a background narrative was begun on the driver, the Subject, Lauth began combing verified databases in search of address history for the Subject. The Subject’s address was located, and investigators began doing spot checks at the residence to piece together the movements of the individuals who resided there.

The Solution

Lauth was able to confirm that the Subject lived at the residence from speaking to neighbors, but were not able to observe the Subject at home to serve the letter.

Lauth compiled his background narrative and location information in a report, passing it along to the client for litigative purposes. Client advised that the insurance company had returned his letter, and had agreed to pay. No more surveillance was necessary.

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Why Private Investigators Have an Advantage Over Police

Why Private Investigators Have an Advantage Over Police

Why Private Investigators Have an Advantage Over Police

 For months, the family of 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez wondered if they would ever have answers in his mysterious disappearance. On the day he disappeared, he was left in the care of his father’s girlfriend, Emily Glass. In the missing persons report, Glass told investigators on February 17th, 2018, she saw Lucas playing in his room around three in the afternoon. She then took a shower and fell asleep. When she awoke around six in the evening, Lucas was nowhere to be found.

Law enforcement in Wichita investigated for months, unearthing no credible leads into Lucas’ disappearance. Months later, on May 24th, locals were shocked after a private investigator blew the case wide open by informing law enforcement Emily Glass had led them to the decomposing remains of little Lucas under a nearby bridge. Why would Glass, after dealing with law enforcement for months, only then break her silence regarding her knowledge of the little boy’s body? The answer is as simple as this: Private investigators have advantages law enforcement do not when it comes to conducting concurrent independent investigations in criminal and missing persons cases.

So how is a private investigator’s approach different from the approach of a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency? The first thing to consider is the caseload of most law enforcement agencies. From the moment an initial report is made, in both criminal and missing persons cases, law enforcement have the meticulous and overwhelming task of gathering evidence to build a case that will secure justice on behalf of the victims and the state. Crime scenes need to be mined for evidence by medical examiners and crime scene technicians. Detectives and other investigators need to canvass witnesses—sometimes dozens of people—in the area who might have seen or heard something. Now imagine the workload of one case multiplied by 40 or 50 times. An audit conducted in Portland Oregon in 2007 reviewed law enforcement data from Portland itself, and nine other surrounding cities, to conclude the average caseload for a detective in Portland was a median of 54. This is compared to a 5-year average of 56 cases. Knowing statistics like these are similar in law enforcement agencies all across the country, it’s easy to see how the progress of cases might slow to a crawl. Agencies are overwhelmed, and this is where private investigators have the advantage. Private investigators may only handle one or two cases at a time, giving them their full focus and attention. Wichita law enforcement might have faced similar challenges of an overwhelming caseload when it came to investigating Lucas Hernandez’s disappearance. An article released by the Wichita Eagle in mid-December of 2017 revealed, as of publication, there were still ten homicides from the year 2017 remaining unsolved as the new year approached.

Another compelling advantage for private investigators might initially sound like a disadvantage: Private investigators have no powers of arrest. It seems counter-intuitive that a private investigator may use the same tools as law enforcement, ask the same questions, and may even come to the same conclusion as law enforcement without the ability to arrest a suspect for the crime. However, the case of Hernandez showcased exactly why a private investigator—and their inability to arrest—broke the case wide open. Jim Murray of Star Investigations told KMBC News in Kansas, “We’re less of a threat sometimes to people that we’re talking to because we have no powers of arrest,” said Jim. “We can’t arrest them.” This could explain why Emily Glass finally led a private investigator to Lucas’s body, because she knew they could not put handcuffs on her in that moment.

Los-Angeles-Private-InvestigatorUnfortunately, family members and locals will never have the truth about what happened to Lucas. In the wake of the private investigator’s discovery, autopsy reports were found to be inconsistent with what Glass told both police and the PI, but before the People could build a case against her, Glass was found dead from an apparent suicide. However, were it not for the efforts of the private investigator, Lucas’s father may never have had answers in his son’s disappearance.

Carie McMichael is the Communications and Media Specialist for Lauth Investigations International, writing about investigative topics such as missing persons and corporate investigations. To learn more about what we do, please visit our website.

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