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.
2020 is already going down in the history books as one of the strangest and most devastating on record. On New Year’s Eve, as most of the world looks forward to bidding this awful year goodbye, many are waking up to bizarre news of Casey Anthony having filed paperwork to open a private investigation firm in Florida. Under Anthony’s name, the company will be called Case Research & Consulting Services LLC. Florida private investigators and Floridians alike are stunned by the news, reaping the tragic irony of a woman with Anthony’s backstory working in search of truth. The idea of “private investigator Casey Anthony” is garnering mixed reactions, from the mystified to the enraged.
It’s hard to find a person in the United States who is not aware of Casey Anthony. The entire nation was outraged when she was acquitted by a Florida court in the 2008 death of her two year-old daughter, Caylee. The case received a figurative flood of media coverage, with the public obsessing over the story. When the family realized the daughter was missing, Anthony led Florida investigators on a wild goose chase involving a story about a nanny who refused to return the child to her family. Despite a strong case against her, a Florida jury acquitted her in 2011. Following her acquittal, Anthony disappeared from public life. She started a photography studio that closed in 2018. She told the media around that time that she had recently begun working for Patrick McKenna, the lead investigator on her defense team who was also on the defense team for O.J. Simpson. She had begun doing some online investigation work, such as social media investigations for McKenna’s firm. An address associated with McKenna is listed as Case Research and Consulting Services’ business address.
This move has arched eyebrows throughout the nation, as many cannot forget the alleged lurid details of how Anthony’s defense team operated during the trial. Private intelligence and private investigations are operations that demand a high level of integrity on behalf of the investigator—a quality that no one would immediately associate with Anthony. When she was released from prison on lesser charges associated with the case, there was a steady stream of bizarre details about the defense that continued to mystify followers of the case. Following her acquittal, another private investigator on her defense team, Dominic Casey, said in an affidavit that on more than one occasion, he observed non-ethical behavior between Anthony and her attorney, Jose Baez. He visited Baez’s offices outside of business hours and was shocked to find Anthony there so late, and observed her running naked through the hallways of the offices. He told the media that she was sleeping with Baez in order to cover her attorney’s fees. Dominic Casey also reported that after he was hired, Baez told him that Casey had told him that she had in fact murdered Caylee, and Baez instructed Dominic Casey to find the body before someone else does, according to the affidavit. These are the allegations of one Florida private investigator against a celebrity defense attorney, but like the photography studio, it’s possible that this is another endeavor for Casey Anthony that will eventually fizzle out.
In recent years, the number of working private investigators in the United States has grown exponentially. As of 2020, in excess of 30,000 private investigators are believed to be working in the U.S. alone. Private investigators operate on the edge of society, observing from a distance, blending in with the fabric of society to surreptitiously document the unseen factors in any situation. Private investigators can also come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and genders, as more and more individuals are realizing, the capacity for applying private investigator methodology really depends on a professional’s style and how their prior experience informs on that style.
Persons who might have a natural inclination towards intelligence gathering and other types of private investigation work might not begin their careers in the private sector. Many of these professionals start with public service, working in law enforcement. Members of law enforcement are typically natural-doers, individuals who like to keep their time and minds occupied with productive and fulfilling projects. When members of law enforcement retire, it is not uncommon for them to seek a new career in private investigations. This tracks with private investigator Tyler Maroney’s assertion that private investigators are “refugees from other industries.” In his new book, The Modern Detective: How Corporate Intelligence is Reshaping the World, Maroney examines how the growing private investigation profession has the potential to cause ripple effects around the globe.
The migration of professionals from other industries to private investigations is not unique to the United States. One of the most famous former law enforcement officers to apply their trade to private investigations was Christopher Steele, a former agency with London’s M.I.6. After leaving M.I.6, Steele founded Orbis, a business intelligence firm based in London, England, most famous for “preparing a dossier on connections between the Russian government and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.” Despite the cartoonishly vast heroics that can sometimes be associated with private investigations, Maroney claims that this power should not be blown out of proportion, “The tool kit available to private investigators is considerably less potent than the one available to spies and cops and prosecutors. We cannot flip witnesses, blackmail agents, develop confidential informants, bug phones, offer protection, send subpoenas or bribe sources.”
The highly-fictionalized profession comes with so many stereotypes, we might underestimate the variety of professionals who might translate their industry skills into private intelligence. Another profession that commonly applies private investigator methodology to their work is journalists. After all, a journalist’s job is to search out the story and find the truth. The principal difference between a journalist and a private investigator is the intent of a journalist is to publish the truth to as many people who find interest while a private investigator discretely hands the findings, or truth, over to their clients for their purposes. Journalist, Ronan Farrow, son of Hollywood actress, Mia Farrow, recently came to fame for using private investigator methodology to expose the criminal activities of Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein. Farrow had to fight fire with fire as Weinstein was simultaneously using private investigators on retainer to dig up dirt on the women who made allegations of sexual assault against him and to intimidate the journalists who were his detractors. Ronan used private investigator methodology to track down survivors, document their allegations against Weinstein, and create a record that would become the basis for Weinstein’s criminal conviction last year.
Maroney claims in his book that a private investigator’s role in society is to “keep the fish tank clean,” or in other words, serve as a watchdog against pervasive issues within our society that can easily get our of control with devastating consequences. When you have a complex corporate or personal issue, turn to the assistance of a private investigator to get crucial context. Call Lauth Investigations International today for a free quote on our private investigator services at 317-951-1100.
When gaps appear in corporate accountability, can private investigators step up to conduct an independent corporate investigation?
The White House reported last week that it will be taking steps towards minimizing investigations into corporate misconduct and reducing a government agency’s ability to open more than one probe into a single company concurrently. While independent agencies such as the Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Federal Communications Commission, those agencies might still be susceptible to enforcement by an executive order from the president.
A spokesperson for the White House budget office, an umbrella for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, has declared on behalf of the proposed action that “These principles protect both individuals and small businesses while at the same time enforcing the law against wrongdoers. Providing a fair process of all Americans is what’s at the heart of this executive order.”
While it’s true that a corporate investigation can consequently devastate a small company, the entities that will receive the most protection under this proposed action would be larger businesses and Fortune 500 companies. Corporations of all sizes can always benefit from an independent corporate investigation conducted by an objective third-party. In pursuit of truth, independent or private investigators can illuminate the unseen machinations of any corporate investigation. Regardless of the intention of the proposed action, one of the ultimate consequences is that there will be less corporate oversight throughout the United States, allowing pervasive issues to continue harming the corporation or organization from within. As employees, upper management, and consumers alike demand investigation and/or accountability for the wrongdoings in any given corporation or organization, there will be an intelligence vacuum, in which private investigators can use their skillsets to bring context to complex corporate investigations.
This proposed action may potentially protect businesses from malicious litigation or malicious whistleblowing, but it also erodes the voices of employees and consumers with legitimate concerns who cannot be heard otherwise. One of the greatest benefits of government oversight into any matter is that the government has the most resources and financial support available to properly regulate and enforce policy. Restricting the government’s ability to investigate internal issues that are impacting the workforce or the public means that pervasive issues will easily slip through the cracks and continue to inflict varying degrees of harm. The only recourse an employee or consumer might have at that point is an independent corporate investigation.
An independent corporate investigation is best conducted by a person who is not in any way associated with the corporation in question. While risk assessment firms are also known for conducting similar independent corporate investigations, private investigators are another type of professional who might be able to get answers in times of corporate crisis. Private investigators can diversify their services to meet a variety of intelligence needs, and some private investigators choose to specialize in only a handful of investigation types. Whether the private investigator diversifies or specializes, many private investigators may be missing out on opportunities to apply their investigative knowledge to corporate investigations in a way that can improve businesses from within to better their local economy, and affect change for larger corporations with a national reach.
Through their licensure by the state(s) where a private investigator practices, they have access to a wealth of information through verified databases similar to those used by law enforcement every day. Private investigators can use only a few details about a subject or subjects to generate a full background check on an individual or a corporate entity in order to have all the facts relevant to the case. For an independent corporate investigation, a private investigator can view items on employees and consumers such as criminal history, address history, credit history, and litigation history, and contextualize those items for the investigation. Through these databases, private investigators can also look up information about a corporate entity and garner relevant facts regarding its past actions, behaviors, and litigation.
Two of a private investigator’s most prolific and well-known talents are surveillance and undercover operations. When it comes to an independent corporate investigation, the ability to operate under the radar is crucial. In pursuit of truth, subjects in these type of investigations must not be aware they’re being watched. A private investigator knows how to blend in with a crowd or become part of the background of day-to-day life. Private investigators can wire themselves with surveillance technology, and seamlessly assimilate into a workplace in order to document daily internal operations. They can speak with witnesses and develop a rapport that ingratiates the witness to reveal relevant information. Through these intelligence operations, the private investigator is able to objectively document subjects in the work environment.
Because private investigators are typically independent from any law firm or government agency, their fact-finding also carries some additional transparency that is invaluable in an independent corporate investigation. This reduces the impact of any “they-said-they-said” narrative introduced by counsel in any consequential litigation. With even less government oversight on corporations in the United States, private investigators are ideal professionals to bring crucial context to the unheard problems within their structure.
Private investigators by their very nature have a proclivity for transparency and problem-solving. As the old adage goes, “knowledge is power.” Through private intelligence, private investigators can bring light to malignant situations that rot corporate culture and hurt public relations. In pursuit of the truth, they apply their methodology to multi-faceted, complex situations to get answers for their clients. Private investigators who do not currently offer corporate investigation services might be missing out on opportunities to expand their professional network and apply their services in new ways. Even small firms or singular private investigators contracting their services could apply fact-finding, surveillance, and undercover operations to investigate corporate misconduct. In this way, private investigators can fill in the gaps that can occur in corporate oversight and accountability.
The private investigators at Lauth Investigations International are dedicated to providing our clients to make empowered decisions in a complex business world. Our diverse list of intelligence services can be designed to fit the investigative needs of our clients. Call 317-951-1100 or visit us online at lauthinveststg.wpengine.com.
When it comes to finding the truth in a corporate lawsuit investigation, attorneys might want to consider a private investigator to supplement their fact-finding. COVID-19 prevention and social distancing are continuing to affect the way employees and consumers imagine the workplace landscape. With many business-to-consumer operations remaining limited or shut down completely, more leadership and employees are finding the mental space to consider their jobs and the corporate culture of the companies they serve. This has led to a new wave of calls for accountability when it comes to toxic corporate culture and how it effects employees. This means more litigation between employer and employee over issues such as discrimination, harassment, nepotism, and hostile work environments. With many corporate attorneys facing a higher caseload, they have been searching for ways to mitigate the footwork involved with quality, comprehensive investigations.
Private investigators are the perfect multi-tool for attorneys looking to lighten the load while they focus on caselaw. Many attorneys use private investigators for precisely this reason, as their diverse experience gives them valuable insight into many types of investigations, including fraud, non-compete violations, violence and threat assessments, and white-collar crime. Such diverse experience means that private investigators are less likely to leave a lead unexplored, giving the investigation the full benefit of comprehension and transparency.
Private investigators have access to verified databases comparable to that of law enforcement to get the best cross-referenced intelligence on relevant subjects in a corporate lawsuit. Private investigators have access to the most intimate details of a person’s life and contextualize those details in the framework of the lawsuit. This intelligence is not limited to the opposition, however. Attorneys rely on a degree of trust in their contract with their client—meaning that the client is transparent with the attorney so they can anticipate factors that might complicate the lawsuit. Private investigators can run background checks on the client and persons related to them and attorneys can prepare for any unpleasant surprises lurking around the corner.
The same due diligence that private investigators apply to background checks can be applied to witness location and rapport. Attorneys can often find themselves at a loss because a crucial witness cannot be located to assist in the court proceedings. When attorneys utilize a private investigator for their corporate lawsuit investigation, they have access to comprehensive witness location services. Private investigators view background checks, identify individuals close to the witness, interview them, and develop a strategy for locating and contacting that witness. No attorney wants to subpoena a crucial witness, and sometimes it takes the Because private investigators are independent, have no powers of arrest, and no dog in the fight, witnesses in a corporate lawsuit investigation might be more willing to open up to them about relevant facts in the case.
Hiring a private investigator for corporate lawsuit investigation may seem counterintuitive. One of the greatest advantages of conducting an internal investigation is just that—it’s internal. Internal investigations allow the corporation to keep vital intelligence in-house and those stakes are often never higher than when a legal judgement is at stake. However, private investigators can deliver the same brand of due-diligence and discretion as any in-house corporate investigator.
When facing the judgement of a civil court, facts in evidence are often called into question and subjected to a high degree of scrutiny on behalf of the court. Attorneys must do their best to mitigate this scrutiny by providing mountains of documentation and full transparency to the court. Internal investigators are typically employed directly by the corporation or nonprofit, rather than contracted for their services. This means that they have an indirect stake in the outcome of that investigation, and their findings might be called into question by the court.
Even if the corporation’s legal representation is in-house, that does not mean the investigator must be. Because a private investigator is typically independent of any corporation or law firm, their findings are viewed as more objective by civil courts. In a corporate lawsuit investigation, corporate attorneys can reap the benefits of placing a private investigator on the case and then having them serve as an expert witness to the court, because their independence from implicit bias adds another layer of integrity to their testimony.
If you’re an attorney in search of a private investigator for your corporate lawsuit investigation, consider Lauth Investigations International as your multi-tool. Our private investigators are comprised of former military and law enforcement personnel with seasoned experience in intelligence-gathering operations. We provide detailed reports, expert recommendations, and are prepared to give expert testimony in civil court. We regularly received glowing recommendations from former clients and carry an outstanding A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. For more information on our attorney support services, please visit us online at lauthinveststg.wpengine.com.
