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Who are the movers and shakers in the investigative industry
today and how did they get that way? That's a tuff question to answer
but today’s successful investigative agency did something you might
not have considered doing yourself. It's called trend watching for investigative
opportunity. By keeping your thumb on major trends developing in the United
States and focusing in on these trends from a point of view that would
involve a surge in demand for investigative services, many agencies have
emerged as leading experts in these fields with thriving and well known
investigative practices simply because they were in them early and were
able to establish themselves as experts as the demand for the service
started to swell. Trend shifts are important to our industry because they
almost always involve the emergence of a new type of investigative service
to offer to get involved in and sometimes involve the identification or
resurrection of a type of investigation that will soon experience a surge
in demand. To better illustrate what I am getting at with this type of
technique, let me give you some successful examples from the recent past.
Lessons From The Recent Past
Examples of this type of thing from recent past history include: Video
surveillance procurement and the use of digital technology in worker’s
compensation claims cases, online computer searching, predate checks and
pre-employment screening services.
There was a time when video recording was so new that there was a question
concerning rather video surveillance footage could be admitted into evidence
in a court of law. However, investigative agencies such as Bill Zirorek’s
In-Photo Surveillance based in Naperville Illinois who was one of the
first surveillance agencies to adopt video and digital technology into
their agency became one of the leading and one of the largest such agencies
in the world. Today, his agency controls a huge market share of insurance
fraud surveillance assignments because he forged ahead and developed the
latest and the best cutting edge techniques in investigating insurance
fraud by use of high-tech surveillance methods.
In the 1980's those investigative agencies that recognized the fact that
online computer searches was a major information gathering trend and got
involved in the process early experienced mega growth. Today, some of
these computer data searchers have developed into major online information
services within the investigative community such as Jack Reid's IRSC.
Others had, for several years, maintained a leading edge in the market
place in information gathering simply because they recognized this trend
to collect information faster and cheaper and their retention of clients
and bottom lines reflect that strategy today.
When the use of the polygraph was outlawed for pre-employment screening,
many investigative services saw a future trend in the demand for pre-employment
screening the old-fashioned way-simple background checks. Those who marketed
such services to the businesses who had relied on the polygraph for pre-employment
screening after the use of the polygraph for such procedures was outlawed
by the federal government cleaned up in a big way for a long time.
In the late 1980's a trend occurred in investigative assignments that
involved checking out potential dates and became known as premarital investigations.
Again, a few investigative agencies in the United States saw the emerging
trend early, offered and marketed the service and added zeros to the figures
on their bottom line.
Many investigative agency start-ups today have a misconception on this
whole idea. With proper research of the market, they run into the agencies
who built their practice on a trend identified a few years ago and think
that all they have to do is copy the specialization idea and forge ahead
with a marketing program. Although many have become somewhat successful,
most never experience the mega-growth of the original agency they copied
simply because they are coming from behind and the original creator has
already gobbled up a huge segment of the market and has already fine-tuned
their operation and made it as flaw-free as it could be. The original
one is simply light years ahead of them in the business game. From this
respect, it’s a good idea to develop your focus away from already
successful investigative agencies based on trends of the 1980's and see
if you can identify trends emerging today. That way, instead of attempting
to develop a specialization everyone else is attempting to copy, you'll
be developing into areas that are just now emerging as investigative trends
and have a more wide-open field in the market place.
One of the best ways to identify trends in the market place is become
a news hound. By scanning headlines of major newspapers and magazines
in the United States, you'll be in a better position to ID new trends
that can be converted into an investigative specialization. It's important
to understand the difference between a trend and a fad. A trend has an
everlasting effect. A fad does not. A fad is based on a want and demand
that is very short lived. A trend is based on a shift in a process or
a pattern of thinking. Process trends and thinking trends are very different.
The use of PC's in today's world is a process trend. The country's belief
that politicians cannot be trusted to run the country is a thinking trend.
Both can sometimes be used to develop your business.
Once you spot an emerging trend, you need to conduct further analysis
of it. You'll want to answer questions based on what you came up with
such as:
How old is this trend? Is it just emerging now? Is it really a trend or
just a fad? How vast is the market place based on the trend? Can I identify
a major segment of the population or a specific profession that can be
easily reached to market this trend? Can I identify anyone already using
this trend in marketing the service? If so, how long have they been engaged
in it? What body of knowledge do I need to learn in order to enter this
area of investigative specialization? What type of equipment do I need
to become successful at performing the service?
These types of questions will help you analyze the trend to determine
rather it could become a viable opportunity. This is a success secret
you can use again and again. The idea is to jump into an area of service
you see as a major trend now emerging and become the major force and expert
for that area of specialization. Based on this concept of trend watching,
I’d like to review some major trends that are now happening which
could provide opportunity for you.If you are looking for more cases and
more business, you will want to explore one or more of these hot investigative
specializations you can get involved in that bring in new case assignments
and clients.
1) LOCATING MISSING HEIRS
Although only a handful of professional investigators have discovered
the opportunity, missing heirs tracing is a unique investigative specialization
that can be and often is extremely profitable.
Tracing missing heirs is a kind of hidden are of specialization that is
often overlooked and misunderstood by most investigators. Probate records
are researched for cases with no known heirs to the estate and the tracer’s
job then becomes one of locating heirs and proving that they are a legal
heir to an estate. As the population swells and that population gets older
and older, more deaths occur. That's exactly the situation in the United
States today. When you couple that with other known general facts such
as the emergence of affluence, you'll note more and more estate and probate
cases with escalating amounts of funds.
Tracing missing heirs is so profitable, those who develop this as an investigative
specialization have attempted to institute a kind of code of silence about
it so other investigators would stay away from and misunderstand the opportunity.
Small independent operators can sometimes take in well over $100,000 per
year in this area. The missing heirs specialist usually works on a percentage
of the estate which is usually around ten percent. When you start seeing
estates worth tens of thousands of dollars, one can quickly see the profitability
of this area of investigative specialization.This hidden goldmine of investigative
opportunity known only to a few is exposed in Tracing Missing Heirs by
Harvey Morse And Ralph Thomas. You will learn how to make a fortune locating
missing heirs for estates and probate courts.
How
To Make A Fortune Tracing Missing Heirs
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.heir.html
2) PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING SERVICES
Huge volume can be obtained by offering the right kind of client’s
pre-packaged investigations for pre-employment screening. There are some
investigative agencies that have converted their services to nothing but
that because these types of cases are easy to obtain and offer clients
who will give you assignments again and again. Some services are getting
$250.00 or more for each assignment, which takes less than a half hour
of online searching and telephone work. Pre-Employment Investigation for
Private Investigators hands you the know-how to get started. To review
just go to:
Pre-Employment
Investigation for Private Investigators
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bkp.emp.html
3) MYSTERY SHOPPING SERVICES WITH A NEW TWEIST
BOOMS
Did you know that there are businesses and industries like apartment complexes,
auto dealerships and home builder sales that will pay $400.00 or more
for a covert video taped mystery shop? These cases only take an hour or
two and the investigative agencies offering them are reaping huge rewards.
You will be interested in reading an article and resource page on this
new twist which is:
Understanding
The Covert Video & Mystery Shopping Services Boom
An Old Investigative Service With A New Twist Creates A Booming And Highly
Lucrative Trend! By Ralph Thomas
4) BODYGUARDING AND EXECUTIVE PROTECTION
Since 9/11 and the emergence of the global economy, the demand for bodyguard
and executive protection services has soared! More and more people are
engaged in travel outside of their own country. International terrorism
and international crime is on the rise. Executive and bodyguard protection
is experiencing an increase in demand because executives of all types
are requiring more and more international travel. The entertainment industry
also operates in the international market place more and more and celebrities
are engaged in international travel more often. More and more executive
protection specialists are needed and many investigative and security
services that are meeting this brisk demand are experiencing mega-growth
within their agency.
In the past, any huge person, usually a male, could be used as a bodyguard.
The rules have changed. Self-protection of executives and celebrities
now rely on not only mere size but the use of specialized techniques and
procedures. The protection specialist of today is more than just a bodyguard.
His job has extended to that of personal security manager. Overall security
procedures such as premises security techniques and information countermeasures
techniques have become interwoven within this area of specialization.
The professional bodyguard of today needs a body of knowledge encompassing
a broad range of physical and technical security techniques and equipment.
Benefits of the professional include high pay and free worldwide travel
that often include the best of everything.
The Executive
Protection Manual is an Encyclopedia on Techniques, Procedures, Forms,
and Surveys And Checklists For Top Quality Executive And Dignitary Protection
Other
Bodyguard And Executive Protection Training
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bkp.body.html
5) SERVICE OF PROCESS
The overwhelming majority of investigative services offer service of process
to attorneys and law firms. That is, they offer to serve all their legal
papers for them. These are small assignments that usually pay between
$35.00 to $100.00 depending on the assignment. Although there are many
services that have built up substantial service of process assignments
in which the process server can do as many as several dozen assignments
a day, there is another reason investigative services go after this business.
It simply gives them a “foot-in the-door” with the attorneys
and law firms that will sooner or later assign a large investigation or
surveillance. This is an excellent way to grow an investigative service
that wants to do investigations for law offices.
One of the best training products for developing a service of process
business is Nelson Tucker’s training material:
Secrets
of Process Serving CD Training And NAIS Certification
http://www.pimall.com/nais/processdisk.html
Other
Process Serving training products can be found off of:
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bkp.process.html
6) NUSING HOME ABUSE INVESTIGATIONS
The number of nursing home abuse cases in the United States is exploding!
As the population in the United States gets older, more people end up
in nursing homes. The overall population in them has swelled and will
continue to swell, as the baby-boomer generation gets older. The problem
is, there are nightmare stories of many in nursing homes. Abuse, neglect
and wrongful deaths are occurring in large numbers. Law firms in almost
every major city in the United States have developed that specialize in
these cases and nothing else. Private Investigations are almost always
needed for each case. The investigative fees that can be obtained in these
types of cases are often much greater than the typical investigative fees
found in other investigations. Not only that, private investigators who
specialize in this nitch area often find several more cases in the same
nursing home as a direct result of the investigation itself. Nursing home
abuse investigation is becoming a huge specialization for professional
investigators.
The Booming Business Of Talk'in To Old Folks?
With more and more people in the United States entering nursing homes
and the apparent lack of real state regulation and inspection of them,
there is a huge litigation explosion in nursing home abuse and neglect
cases in the USA. In fact, you can find law firms in almost every major
city now that specialize only in that. Almost all of these cases require
investigation and investigators who specialize in this area are finding
the field booming with tons of work. Not only that, these cases tend to
be larger type investigations that will require many days work. To top
that off, during the investigation of one case, the investigator often
finds other cases of abuse and neglect that tends to produce even more
work. Going beyond that, as the baby boomer population gets older, there
will be more and more and more people who enter nursing homes and more
and more nursing home built. Furthermore, this is the number area of investigation
that many investigators are just simply overlooking. Both the big cases
and trend for the future is there but there's something about them that
keeps many investigators away. Perhaps the picture in one's mind of interviewing
old people in nursing homes doesn't seem to appeal to many investigators.
But those who specialize in them are banking case assignment after case
assignment by offering their services to law firms that handle these types
of cases.
Based on the explosion of these types of cases, Thomas Investigative Publications,
Inc has released a new book on conducting these types of investigations
by Douglas Crewse, CFE. Kelly Riddle has also updated his Nursing Home
Abuse Manual and you can also obtain the manual on CD as well as obtain
his popular video seminar presentation on the subject.
Investigator's
Handbook For Nursing Home Abuse And Neglect Investigations
By Douglas Crewse, CFE
http://www.pimall.com/nais/nursinghomeabuse.html
Kelly
Riddle's Nursing Home Abuse Manual CD And Video Seminar
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.nur.html
For more information on this trend go to:
The
Nursing Home Abuse Information Center
http://www.nursinghomeabuse.com/
These cases are huge and there is a new trend in private investigation
Because of this trend. The latest trends and techniques in the booming
area of private investigation can be found in Douglas Crewse’s manual-
Nursing
Home Abuse And Neglect Investigations
http://www.pimall.com/nais/nursinghomeabuse.html
7) PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT RECOVERY
When a judgment is awarded by a court of law in the form of money, the
case is over for the court. The problem is, the plaintiff now has to collect
from the defendant. In America today, there are literally thousands and
thousands of unclaimed judgments setting in courthouse files involving
hundreds of thousands of uncollected dollars. That's where investigative
skills come in. In almost every area of the country, these judgments can
be thought of as "assets" that the plaintiff owns which can
be sold or assigned. People who have never understood how to collect a
judgment are usually more than willing to sell or assign a third party
the judgment for pennies on the dollar. The investigator works these cases
finding ones that contain assets that can be obtained and then offers
to purchase them from the judgment owner. A good investigator can easily
research courthouse records and find hundreds of these types of judgments.
The investigator then simply conducts an assets check of the defendant
and then offers to purchase the judgment from the plaintiff. Because you
have the investigative skills to do so, this area of work can become your
hidden goldmine. Think about it! You assign yourself to the case and there
are almost an unlimited number of cases you pick and choose from to assign
yourself to! For expert training on this type of practice, see the following
web page. A hidden area of private investigation that is booming is conducting
these types of investigations that recovers
uncollected judgments. It's very lucrative. Jon S. Kahlkopf’s updated
and expanded second edition of Professional Judgment Recovery hands you
the know-how and tools to get started in this lucrative area of specialization.
Professional
Judgment Recovery
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.judgement.html
8) COMPLEX LEGAL INVESTIGATIONS
Legal Investigators are working cases worth millions of dollars but legal
investigation has changed. James Harbert, one of the national’s
leading ad most well known legal investigators has released a lifetime
of conducting these types of cases in Complex Legal Investigations. The
manual hands you a lifetime of legal investigative techniques as well
as new trends in legal investigation.
Complex
Legal Investigations
http://pimall.com/nais/civillitigation.html
Another manual I would highly recommend along these lines is:
Manual
for Legal Investigators
By John Rose And Academy Of Legal Investigators
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.mfli.html
9) ONLINE SEARCHING AND THE INTERNET
The Internet And Online Searching Is Booming But It's Changed! The new
manual, Master
Guide To Online Searching And The Internet hands you the knowledge,
know-how sources and tools you need to know about to make the internet
and online searching highly profitable for your investigative agency.
It also gets and keeps you up-to-date.
Master
Guide To Online Searching And The Internet
http://www.pimall.com/nais/masterguide.html
10) PIRACY INVESTIGATION
Cable piracy, music piracy, motion picture piracy and other forms of piracy
is exploding and has been named the number one crime (other than terrorism)
by the FBI. The new work, Piracy Investigation For Private Investigators
hands you a goldmine of know-how on how to enter this explosive field
as a private investigator. You can listen to audio from John Hoda on how
he followed the secrets in this material and made $5,000 for a few nights
work.
Piracy
Investigation For Private Investigators
http://www.pimall.com/nais/piracy.html
11) EMAIL TRACING SERVICES
having the tools-knowledge and know-how on how to trace an email back
to it’s owner is knowledge that can bring a professional investigator
a lot of cases these days. Joe Seanor’s material: Email
Tracing Basics—shows you exactly how to do just that. To review
just go to:
Email
Tracing Basics
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.emailseminar.html
12) AUTO REPOSSESSION
There are thousands of auto repossession assignments an investigative
service could conduct every month in large cities. This type of service
is easy to start and case assignments easy to obtain. You can read an
article about auto repossession as a business off of:
The
Auto Repossession Business
http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.repo.html
The manual Professional’s Guide To Auto Repossession shows you how
to do just that.
To review training material on auto repossession, just go to:
Training
Material On Auto Repopsssession Start-Up
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.repo.html
Other manuals and training aids for conducting auto repossession can be
found off of:
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.repo.html
13) GPS CAR TRACKING SERVICES
In the good old days or bad old days (depending on how you look at it)
the only way to track someone's travels was through a physical surveillance.
That is, a physical tail of the vehicle in question. In certain cases,
GPS tracking has made a physical tail a thing of the past. New GPS car
tracking equipment lets the investigator place a hidden tracking devise
on a target vehicle and then retrieve it after the fact. Once retrieved,
the car tracker has logged data on the movements of the vehicle with time,
speed, stops and date. This type of high-tech equipment used to cost tens
of thousands of dollars. However, recent developments in GPS technology
and computer technology had vastly reduced the cost of this type of equipment
to a few hundred dollars. Investigators across the country are starting
to utilize this type of technology to electronically track vehicles. Those
who are offering the services are finding a lucrative sideline that's
turning into a major profit center. Instead of conducting a physical surveillance,
the investigative agency places the tracker on a vehicle, then recovers
the unit after the fact that will then contain all the data needed. This
type of service is well suited for parents who want to know where their
teenagers are going and other related types of cases.
For more information and details on this type of service, see the following
web page:
GPS
CAR TRACKING
http://www.pimall.com/nais/tracking.html
14) PURE PHYSICIAL SURVEILLANCE
Let's face it! Setting in a vehicle waiting for someone to leave a home
or office and then tailing them is a task that will require everything
you got. You can go from pure boredom to excitement in a tail in a matter
of seconds. Although many investigators don't even offer physical surveillance
anymore, it's still a major mainstay in private investigation. The major
areas for these types of assignments are in worker's compensation claims
investigations and domestic investigations. In the insurance cases, the
investigator's job is to document the activities of the subject who is
collecting disability. In a domestic case, you have the subject under
investigation to catch him or her in a love affair. It's as simple as
that. Physical surveillance is both an art and a science which requires
knowledge and practice. Demand is high and often brings in between $50.00
and $100.00 per hour per investigator plus mileage and expenses. In the
case of insurance clients, the investigative agency will often find a
few good insurance clients can bring in a stream of case after case. In
the case of domestic surveillance, the investigative agency can also usually
develop a stream of case assignments by cultivating cases from divorce
attorneys.
For a huge selection of articles and resources on the subject, stop in
on the net at:
Surveillance
Resource Center
http://www.pimall.com/nais/sur.rc.html
Like many aspects of investigative specializations and assignments, physical
surveillance has changed. Since 9-11, people are more alert to strangers
setting around in vehicles, which makes conducting surveillance harder
to do. On the other hand, in certain instances, GPS car tracking equipment
(described above) makes some types of physical surveillance easier. Video
camera technology optical magnification and night vision equipment had
made physical surveillance easier. To obtain a good grounding in conducting
surveillance, I would recommend the following training products:
TACTICAL
SURVEILLANCE The Manual
THE INVESTIGATOR'S BIBLE AN INVESTIGATOR'S GUIDE TO
CONDUCTING SURVEILLANCE OPERATIONS
By Douglas J. Hagmann
http://www.pimall.com/nais/tacticalsurveillance.html
ULTMIATE
SURVEILLANCE
TWO-HOUR TRAINING SEMINAR ON DVD
By Gene Robertson
http://pimall.com/nais/ultimatesurveillance.html
15) COVERT VIDEO SPECIALIST
The demand for covert video surveillance has become so great, it's now
estimated that there are more video cameras in America than there are
people. A huge and ready-made market exists for private investigators
to rent covert video cameras of many different types. Smart investigative
agencies always have several ready to install in a few hours’ notice.
Video camera and recording technology has come a very long way in the
last few years and can now be considered to be in it's fourth generation.
There are a host of covert video recording systems that can be easily
set up hidden in all kinds of things. Many of the new covert camera and
recording systems come with motion detection triggers so they only record
when human motion is present. Prices on these types of units have come
way down and are quite easy to rent and set up. A typical covert video
camera rental system will rent for about $300.00 per week. Many investigative
agencies are finding that they can rent as many as a dozen units out a
month for at least a week adding a substantial amount of revenue to their
bottom line.
For extensive information, resources, product reviews and in-depth articles
on new generation covert video surveillance technology go to the following
web page:
Covert
Video Surveillance Technology
http://www.pimall.com/nais/e.menu-b.html
16) COUNTERMEASURES SERVICES AND INFORMATION SECURITY
You can talk with a cross-section of private investigators in the market
place today and find many who attempted countermeasures services in the
past only to come to a conclusion that there wasn't much of a market for
it but the world has changed. The detection of bugs and wiretaps is surging
again like it did in the 1970's. However, in the 1970's the demand for
countermeasures services was based on a thinking shift of American business
fueled by Watergate. It was more of paranoia in the business world. Today,
the trend is a process trend fueled by the fact that illegal bugging is
cheap and easy to do and based on the shift in the driving force of the
economy to information.
In the international market place of today, even the federal government
is coming to the realization that military allies of the United States
are many times our economic enemy. The protection of company information
has become a matter of survival in the business world and the ever-increasing
demand for information and countermeasures security services is now worldwide.
It's now filtering down to small business and individuals simply because
more businesses and more people are now information driven and they have
learned they must protect both their information and their communication.
NAIS member Larry Elem Of American Detectives based in Austin, Texas started
offering countermeasures services several years ago and it's now accounting
for a major chunk of his overall operation. Kelley Riddle of Kelmar And
Associates based in San Antonio, Texas recently upgraded his countermeasures
equipment and training because his firm, which specializes in insurance
surveillance, is getting at last one assignment per week for countermeasures
services and a recent one day job billing out at almost $2,000.
America has developed into an economy that is driven by information. Businesses,
professionals, and even private individuals have learned (many the hard
way) that they have to protect it. Evidence of this is found in the number
of paper shredders in the US Today. It used to be that only big companies
and governmental agencies had them. Now you find them in homes. Sweeping
for bugs and wiretaps has become big business and offers many opportunities.
It requires some knowledge and equipment but it's becoming a major trend
in private investigation. One investigator in Central Florida reports
that half his business now comes from countermeasures sweeps.
To get a good grounding in countermeasures as an investigative specialization,
stop in at the free Countermeasures
Resource Center on the web at:
http://www.pimall.com/nais/tscm.html
Here you will find a huge selection of articles, resources and training
aids. After that, stop in at one of the most extensive equipment review
sections of countermeasures gear on the web at:
Countermeasures
Gear Review
http://www.pimall.com/nais/e.menu-d.html
One of the better manuals on conducting and marketing countermeasures
sweep services is:
The Countermeasures Cookbook
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.tscmbible.html
I would also recommend:
Wiretap
Detection Techniques-By Ted Swift
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.wire.html
17) VEHICLE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION
There is a vehicle accident in America every three seconds. The majority
of these accidents require investigation from insurance companies and
law firms. The volume of case assignments one can obtain from them is
massive. Some of these cases are very serious when it comes to injury
and death. A few smart investigative agencies have become experts in conducting
vehicle accident investigations and their agency is booming. That is because
that there is a real shortage of investigators who specialize in this
area for some reason. Most people who go into this area of investigation
end up becoming what can best be called an expert witness on the subject.
These investigators will find that they can easily bill out $1,000 a day
or more plus travel expenses. In the United States the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration reports that there is one automobile crash
every five seconds, one property damage accident every eight seconds,
one injury every ten seconds and one traffic fatality every 13 minutes.
As the population and traffic congestion has surged, so has the number
of serious accidents. With about 17,280 accidents a day in the United
States, almost all of these end up as insurance claims and a large portion
of them end up as litigation cases jamming our civil courts. Accident
investigation is booming! It's become a rather technical area of investigative
expertise but something that any investigative agency could easily jump
into.
Accident investigation has become more sophisticated involving superior
scene and vehicle photography, inspection and reconstruction. The use
of formulas and proper equipment is a must. Accident investigators are
turning into litigation consultants and reconstructionists with hourly
rates moving into the $85.00 per hour to $100.00 per hour plus range.
Many of these types of litigation cases are bringing in investigative
fees of $3,000 to $5,000 or more per case assignment.
About gone are the days when an attorney or an insurance company would
hand an investigator a case assignment merely asking for scene photos.
Accident investigation has become very sophisticated involving the use
of technical mathematical analysis and indepth reconstruction techniques
as well as detailed analysis and legal photography of physical evidence.
Technical expertise is needed and specialized equipment more advanced
than ever before but those willing to master the body of knowledge needed
will find no problem with case assignments considering there are about
17,280 accidents a day.
Mov'en Beyond That State PI License!
There is a trend in the investigative industry for investigators to move
from licensed private investigator to hired expert. Investigators frequently
ask what the difference is between an investigator and a hired expert
witness. On many cases, the basic difference is usually hundreds of dollars.
That is, expert witnesses charge more and are hired more often by litigation
attorneys and insurance companies than investigators. Let me say that
again:
"Experts Charge More And Are Hired More Often Than Private
Investigators By Attorneys"
Many investigators have quietly made the transition from private investigator
to expert witness and business is booming for those who have. Expert witnesses
investigate matters much like an investigator does and then often render
their expert opinion on the witness stand. One of the biggest areas of
this specialization is in the area of accident investigations. The almost
undisputed national authority on this subject is Jack Murray, MBA, CLI,
CFE of Dallas, Texas. Mr. Murray has released Volume Three of Accident
Investigation In The Private Sector which deals with the investigation
of truck accidents- one of the hugest areas of multi-million dollar claims
in the accident investigation area. If you too are interested in making
the transition from private investigator to expert in this area, we would
strongly recommend Mr. Murray's top flight manuals. You can get all of
them in a huge combo and save big. His titles include:
Accident
Investigation In The Private Sector Volume I
Accident Investigation In The Private Sector Volume II
Accident Investigation In The Private Sector Volume III
Expert's Guide To Successful Legal Testimony
Photographing Vehicles For Litigation
Marketing And Management Maximizer
Special Combo: All Six Manuals Above At Huge Savings
You can review these manuals along with the money saving combo off of:
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.acc.html
I am not saying of course that any one or all of these manuals will turn
you into an instant expert witness but it will put you on the right track
to making the transition yourself from low- paying licensed private investigator
to high paying in big demand expert!
A previously published article on little steps you can take to establish
yourself as an expert is worth your review. It's the little things that
will build your history so you can establish yourself as an expert.
Establishing
Your Expertise
By Ralph Thomas
http://pimall.com/nais/n.expert.html
When it comes to accident investigation, you will also find a good resource
in:
Accident
Investigation Resource Center
http://www.pimall.com/nais/accres.html
One of the newest trends in relationship to accident investigation is
black box data retrieval. More and more vehicles have black boxes that
record certain data when an accident happens. These black boxes on vehicles
operate much like those on airlines do. In the next few years, almost
all vehicles will have black boxes on them. Jim Harbert has just released
a CD training program called Crash Data Retrieval which can be reviewed
off of:
Crash
Data Retrieval
http://www.pimall.com/nais/crashdataseminar.html
18) BUSINESS SECURITY CONSULTING AS AN INVESTIGATIVE TREND
Since 9/11, business and industry has paid close attention to security
within their own organizations. In fact, no other time in modern history
has business and industry been more concerned with security issues. A
new concern for security measures to combat potential terrorism, sabotage,
theft and disruption- which could bring any business to it's knees- has
swept the nation. This has opened up a huge opportunity for private investigators
and security professionals to conduct in depth security surveys so businesses
will know exactly where security holes are present and where they need
improvement to limit their exposure to such threats. Security and investigative
professionals are reporting explosive growth and case assignments in this
area of specialization. I would recommend the following training material
to get going in this area:
Security
Consulting For The 21St Century
By Kelly Riddle
http://www.pimall.com/nais/securityconsulting.html
Business
Security
How To Protect A Business Against Threats Internally & Externally
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bizsecurity.html
19) LOCATING MISSING PERSONS
Ever since Allen Pinkerton started up what has become known the private
investigative industry in the United States, the location of people has
always been a major type of investigation conducted for almost any investigative
agency except those agencies who choose not to offer locates. The demand
for locates has continued to rise. People locates continue to remain in
the top ten private investigative specialization for demand. For extensive
information, aids, articles and resources for the locating missing persons
market, you'll want to stop in at:
Missing
Persons Resource Center On The Web
http://www.pimall.com/nais/missingm.html
You will also be interested in:
Certified
Missing Persons Investigator Training Package
http://www.pimall.com/nais/c.cmpi.html
Other
Books And Manuals On Locating People
http://www.pimall.com/nais/tracebks.html
20) DOMESTIC INVESTIGATIONS STILL MAJOR MAINSTAY
In the 1950's and 1960's, divorce investigation was the major mainstay
of most private investigative agencies in the United States. Although
the focus of these investigations has changed, they still account for
a major division of private investigative assignments today and many private
investigative agencies specialize in them.
Although the percentage of divorce investigation conducted for every divorce
filed has gone down based on the newer no-fault divorce laws, the number
of divorces has swelled for the same reason. No-fault divorce laws, now
on the books in almost every state in the United States; simply means
that grounds for a divorce are no longer needed. Before no-fault divorce
laws, private investigators were used to develop evidence for grounds
for the divorce. This is were the focus has changed. Although the same
type of evidence is often collected, the way in which the evidence is
used has voided the need for "grounds evidence" but that type
of evidence is often still in demand. As the number of investigations
per every divorce filed in the United States has gone down, the number
of divorced filed has swelled to almost alarming rates. It has been estimated
that in today's world, four out of every five marriages in the United
States end in divorce. Divorce investigations today can involve surveillance
and activities checks, child custody and child abuse issues as well as
hidden assets location.
Other Areas Of Domestic Investigation
Aside from divorce investigations, there has emerged other major trends
in private investigative assignments centering around domestic types of
assignments. One of the newer areas of domestic investigation that has
been booming in the last ten years is the need and demand for background
checks in the areas of pre-relationship and pre-martial investigations.
The demand has been high in this area. Also emerging and continuing to
go up is the number of investigations and background checks dealing with
domestic help. Since both the father and mother are now in the work force,
children are left in the care of third parties. What has emerged is investigations
centering around the third parties who are in charge of the care of the
children. Aside from background checks of these third parties, there is
a demand for the rental of covert video camera equipment. In every major
city in the United States, you'll find many successful private investigative
agencies that specialize in these types of cases.
Focus On Children
Children are one of America's most important asset as it's America's future.
Children in America today are of special concern as modern circumstances
hand them problems that once were not there. The number of divorces is
extremely alarming--only one in five marriages are a success. Mothers
have entered the work force leaving child care to third parties. A number
of booming investigative specializations are emerging as long range trends.
Background checks of third party caretakers are an enormous market. Many
investigative agencies are reporting brisk business for the rental of
hidden video cameras to check out nannies and baby setters. Child abuse
investigation is up--way up. The trend towards a special focus in children
in the private investigative profession then, is centered in the following
areas:
1) BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR CHILD CARE WORKERS
2) BACKGROUND CHECKS ON NANNIES
3) RENTAL OF TEMPORARY VIDEO CAMERA EQUIPMENT
4) CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATION
21) The Giant Corporate World
There is a hige section of training products on Divorce
And Domestic Iinvestigations off of:http://www.pimall.com/nais/bkp.domest.html
A couple of highly recommended books are:
CHECKMATE!
Professional's Guide To Dorive Investigations
http://www.pimall.com/nais/checkm.html
21) THE GIANT CORPRATE WORLD
In the last ten or twenty years in America we have seen a trend of the
huge American corporation. Some say many of these giants are monopolies
or close to it. If you think that Corporate Investigations aren't up,
just look in the paper. From Enron to Martha Stewart and from Microsoft
to America Online, these big companies along with thousands and thousands
of others are conducting investigations and being investigated. A new
extensive manual has emerged in the last year that is now considered the
standard bible on conducting corporate investigations simply called Corporate
Investigations. The bible on the subject has several dozen authors and
goes over 700 pages.
Corporate
Investigations
Compiled by Reginald J. Montgomery, CLI, CPP, CFE, CP, CST
and William J. Majeski
Contributing authors: John S. Belrose, Julius Bombet, CLI, CFE, Gerald
R. (Gary) Brown, Matthew Buchert, James P. Carino, CPP, CFE, VSM, Harold
F. Coyne, Jr., PPS, Grace Elting Castle, CLI, Paul J. Ciolino, CLI, CFE,
BCFE, CII, Harold F. Coyne, Jr., PPS, Todd DeStefano, Robert J. DiPasquale,
CPA, CFE, Kitty Hailey, CLI, CFE, Bruce H. Hulme, CFE, Don C. Johnson,
CLI, CII, Sal LiFrieri, Robyn R. Mace, Ph.D., Michael C. McDermott, Kevin
D. Murray, CPP, CFE, BCFE, Tom Owen, John J. Palmatier, Ph.D., Raymond
M. Pierce, Jeffery Richardson, Sr., Al Ristuccia, David Roberts, FIPI,
Ben Scaglione, Todd Scheffer, CFE, Larry R. Troxel, CLI, REA, Jonathan
Turner, CFE, CII and Peter F. Wade
To review this massive work, just go to:
http://www.pimall.com/nais/corporatebook.html
22) PREMISES LIABILITY INVESTIGATIONS
Major mega-trends have occurred in the areas of legal investigations and
investigations for law firms. The new hot area is premises liability investigations
specifically in the area of inadequate security. Multimillion-dollar verdicts
against landlords and business operators for failure to provide adequate
security should become more and more common.
Premises
Liability Burden Of Proof- By Pattie James
http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.premises.html
Recommended manual
PEMISES
LIABILITY INVESTIGATIONS
Security Adequate.....Or Not? The Complete Guide To
Premises Liability Litigation
By Chris E. McGoey, CPP
http://www.pimall.com/nais/bk.prem.html
Copyright: 2004, Ralph Thomas
All rights reserved.
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