It’s important to prepare frequent status reports, respond to requests for updates, and maintain active task lists to ensure that no investigative task slips through the cracks.
It’s best that all new cases be approved by a principal or owner of the company, and the principal should be responsible for obtaining a signed contract and retainer.
Background investigations can be in 2 forms: impeachment or due diligence.
An employment background check can meet 4 goals. Finding a candidate who meets
- The basic requirements of the position
- Meets as many of the preferential qualifications
- Is a good fit for the position
- Does not have any factors that disqualify him from the position.
It is illegal to obtain a credit report or educational transcript without a release of authorization.
There is nothing analogous to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) in the private sector. This means, no one can conduct an instant nationwide criminal record check that isn’t authorized to use NCIC.
Therefore criminal checks in the private sector or typically conducted by first determining where the subject was living with in the scope of the investigation, for example 10 years, and then conducting individual switches in those jurisdiction for road and records. Physically obtaining records are the best way, but some have online records.
Criminal investigations
Investigator should always insist on being paid a retainer at least have the attorney hold the funds in escrow because in the event if it is convicted will be exceedingly difficult to collect money from someone who is in jail. As in all cases, the investigator should have the client sign a contract outlining the scope of the investigation.
Running Resume
A running resume is a shared document or software system similar to a journal where investigators working on a given case provide brief status status updates concurrent with each effort made to complete the cases individual tasks.
Products of Investigation
Real evidence
Theory of transfer hold the suspect always leave something at a crime scene and always takes something away.
Before anything is altered at the scene, still photographs should be taken of every conceivable angle in every conceivable detail in the coordinated series from general to specific.
Before collecting any evidence, the investigator should take note detailing the specific time an item was found; the exact location where it was found; the name of the investigator who located the evidence; a description of the item; and the names of anyone present when the item is located in secured.
To ensure competence, all evidence must be properly accounted for from the moment is seized until is presented in court. This is termed the chain of custody.
Notes and Reports
Notes can be discoverable, so it’s important to clean them up for accuracy after each day.
Preliminary Report
Details objectives and investigation’s nature.
Status Report
Details actions taken in an investigation.
Concluding Report
Ties all events into a single final report.
Typical report format includes a summary in the beginning followed by a detailed narrative of findings and conclusion at the end.
All investigative report should be reviewed for spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, and unclear wording by the principal case manager, the lead investigator or an editor employed for that purpose.
Private investigation is fundamentally the business of selling investigative reports to customers, and gathering in documenting evidence for a fee. Without proper documentation, the potential testimonial evidence taken during interview was not actionable and therefore largely useless.
Types of Investigations
Background Investigations
There are two legitimate reasons to conduct a background investigation: due diligence and impeachment.
Missing persons investigations
For many cases, a trail of breadcrumbs in the form of online credit card transactions may not be available, but often phone records, social networking sites, and even human intelligence gleaned from interviews will prove just as useful.
The book has key information on the following topics:
Criminal investigations
Defendants can hire PIs.
Undercover Investigations
Fraud and Financial Investigations
Insurance Investigations
Accident Investigations
