Private Investigators Research Articles

Conversation with Robert Voas

Conversation with <scp>R</scp>obert <scp>V</scp>oas

General terms in the science of origins a glimpse with Quranic evidence

There is no doubt that some of the rulings - for a joke in the method of presentation and clarification, or according to the interest of gradation in rulings, or for the wisdom of referring back to the Most Noble Messenger (PBUH), and whoever follows the command of the truth after him, or other than that of the explanatory, educational or political interests - came in Its beginnings are in general terms, and then the specification came after a period of time through the Holy Book or the Noble Sunnah. Including what remained in general. Public and private investigations are great investigations, which the interpreter and the jurist must know before storming this dangerous field ().The Arabic language is the language of the Noble Qur’an and the language of the honorable Sunnah, as the expressions of the Arabic language have various connotations, some of which indicate a specific individual, and some of which indicate many individuals, all of which fall under this single term if it is not specified.

The contemporary role of private investigators in Australia

The private investigation industry in the United Kingdom has been challenged by dubious work practices arising from the activities of a number of private investigators undertaking work for The News of the World. The allegations of private investigators acting as a conduit for improper behaviour are not new; in Australia this assessment was borne out in the 1992 New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry which found that investigators acted as the go-betweens in a ‘massive illicit trade’ in confidential information (Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), 1992). The last study on private investigator's in Australia was undertaken by Prenzler (2001). In terms of public awareness the image of the private investigator remains a person of dubious character spying on domestic couples. Since the last study the private investigation industry has undergone significant changes in terms of licensing training, regulation and investigative services. These developments have not r...

P.I. Jane: Predictors of women's representation in private investigations

Women's equitable inclusion in police work is a pre-requisite to a functioning democracy and while scholars have identified a number of variables associated with women's employment in policing, private policing has received comparatively little attention. Herein, correlates of women's representation in private investigations agencies are identified and empirically assessed. Women's service in private investigations is predicated based on two factors: external (including regional demographics and women's presence in local law enforcement agencies) and internal (that is, women as agency owners). Preliminary analyses suggest that internal factors had a stronger association with women's representation. Specifically, the gender of the agency's owner and the owner's previous law enforcement experience are predictors of the proportion of women working as private investigators.

Searching for novelty: Challenges with open access data

Searching for novelty: Challenges with open access data

Private Investigation Programs as an Emerging Trend in Criminal Justice Education? A Case Study of Texas

In the post 9/11 era, the field of private security has experienced major growth. This is particularly notable for the subfield of private investigations. Indeed, private investigators, often portrayed as less professional than other participants in the investigative process, are taking on a more prominent role in traditional criminal justice functions and services. As the field of private investigations has grown in size, function, and complexity, the need for increased and specialized education is a logical consequence. Although in its infancy, the trend toward this type of education appears to be primarily directed at colleges and universities. To further explore this trend, this research surveyed a random sample of licensed private investigation agency owners (N = 91) in Texas on their viewpoints concerning the education of private investigators at the college and university levels. Among other areas, investigative company owners were asked their opinions on the need for enhanced education to better prepare private investigators for the changing demands of the profession. Results indicate that private investigation agency owners believe that four-year colleges and universities should begin to develop and teach classes to better prepare their students for careers that reflect the changing nature of private investigations work. Implications for research and practice are explored.

Handling Sex Crime Cases During a Time of Victim Rights

The plethora of recent victim’s rights legislation makes it tougher to defend sex crime cases and more likely that innocent defendants will be subjected to lifetime restrictions if convicted. In order to tread the fine line between victims’ rights and zealous representation, defense attorneys need to recognize the areas of the law that are the trickiest to navigate under these new victims’ rights standards and the actions they can take to minimize their effects on the defense. These actions include scrutinizing the case more deeply, hiring private investigators and forensic computer experts. Attorneys should also be familiar with the “first complaint” rules in their state, as many courts now allow the in-court use of hearsay regarding the victim’s initial report to another person. The prejudicial joinder of offenses is another recent development in victims’ rights, forcing defense attorneys to be wary of this effect of judicial efficiency. Additionally, the continued expansion of rape shield laws makes it increasingly difficult to use instances of non-truthfulness to impeach victims in sex crimes cases. Trial practice is also affected by this victims’ rights era. Thus, it is important for all attorneys to identify a viable and creditable theory of defense, use voir dire to thoroughly vet prospective jurors, attempt to provide as much relevant and material impeachment evidence as possible under the rape shield statutes, and find the proper balance between zealous representation and not demeaning or degrading the purported victim.

All in One Basket: The Bankruptcy Risk of a National Agent-Based Mortgage Recording System

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS, Inc.”) owns legal title to some 30 million mortgages in the United States. The company, which was a key part of the mortgage securitization apparatus in the late 1990s and 2000s, is now under intense pressure from public and private lawsuits and investigations and faces a very real threat of insolvency. Policymakers are looking ahead to potential replacements for MERS, Inc., as a recent Fed staff proposal for a substitute system indicates. This Article examines what might happen to the mortgages that MERS, Inc. at least nominally owns in the event that the company enters bankruptcy, a question that apparently has never been explored in a publicly available analysis. Although the legal analysis underlying the design of MERS, Inc. does not appear to be publicly available, a key assumption seems to have been that if the company ever entered bankruptcy, the mortgages in its hands would not enter the company’s bankruptcy estate and would not be available to creditors. This Article challenges that assumption, pointing to the broad authority the Bankruptcy Code confers on the bankruptcy trustee with respect to interests in real property, such as mortgages. Most courts that have considered the issue have found that the bankruptcy trustee can bring into the estate any real property interest that the debtor could have conveyed to a good-faith purchaser. There is a significant risk that MERS, Inc. can convey MERS mortgages to a purchaser acting in good faith. Although part of that risk arises from the company’s conduct in making and acquiescing in claims in court that the company can sell the mortgages, has constitutionally protected property interests in the mortgages, is a creditor of mortgage borrowers, and owns a beneficial interest in the mortgages, part of the risk is inherent in any mortgage recording system that operates nationally and holds mortgages as an agent. Policymakers should consider that risk as they consider whether MERS should be replaced and what form the replacement should take.

To License or Not To License Updated: An Examination of State Statutes Regarding Private Investigators and Digital Examiners

To License or Not To License Updated: An Examination of State Statutes Regarding Private Investigators and Digital Examiners

Regulating private affairs in contemporary China: Private investigators and the policing of spousal infidelity

This article examines the recent emergence of China’s private investigation industry, focusing on investigators of spousal infidelity. It outlines the professed business rationales of private investigators that target women experiencing marital crises, including claims that they provide a necessary social service, protect women’s rights, promote anti-corruption measures, and uphold Chinese law. It also details growing criticisms of China’s “infidelity sleuths” for violating Chinese law and citizens’ rights. Finally, the article examines some of the proposed responses to the problems associated with private investigators and the policing of infidelity. The demand for such services highlights the laissez-faire position that economic reform has increasingly forced China’s governmental authorities to assume with regard to regulating the private affairs of Chinese citizens.

To License or Not to License Revisited: An Examination of State Statutes Regarding Private Investigators and Digital Examiners

In this update to the previous year's study, the authors examine statutes that regulate, license, and enforce investigative functions in each US state. After identification and review of Private Investigator licensing requirements, the authors find that very few state statutes explicitly differentiate between Private Investigators and Digital Examiners. After contacting all state agencies the authors present a distinct grouping organizing state approaches to professional Digital Examiner licensing. The authors conclude that states must differentiate between Private Investigator and Digital Examiner licensing requirements and oversight.

To License or Not to License Revisited: An Examination of State Statutes Regarding Private Investigators and Digital Examiners

In this update to the previous year's study, the authors examine statutes that regulate, license, and enforce investigative functions in each US state. After identification and review of Private Investigator licensing requirements, the authors find that very few state statutes explicitly differentiate between Private Investigators and Digital Examiners. After contacting all state agencies the authors present a distinct grouping organizing state approaches to professional Digital Examiner licensing. The authors conclude that states must differentiate between Private Investigator and Digital Examiner licensing requirements and oversight.

Enemies of the State? The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, Landowners, Spies, a 500kV Transmission Line and Why Procedure Matters

In the spring of 2007 the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (the ‘Board’) employed private investigators to covertly observe interveners in a hearing into the proposed construction of a transmission facility. This decision led to public outrage and, as well, to the Board’s vacation of all its decisions related to the transmission facility on the basis that a reasonable apprehension of bias had arisen. This article places the Board’s retention of the private investigators in the context of a number of other procedural decisions made by the Board in its consideration of the proposed transmission facility. It then reviews the totality of those decisions to suggest that, in designing an appropriate process, a regulatory decision-maker must be mindful of both the rules of procedural fairness and of the principles that underpin procedural fairness as a whole.

To License or Not to License: An Examination of State Statutes Regarding Private Investigators and Digital Examiners

In this paper the authors examine statutes that regulate, license, and enforce investigative functions in each US state. After identification and review of Private Investigator licensing requirements, the authors find that very few state statutes explicitly differentiate between Private Investigators and Digital Examiners. After contacting all state agencies the authors present a distinct grouping organizing state approaches to professional Digital Examiner licensing. The authors conclude that states must differentiate between Private Investigator and Digital Examiner licensing requirements and oversight.

“The Dictograph Hears All”: An Example of Surveillance Technology in the Progressive Era

During the first decade of the twentieth century, Kelley M. Turner of New York invented a telephone apparatus of very high sound sensitivity, which he called the “Dictograph.” (It should not be confused with the Dictaphone, a device used to record dictation.) Although his original idea was for a communications system with a great variety of applications, the Dictograph ultimately became one of the earliest electric eavesdropping devices, used by both police and private investigators. As such, the Dictograph played a part in some notable criminal prosecutions and was used in antiunion activity. It continued to be used in this way until it was rendered obsolescent by other technologies. The emergence of the preferred applications of the Dictograph illuminates aspects of the sociology of technology, such as the concept of “acoustic space.” It also raised issues related to the ethics and law of clandestine listening.

R. Brady Williamson (1933–2007)

R. Brady Williamson (1933–2007)

The Dead of Winter: How Battlefield Investigators, WWII Veterans, and Forensic Scientists Solved the Mystery of the Bulge's Lost Soldiers (review)

Reviewed by: The Dead of Winter: How Battlefield Investigators, WWII Veterans, and Forensic Scientists Solved the Mystery of the Bulge’s Lost Soldiers Bradley Lynn Coleman The Dead of Winter: How Battlefield Investigators, WWII Veterans, and Forensic Scientists Solved the Mystery of the Bulge’s Lost Soldiers. By Bill Warnock. New York: Penguin, 2005. ISBN 1-59609-085-5. Pp. 314. Notes. Bibliography. $24.95. In late 1944 German forces on the Western Front made a bid to breach American defenses, capture Antwerp, and destroy opposing armies, thereby compelling the Western Allies to accept a political settlement. Instead, a swift U.S. counterattack wrecked the German Army. The entire action, known as the Battle of the Bulge, inflicted heavy losses on both sides, many [End Page 872] in the dense Ardennes Forest. From 1944 to 1951 the American Graves Registration Service recovered and identified the remains of most U.S. soldiers killed during the fight. The Quartermaster Corps, however, could not account for all deceased Americans, some lost in the forest, others recovered but unidentifiable. Thereafter, locals periodically came across American and German dead; the encounters, however, produced few lasting consequences. Then, in 1988 two Belgian battlefield relic hunters, Jean-Louis Seel and Jean-Philippe Speder, unintentionally uncovered the remains of a missing American soldier near the Losheimergraben crossroads. Excited by the discovery, determined to find others, they partnered with military history enthusiasts, U.S. veterans, and European anthropologists to search for unrecovered Americans. The self-dubbed MIA Project has since located the remains of eight additional U.S. servicemen. Bill Warnock, the group's chief historian, recounts their efforts in The Dead of Winter. Beautifully written, The Dead of Winter shows how the MIA Project combined archival research, oral histories, and tenacious field work to find missing Americans. In addition to case studies in applied history, Warnock offers compelling vignettes on wartime happenings and loss incidents. The book then follows recovered human remains through the U.S. government identification system and final interment. Regrettably, Warnock presents these interlocking stories without an overarching analytical structure, therefore leaving important questions unanswered. What is the proper relationship between private and official accounting efforts? Can the U.S. government learn anything from the MIA Project experience? How are recovery and identification activities (past and present) related to American politics, society, and culture? To whom do human remains truly belong? Neglecting these critical issues, The Dead of Winter will disappoint some readers. Portions of the book, including descriptions of MIA Project excavation procedures and intra-governmental relations, may also intensify existing controversies among U.S. military authorities, private investigators, and families of the dead. Yet the power of this book resides in Warnock's storytelling. And for that reason, The Dead of Winter will be circulated and enjoyed by the general public and military historians, even if it has little long-term intellectual impact. Bradley Lynn Coleman U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C. Copyright © 2006 Society for Military History

Industry Update

At first glance, it might appear that the US government is keeping American scientists out of the international arena of stem cell research. While many countries have encouraged stem cell research in their academic institutions, the USA has made unilateral efforts to declare embryonic stem cell research unconstitutional. Despite the promise this controversial work holds for victims of diseases, such as insulin-dependent diabetes and Parkinson’s, US President George W Bush banned the use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research in May 2001. In the state of California, legal proceedings are currently preventing the allocation of $3 billion for stem cell research approved by a wide majority (61%) of resident voters in 2004. Embryonic stem cell research is prohibited in several states in the USA including Michigan, home to one of the top medical schools in the country. Are legal obstacles stymieing American stem cell research, while the UK, Spain, Israel, Singapore, China, Iran, and other countries race to the forefront of an innovative and promising medical technology? Despite legislative obstacles, this is not the case. Although work with human embryonic stem cells in the USA is restricted and heavily regulated, work with stem cells from adult tissues is permissible to academic and private investigators alike. Privately funded research ventures are not currently restricted to adult-derived cells. In fact, major pharmaceutical and biomedical corporations in the USA and abroad, as well as a number of new ventures, are on the cutting edge of both adult and embryonic stem cell research. The following is a survey of the latest developments in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine compiled from publicly available information and press releases from non-academic institutions. This overview encompasses a period from January 16 through February 15, 2006.

Des tâches policières privatisées à une police grise : quatre recherches belges en la matière

This article summarizes the combined results of four branches of research concerning the privatization of policing tasks and the interaction between private agencies and police conducted between 1988 and 1997 in Belgium. The first segment focused on private detectives. A second research segment converged on the evolution of specialized investigations in insurance fraud. A third branch was aimed at the lack of legal protection available to citizens that had been subject to private investigations. The final segment consisted of an analysis of " grey policing". All research segments developed from a certain number of hypothesis and were based exclusively on qualitative research methods. Results from each segment have been assessed alongside established theories.

A Model Regime of Privacy Protection (Version 2.0)

This version incorporates and responds to the many comments that we received to Version 1.1, which we released on March 10, 2005. Privacy protection in the United States has often been criticized, but critics have too infrequently suggested specific proposals for reform. Recently, there has been significant legislative interest at both the federal and state levels in addressing the privacy of personal information. This was sparked when ChoicePoint, one of the largest data brokers in the United States with records on almost every adult American citizen, sold data on about 145,000 people to fraudulent businesses set up by identity thieves. Other companies announced security breaches, including LexisNexis, from which personal information about 32,000 people was improperly accessed. Senator Schumer criticized Westlaw for making available to certain subscribers personal information including Social Security Numbers (SSNs). In the aftermath of the ChoicePoint debacle and other major information security breaches, both of us have been asked by Congressional legislative staffers, state legislative policymakers, journalists, academics, and others about what specifically should be done to better regulate information privacy. In response to these questions, we believe that it is imperative to have a discussion of concrete legislative solutions to privacy problems. What appears below is our attempt at such an endeavor. Privacy experts have long suggested that information collection be consistent with Fair Information Practices. This Model Regime incorporates many of those practices and applies them specifically to the context of commercial data brokers such as ChoicePoint. We hope that this will provide useful guidance to legislators and policymakers in crafting laws and regulations. We also intend this to be a work-in-progress in which we collaborate with others. We have welcomed input from other academics, policymakers, journalists, and experts as well as from the industries and businesses that will be subject to the regulations we propose. We have incorporated criticisms and constructive suggestions, and we will continue to update this Model Regime to include the comments we find most helpful and illuminating. Notice, Consent, Control, and Access 1. Universal Notice 2. Meaningful Informed Consent 3. One-Step Exercise of Rights 4. Individual Credit Management 5. Access to and Accuracy of Personal Information Security of Personal Information 6. Secure Identification 7. Disclosure of Security Breaches Business Access to and Use of Personal Information 8. Social Security Number Use Limitation 9. Access and Use Restrictions for Public Records 10. Curbing Excessive Uses of Background Checks 11. Private Investigators Government Access to and Use of Personal Data 12. Limiting Government Access to Business and Financial Records 13. Government Data Mining 14. Control of Government Maintenance of Personal Information Privacy Innovation and Enforcement 15. Preserving the Innovative Role of the States 16. Effective Enforcement of Privacy Rights Commentary