As many of you already know, our association was recently forced into a decision regarding the licensure of private investigators here in Colorado.  I'd like to take this opportunity to share that decision, explain how we reached that decision, and what we intend to do from this point forward. 

Since joining PPIAC just over a year ago, I have been able to be part of a lot of interesting "adventures."  I have been able to meet many of you personally and I never stop learning from everybody and anybody in the association.  One person that I met at the Christmas party was one of the founding members, Gene Johnson.  To me, given my current position and duties in the association, that was a very significant introduction.  In talking to Gene, I learned that I was talking to one of the people who decided that they did not like the fact that a Colorado private investigator could no longer obtain a state license.  I learned that this man was one of several who decided to take it upon themselves to do something about it by forming PPIAC and then giving their blood, sweat and tears to make the association successful while pursuing the reason for the association.  

In the years that followed, many great leaders have graced this association.  I know some of them personally and, year after year, they gave of their time to better the association and make it an association that provides opportunities for you, the members.  At the same time, they kept their eyes on the big prize; restoring licensing in Colorado.  

So here we are today with a licensing program in place, albeit voluntary and on the eve of introducing (one more time) legislation to bring about a change in Colorado that is 36 years in the making.  Why is this time different?  First, as I said, we already have a program in place and we are not trying to re-invent the wheel.  We are trying to convert the current program from voluntary to mandatory.  Second and very importantly, we have taken input from many of the previous leaders of the association who have given us extremely valuable advice.  We have also listened to you, the members, and always appreciate your input, ideas and especially your support.  We also have had support from many special interest groups to get this accomplished.  And the backbone of it all is your board members and committee members who worked tirelessly to get us to this point, in the same way as the board members and committee members who preceded us.  

I truly hope to have the support of every member of this association in what we are trying to do.  If we can accomplish this, it will be due to a great team effort.  And remember, we always want to hear from the members to know what you are thinking, what we can do better and what ideas you have.  

I hope to see everybody at the first annual awards banquet for a night of celebration and mingling with people from all walks of life.

Ryan Johnston, VP of Legislative Affairs, is the owner of Night Moves of Denver.  He can be contacted at: legislative@ppiac.org 

Gene Ferraro, Chief Ethics Officer, Convercent

There can be no argument; our employees are our most valuable assets. They can make us, as easily as they can break us. However, many employers don't take the time or expend the necessary resources to seek out, and hire the best people possible. The result is often disappointment and frustration, and sometimes even litigation. Although there are no guarantees, there is a great deal employers can do to attract, hire and retain quality employees. Here are the Ten Best Hiring Tips for those in the investigations industry for 2013:

1. Recruit constantly, not just when a position needs to be filled. Recruiting is a continuous and never ending process. It is not something an organization only does when it needs to hire. Maintain a revolving inventory of qualified candidates so that when positions become available, interviewing and screening can begin immediately.
2. Don't use generic store bought employment applications. They look unprofessional, and frequently don't meet current legal standards. Instead, create a customized application. Be sure to provide plenty of space for applicants to explain their leaving prior employers. Allowing enough for a one-word explanation will likely yield only one word. But, before going to press, have it reviewed by an attorney to ensure it complies with applicable federal and state law.
3. In addition to requiring completed applications to be signed, get a signed release of liability from each applicant. In addition to the notifications and authorizations required by the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act of 2004, the release should be fashioned so as to protect the prospective employer from any invasion of privacy claim that might arise during the pre-employment screening process. The release should authorize, without liability, the examination and use of public records, communications with former employers, and reference checking.
4. Interview thoroughly and consistently. Use only trained interviewers, and ensure that they know what can and cannot be asked. Develop and interviewing process whereby every applicant is properly interviewed and his or her skills are examined and job suitability can be determined. Allow the applicant to thoroughly explain strengths and weaknesses, how long he or she thinks it will take to become a contributor, and any gaps in employment. Retain all notes as part of the applicant's permanent file.
5. Request as many references as possible, and check them thoroughly. Ask the applicant to provide the work and home telephone number of every reference provided. Additionally, ask for the names and telephone numbers of former peers and subordinates. Contact each one and ask for help to determine if the applicant is suited for the position for which they've applied. Be direct, but be respectful, and take notes.
6. Insist the applicant provide relevant documents, such as recent performance reviews, check stubs, military discharge records (DD 214), copies of transcripts and degrees, and professional licenses if applicable. Applicants should unhesitantly produce such documents-smart applicants anticipate this increasingly common request.
7. Conduct a thorough and complete background investigation. In Colorado, an applicant's driving history and criminal history (if any) are available to prospective employers. A string of traffic violations or even misdemeanor offenses should be taken seriously. A history of bankruptcies, tax liens and unfavorable judgments can also be red flags. Check federal and local laws before making any inquiries, and be sure to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its amendments.
8. Drug test all applicants. According to recent studies, one third of the population has used an illegal drug at least once, and 11.6 million are still regular users. Substance abusers are less productive, have more accidents and miss more work than non-substance abusers. Budget permitting, consider psychological testing as well. Tests that have been scientifically validated will help match applicants' skills with job requirements, and screen out those unlikely to meet performance standards.
9. Team-consult with staff members and collectively identify the best candidates. Establish a standardized rating system and rate qualified applicants based on skills, work experience, past performance and the information provided by references. Re-interview the best candidates before making a final decision. Put your offer in writing and have it acknowledged by the final candidate by having him or her sign it. Maintain good will with those not selected with a timely thank-you letter.
10. Sell the organization, not the job. It is common for business owners, recruiters and even experienced human resource professionals to oversell a position. The practice often leaves the new employee disillusioned, frustrated, and angry. Instead, sell the organization and all that it offers. Valuable benefits often not mentioned include technical training, personal and/or professional recognition and professional networking opportunities.

Dave Pettinari, a retired sheriff's commander, retired Air Force officer,  computer forensic examiner, writer, and university professor, is a Colorado private investigator based in Beulah, just west of Pueblo.  He can be reached at   davepet@socolo.net, and on the Internet at http://www.tacforensics.com.

It was the loss of my job as a sheriff's commander with the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office in 2007 that caused me to think of private investigation as a possible follow-up career.  My sheriff was defeated for reelection, and, as many sheriffs do, the new sheriff terminated seven of us command-level people so he could bring in his own supporters.   

I sat in my mountain home in Beulah for two months during that snowy winter, licking my wounds and contemplating my future.  I had once entertained the notion of retiring and becoming a private investigator, so I bought Steven Brown's "A Complete Idiot's Guide to Private Investigation" and read it cover to cover.  Armed with that basic orientation, I joined PPIAC, went to the annual conference, and began attending monthly meetings to make connections and get more ongoing training.

One plus I had going for me is that I already had a specialty I could make the centerpiece of my PI services: computer forensic examination and Internet investigations.  While I do other PI work, such as witness interviews, surveillance, and prosecutorial and defense criminal case work, these two specialties became my bread and butter.

I decided early in my law enforcement career to learn as much as I could about computers, as I saw them as the future of law enforcement.  As a command-level person, I headed the department's training section, and decided to schedule a three-day training in Pueblo by members of the Colorado Association of Computer Crime Investigators (CACCI).  I attended the training myself, and that is where the bug bit me!

Back in those old days, we did all of our exams in DOS - dir to find the directories, cd to change directory, type to type contents of a file, copy filename to copy the evidence to a floppy disk.  We did not have fancy forensic tools such as EnCase or FTK, but VERY SIMPLE utilities such as MaresWare (Danny Mares), RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) tools, and dozens and dozens of other tools that did specialized searching and recovery of files.

When my sheriff returned from a national conference in 1999, he asked me to start up a computer forensics lab and to start an the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.  We were one of the original 10 jurisdictions funded nationwide by ICAC (funded by the Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention - OJJDP), and that is where I got most of the money we needed to equip a lab and get my training.  Law enforcement also offered much free training through SEARCH and the National White Collar Crime Center, and I was a master at finding free training for myself and my officers.  We ended up arresting 37 guys who were preying on young children in Internet chat rooms.

When I started initially, I had a lot of trepidation and concern about tackling such complex work.  But I dove in with the thought that no one else knew this new discipline, so they could not grill me too badly on the stand.  And, quite frankly, it has taken years for the attorneys and judges involved in the process to catch up, and many today are still clueless.  So I had time to learn the discipline and perfect my craft.  Today, after testifying as an expert numerous times in court hearings and trials, I have no concern whatsoever about being "found out" as a guy who did not know it all - trust me, no one can know it all in this side of the business.  It is simply too complex and varied for anyone to know but a small part of the overall enchilada!

As you know, juries now have an elevated expectation of expert witnesses.  They expect everyone to find all the evidence quickly and tie everything up in a neat bow.  Unfortunately, things do not work that way in the field of forensics.  What takes Abby and McGee on NCIS two minutes to do with computers might take me three or four days.  I must be slow!

So I had to take as much training as I could to become a living, breathing expert in this field. In addition to being a pioneer in ICAC enforcement, I was an early pioneer in computer forensics.

Numerous requirements exist to be qualified as an expert in a field.  Courts look at your training (I have been through 37 different cyber-crime and computer forensics schools), whether or not you are certified in your tools (I am EnCE - EnCase certified, and a certified cell phone and PDA examiner), how many times before you have testified as an expert (20 or so for me as of now), how many forensic exams you have done (I have done 290+), whether you have been published (I have been published nationally 100+ times, 25 of those articles on computer crime and Internet crime investigation), whether you teach in your field (I at one time taught cell phone and PDA forensics across the country for Paraben; took a course of my own invention on computer crime, Internet crime and identity theft investigation across the country 6 or 8 times per year since 1995; taught two years for Internet Crimes Inc.; taught and still teach a University of Phoenix online class in cyber-crime and information systems security (CJA 570); taught five semesters at Colorado State University-Pueblo on Computer Forensics and Investigations)...and the list of things they ask you about to qualify you as an expert goes on and on.

Bottom line, you must have credentials to be qualified as an expert, not just know a little more than the next guy.  As far as attorneys, I have not run across too many who know much about these disciplines.  I have had to teach a number of lawyers even the basic questions to ask to qualify an expert to testify in court.  I have had to walk them through what I found step-by-step, designing simplified PowerPoint presentations to help them understand, and to make it simple for the jury to comprehend.  And, even when these attorneys try these cases in open court, they occasionally misrepresent the evidence because they just don't understand it. 

But that is what an expert is for.  He also functions outside of court to educate attorneys and their clients, and in court to educate and facilitate understanding for judges and juries, regardless of whether he works for the prosecution or the defense.

We are starting to see more and more people with understanding of these issues in law enforcement, private investigations, corporate investigations and, yes, even members of the bar.  But things are still moving slowly, and it is, in my opinion, rare that everyone involved in the process is up to speed on the issues. Which makes for some interesting tap dancing when you do get to trial!

What does it cost to get into this niche?  I have about $50,000 in equipment and software, all paid for now, including a Logicube Dossier, a really neat gizmo for acquiring all kinds of hard drives quickly on the scene.  I do lots of private and corporate cases, and I work for government entities as well - judicial districts, local law enforcement agencies, United States Air Force. I do both prosecution and defense cases, being careful not to get into situations that involve a conflict of interest.

That, in a nutshell, is how I got involved in computer forensics, cyber-crime investigation, and private investigation.  They are fascinating fields, and I have seen lots of very interesting cases over the years.

A: Jane Cracraft, CLI, CCDI (retired) says:  I don't see any problem with a re-interview, but the investigator can't put words in the mouth of the witness.  I would say, "We're closer to the trial now.  I need to have the most accurate information.  I would like to run over your experience again.  As you look back on that night, please review the sequence of events." (or whatever the issue is).  

If I am hoping for a different statement I would NOT show the witness his or her previous statement.  Over time, memories and perceptions change.  Let's see what happens.  If the witness tells the story the same way, then the attorney will know that he or she is firm on it. 

If the witness changes some details, then at least that provides evidence of inconsistency.

If the witness shifts strongly to support points y and z, in favor of the defendant, then I would remind the witness that the previous version was somewhat different and ask why the witness believes that y and z are true now.  Sometimes they'll say, "I remember more now..." or they'll say, "I talked to my sister and realized that she was right and I was wrong."  At that point I would ask the witness to sign a witness statement reflecting his or her current position on these facts and/or provide a tape recorded statement.  

A: Dean Beers, CLI, CCDI says:  This simple question has many issues - from possible criminal perjury to ethics.  The root of the questions is ethics, they are what guide us as professional investigators.  One concern of criminal defense is that law enforcement and/or prosecutors have done to witnesses exactly what this attorney-client has asked.  Our job is to uncover such illegal and unethical behavior, not encourage it. 

As Ellis Armistead, CLI pointed out in the current issue of NALI's 'The Legal Investigator' - there is a time to stop or not investigate in order to prevent damaging a case.  This is the time to let the attorney-client know.  

Please submit any questions, dilemmas or lessons learned the hard way to newsletter@ppiac.org.  You can remain anonymous, and we will pose your questions to the many experts in our organization.  

The Professional Certified Investigator (PCI) credential is internationally recognized as the standard in security investigations.  It confirms a solid foundation in the practical applications and best practices of investigations and case management.  Those who pass the PCI exam are board certified in investigations.

The PCI Review is a day and a half program designed to refresh your knowledge in the major areas of security investigations tested on the PCI exam.  Instruction is based on the domains as approved by the Professional Certification Board.

Who Should Attend

The PCI Review is primarily designed for PCI candidates.  Others who may find the program useful include security practitioners who want to review fundamental concepts of security, managers who have recently assumed security responsibilities, and individuals seeking more information about the security industry.

Immediate Benefits

• Strengthen your knowledge in the three major areas of security investigations tested on the PCI exam.
• Enhance your understanding in the fundamental concepts and practices of security investigations to help you perform your best on the exam.
• Take a practice exam and get feedback on your answers. The results will help you pinpoint future study needs.
• Get helpful suggestions on how to best prepare for the exam and make your remaining study time more productive. Learn proven test-taking strategies.
• Make valuable contacts with other practitioners who are also preparing for the exam. Share study tip and form study groups.
• Leave with handouts useful in developing your own study program.

Program Overview

The PCI Review covers three major areas of security management:

• Case Management
• Evaluate cases on a continuing basis for potential ethical conflicts.
• Determine needs and develop strategies by reviewing options.
• Implement strategies by utilizing the investigative resources necessary to address case objectives. 
• Evidence Collection
• Conduct surveillance by physical and electronic means to obtain relevant information.
• Conduct interviews/interrogations of subjects to obtain relevant information.
• Collect and preserve objects and data for future assessment and analysis.
• Conduct research by physical and electronic means and analyze data to obtain relevant information. 
• Case Presentation
• Prepare reports to substantiate investigative findings.
• Prepare and present testimony by reviewing case files, Program with counsel and presenting relevant facts. 

The PCI Review is intended to supplement other exam preparation activities. Review program schedules, content, faculty, locations, and pricing are subject to change.

Faculty

Program Advisor
Eugene F. Ferraro, CPP, CFE, PCI, SPR
Convercent, Inc.

Mr. Eugene F. Ferraro, CPP, CFE, PCI, SPHR, is the founder of Convercent, Inc.  He has been involved in the study of organizational culture, workplace investigations as well as governance and compliance for over 30 years. He is the author of nine books and frequently speaks and trains on the topics of investigation, culture management and unethical behavior in the workplace. He is board certified in both Security Management and Human Resources Management. He can be reached at 800.650.7705 or eferraro@Convercent.com 

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The PCI Review is being presented over 2 days' time: a full day on Friday, May 24, and a half day on Saturday, May 25 (stop at noon.)  This course is provided to PPIAC members for the low cost of $180.00 (as opposed to the ASIS price of $995.00.)  Non-PPIAC members will be offered this opportunity at a price of $200.00.

This course will prepare you to take the PCI Exam. 

The PCI Exam is an additional exam fee of $300.00 (for members of ASIS) or $450.00.

Convercent has made an unprecedented offer:  take the test within six months, and Convercent will guarantee you pass the test, or they will refund your registration fee (minus the royalty fee of $25.00 and materials cost of $20.00.

Please note that you are required to have five years of investigative experience and two years of case management in order to qualify for this training.

You must send an email to training@ppiac.org with your RSVP for this class.  You will receive a confirmation email, and we will hold a place for you in class.

The location for this training will be announced soon. 

Payment options:

Check:  Please send a check to John Morris, PPIAC treasurer, PO Box 200926, Evans, Colorado 80620 for $180.00.  Because seating is limited, we must have your check no later than May 16th, 2013, so we can hold your seat. 

Paypal/Credit card (note: you do not have to have a Paypal account to pay)

  PPIAC members: $180.00                           

  Non-members: $200.00                       

Mark your calendars now! The PPIAC Annual Conference will be September 13-14, 2013 at the beautiful Table Mountain Inn, located in the heart of downtown Golden, Colorado.

Room rates are being finalized, as are speakers, topics and sponsors. Please check back often, as we will update this information.