ACCURATE INVESTIGATIONS MISSISSIPPI PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

Private Investigators get calls daily from concerned parents and spouses who need to obtain evidence to insure fairness in their divorce proceedings and in some cases getting the edge they feel they deserve.  There is a genuine need for admissable evidence.  I am not an attorney and you should always consult an attorney for sound legal advice.  However I do know what I would NOT do as a Private Investigator either because it is blatently illegal or in the gray zone and I don't want to be the lone PI who becomes the test case and ruins my clients chances of a fair judicial decision because of my unwise zeal in assisting my clients.

You would do well to really learn and abide by state laws guiding you as to what measures you can take in securing evidence for your divorce.  Obtaining cell records from a private account other than through a court order or from a bill laying around in the open or in the trash can cost you an arrest and definately cost you valuable evidence in your litigation.  A much better approach is to gain enough reasonable evidence to prove to a judge that you need a subpeona for those records to be produced by the other spouse, other party or the cell phone company.  The same is true for land line phones, get the records legally.

Some legal ways to obtain any paper record is through looking through the trash at the roadside since this is now public domain, finding them in common areas of the home, and a court order.  What good does it do if you get records but then cannot present them in court?  You may think well I will just look over the records and then present the evidence another way, that may be possible but a smart attorney is going to want to know where you obtained your evidence originally so you need to have a plan.

If you hire a PI to conduct surveillance, check online social networking sites, data bases and interviews you may find a host of evidence that you can now introduce legally and get the court order you need for those records which will seal the deal.

Another reason to follow the laws in obtaining evidence is that if you break the law, you could be arrested, have your children taken away and or do jail time.  There is no evidence so necessary to obtain that way to forfeit your freedom or your childrens well being.

Another area that is questionable is in the area of GPS surveillance.  Some states have more clarity than others on this but the rule of thumb that most PI's use is that if you own or co own the vehicle you have every legal right to track it.  You can do this for a short time to monitor your spouse or teens activity for a specific reason or you can do it on a longer term basis to develop a historical basis for your goals.  You can use historical tracking which will tell you where the vehicle has been or live tracking which can assist your Private Investigator in staying a safe distance while conducting surveillance so they can get into a position to take video and pictures as needed.  I strongly advise you against putting a GPS on any vehicle that you do not own unless you have that persons permission.  You could be arrested for stalking, or tampering if you hard wire it, or trespassing.  Keep in mind there is not alot of legal cases out there yet dealing with this in the domestic arena but local law enforcement often can take matters and rearrange them not to your favor if it suits them.

Another area where gaining evidence legally is paramount is in the area of audio and video surveillance.  You need to check your state laws on audio recording.  In Mississippi the law states as long as one party knows there is a recording it is legal.  That does not mean you can put down an audio recorder and walk away leaving it on indefinately since you are no longer a party to the conversation.  That is wiretapping and against federal law and carries heavy penalties as a felony.  The only time you can audio tape someone is if you are present in the conversation in a one party state.  Other states say two parties present must be aware of the recording, and still others say all parties must have knowledge that they are being recorded.  Those states have the strictest laws and you would do well to know which state you are in.  You can google this and anything else I mention in this article and find lists and guidelines for these areas.

Video surveillance is a little easier to stay abreast of the legalities.  Most video surveillance is legal providing there is no disclaimer forbidding it such as in government situations, military sites where national security is at stake or in private corporations where infringement of trade secrets are in question and in domestic situations in bedrooms and bathrooms or where minors are present.  People have a reasonable expectation of privacy under our US Constitution in their bedrooms and bathrooms.  You can put covert surveillance items in hallways, near the door way of the bedrooms, in all the common areas and outside.  Keep in mind though in some states stationary surveillance equipment that is hard wired in or outside the home needs to be installed by a professional licensed security techician since electricity may be involved and there are laws governing this type of installation.  However you can put a smoke detector, picture, teddy bear or decorative item in a legally acceptable place with the video surveillance option only.

Your private investigator should know that they can video tape your spouse and children outside your home, or in any other envirorment as long as the intent is to gain evidence for court not to use in any defaming way.  Video taping beyond the window and or glass doors is illegal in many states as the laws usually assume that anything that can be seen with the naked eye without the use of any assistance at the window or door is acceptable but penetrating beyond the windows or doors or even walls with extraordinary means such as telephoto lenses, infra red etc would be considered an invasion of privacy.

These are just some basic ideas and guidelines to keep you on the right side of the law and in the best position to be able to legally present your evidence in court.  Again consult an attorney and check your state laws to be sure what the legal limits are and when in doubt stay on the cautious side.  You will find in the end the judge will be more favorable to you when you respect the law and present legally obtained evidence to the courts.

I recently received a phone call from a dear childhood friend.  She had lost her husband through terminal illness last year.  She had a very wonderful marriage and felt that she was free to move ahead a few months later.  She met a professional man who claimed to have valid reasons for no longer working in his profession.  He was very attentive and available.  He had little responsibility it seemed and was able to devote much time to her except for the extended times away tending to some business endeavors or clientele.  These seemed to occur fairly regularly and gave my friend no cause for alarm.  On the weeks he was home he was tending to her rental property and this was a blessing to her.  It never occurred to her to have a background investigation on this man.  He was kind, considerate, helpful, attentive and available and seemed to have no major character flaws.

She moved him into her home believing that they were planning a life together and would be married the following year.  She entrusted him with her rental property income as far as depositing the funds and with the account.

Are any red flags going off yet?  When someone seems to be too good to be true,  he or she often is.  A simple background check would have turned up some interesting details about this man.

He had a major gambling problem.  His first wife divorced him after years of putting up with it and he was pawning her belongings as they were splitting up.  He lost his prestigous position due to his gambling problem and had not held down a decent job in probably 20 years.  His brother also had a major gambling problem so it seemed to be a family issue of some kind. 

One day when my friend went to pay her mortgages out of the rental fund she realized he had cleaned her OUT of approximately $5000.  It seems like a small amount of money to some but that meant that her homes were in danger of being foreclosed on, and that she would have to sell her own home and move back into one of her rental properties.  There probably was other funds that were being misappropriated along the way those few months he had invaded my friends life.

This man  had shell businesses set up to make himself look good and probably to launder his dirty money he stole from women.  He left my friend the day she found out claiming that he was trying to win her some money.  He called her daily to say he was going to pay her back and sent her text messages, for about a couple of weeks, until he felt sure she would not call the police which I of course urged her to do.

My friend a very upstanding, honest person was devastated to say the least.  She had spent the last 12 years in a trusting relationship and was pretty unschooled as to the savvy people out there on the, OH did I say, INTERNET.  She was lonely and he was more than likely very skilled at approaching women on the internet, in fact I suspect he has one again already he is fleecing, and probably keeps one in the wings as he is grooming the other.

A decent background check can save your fortune, your life and the safety of any minor children.  Please consider using a professional PI, any sites she went to did not tell her very much as her access was limited to public sites that are often incomplete and out of date.  Isn't it worth the money you invest in checking out someone who you plan to seriously date, move into your home, add to your real estate deed or marry?

PLEASE CALL ACCURATE INVESTIGATIONS FOR A CONFIDENTIAL INTERVIEW REGARGING YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT A POTENTIAL OR PRESENT MATE.

601-480-3181 or 601-683-2094

email  Glad4JC@aol.com

People often call me about concerns for their children, they know their marriage is over but they cannot just acquiese to the opposing side without some certainty that their children will be safe. 

Sometimes a client will call and share that their ex is violent, abusing drugs or alcohol or participating in a variety of sexual relationships.  This is a real threat to the safety and well being of their child.  A client may have already experienced an uninformed judge handing over custody and or unsupervised visitation to the offending party. 

Here are some tips that can help you in your endeavor to seek full custody, monitored visitation, or even the termination of the rights of a dangerous parent:

First do NOT tip your hand to the other parent by accusing, threatening, or anything that will make the other parent more evasive or tempted to retaliate on the child.

Next do document every contact with the other  parent when it concerns your child or children.  If it is legal in your state record all phone conversations and keep a tape recorder handy to covertly tape any exchange concerning your child.  This will help you develop a history of your childs other parents way of communicating, any threats that are made, etc.  It will also help you to keep your cool knowing your tape may make it into court.

Take pictures of your childs body and face before a visit [if there is a concern about child abuse] and take pictures when they return.  Note any explanation or lack of explanation the other parent gives.  In other words keep a journal.  Be prepared to take your child on a car ride or some quiet time with you where he can tell you about his visit.  Be upbeat, do not try to lead the child into saying what you want to hear, but just let her tell you about their weekend etc.  Tape this conversation, good or bad because you never know when a child is going to slip out and say something that they may have been coached not to say, and if you try to get them to say it again later on the tape it probably won't work.

Do not let your child know you are looking for evidence, do not overreact as this may scare the child thinking mommy will be mad at daddy and I may get in trouble for telling.  Try to remain calm no matter how awful the story is.

Do not run to your family pediatrician every time your child comes back from a visit but do always bring your child to the family pediatrician immediately if your child demonstrates any extreme unusual sexual behavior or if she has any unexplained bruises.  Also bring your pictures with you to show how your child left your home.  Be prepared because the family doctor is mandated by law to report child abuse to CPS so if you have the pictures you will be protected from being falsely accused.

If you get in the habit of taking the pictures all the time with the family, the pets and other silly things, your childs other parent will not be alerted as to your strategy.

If you believe your child has been sexually violated set up an appointment immediately with a therapist. 

Some other things you should do is run a background check on your childs parent.  Chances are you do not know everything about her, she may have had a DUI in the past before you met, or some association with a criminal or even a sex offender.  There are also ways to investigate her family and close associates to see if any of them can endanger your child if they are in his presence.

Do not assume someone is free from deviancy just because they appear to be a nice person, often child molesters come across as very credible to the parents of a child they are targetting for violation.  When it comes to your child, trust no one until you have proven to yourself they can be trusted.

Always provide a safe atmosphere for your child to come to you, do NOT run the other parent down, try to convince your child they are bad etc, that will work against you with your child as it will be their natural tendency to want to protect the image of that parent, just as they would yours.  Do let your child know you are concerned and that you will help them depending on the severity of the situation, but do not say things they are likely to repeat or that will make them become more cautious the next time and not tell you what went on.

Prepare your case well and do not move forward too quickly unless you are in emergency status and have no choice.

There are ways you can assist the other parent in contributing to their own loss of visitation, custody or rights.  Give them enough rope to hang themselves, don't run interference, let them drink and drive, but have an annonymous person to report them while they are on the road so that it doesn't come back to you.

When you get to court you should have enough evidence for the judge to order alcohol treatment, drug treatment, or to forbid your childs parent to have sleepovers with the opposite sex, mandate monitored visitation.

In order to accomplish all this you are going to need assistance from a Private Investigator.  Try to have one on standby who can follow your childs parent when they come to pick up the child for a visit if you suspect they have been drinking for example.  The investigator can watch for erratic driving and report this to the police at which time the other parent will get pulled over and tested for DUI and you will get a phone call to come get your child.  Now this can be used in court.

Your private investigator can also follow your child on the visit to see where the parent takes her, and who is present during the onset of the visit.  The investigator can take video and pictures of anything suspicious or of concern. 

Remember any illegal activity can be documented and videoed at any time but it is always more powerful in court to have this evidence shown as being in the presence of the child.

Call the police if your childs parent comes to pick up your child for a visit if it is clearly apparent that she is intoxicated or stoned from drugs.  Do not let your child go with a parent who is in such a state as that will reflect badly on you.

Try as much as possible to video and take pictures as a fun thing so as not to alert your child as to your motives.  Do not let the child see the audio device.  The more relaxed you appear to your child the more the child will feel safe to come to you and share their concerns and fears.

We welcome comments and questions on this blog.

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