How the stake out went!

I went to the PI's house and he let me listen to some calls he had to make and see how difficult people who work for police departments can be. He has been trying to get public records for 3 weeks now and they are still not being very helpful.

Then we drove to the house of a main witness that he needs to talk with about some testimony he made in a trial. The witness was not home and his neighbor (who is also his brother in law) was not home either.
The witness works part time at a rental car company so we drove over there to see if he was working. He was not at work.

We had lunch and did some errands and then returned to the witness's home. He was still not at home. He is know to spend time at the local hospital so we headed there to see if we could find him. He was not at the hospital. While we were at the hospital, the PI also had another witness from the same case that works there and we tried to find her. We couldn't find her either.

We walked to the courthouse and checked out all the record departments to see if our witness had any charges filled against him. He did not have any. The records were all paper that we had to look through.

We left the hospital and went to the rental company one more time. The witness was not there but we found out from one of the employees that he works tomorrow from 9-3.

We left and found out where the other witness's house is located and drove to her house and checked it out. We drove home.
Alot of time spent and we didn't get to talk with anyone.

Deb PI

Thursday, 10/8/09 Going on my first stake out

I am actually meeting the PI and we are headed to  a stake out this morning.

Deb PI

Anticipating my first day with a real PI

I was contacted last night by a private investigator who asked me if I would be interested in going with him today to interview a man who was convicted of "keying a car". Not such a bad crime, but the guy is actually appealing the case in RI and the PI has been hired by an attorney to follow up.

I will keep you appraised of my first time out with a PI.

Deb PI

New job tactic

I don't feel like I have the experience to apply for a "real" investigator job. I have little experience in this field but I want to make it my chosen career.

My new approach to getting some experience is to ask Investigator Firms if they would let me do a free internship. In our economy there is very little work for anyone and I actually have friends that are paying for internships.

I met an investigator (Charlie) through my neighbor and he has been helpful in answering questions for me and giving me an insite into what I want to do in investigation. I got together with him once and we keep in touch via email. He is out of town right now but when he returns I am going to see if I can do some sort of internship with him. Charlie also knows other investigators and perhaps he can set me up with another investigator to intern with also.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Deb PI

Looking for a job!

I spent yesterday on the internet checking on investigation jobs in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. I specifically was looking for a job that was NOT sitting in an office all day long and one that had many aspects of "sleuthing" involved.

I applied for 5 jobs that I found and that looked interesting. One job (that was not a posted job but just one that would want to do)was working for the RI Department of Environmental Management investigating poachers, corporations that dump toxic waste, etc. I emailed the head investigator to ask about working there. He responded and told me that with the fiscal cutbacks he was down to just two investigators but told me to keep looking at the website for updates on job availabilities.
One company just said I was not qualified for their job and they would keep my resume on file.
I am waiting to hear back from the other possible jobs.

One job inquiry was from an actural PI company in Massachusetts looking for someone to do investigative work on an hourly basis. He actually said in the job description that he expected to get lots of inquiries. I am sure he will but he will get my resume too!


I have emailed a PI new friend of mine, Charlie, that I want to talk with him when he gets back from a trip next week. I want to propose to Charlie that I would like to do an internship (unpaid) with him. He is a criminal investigator who works alone, so I don't know what his response will be. I know his did an internship in Washington DC so maybe he will at least think about it. Charlie also knows other private investigators and perhaps if he doesn't want to do it, he can talk to some of his PI friends?


I will keep looking.


Deb PI

 

Blog "Curbside Investigator" GREAT

I just installed a new blog I found on delicious.  It is sponsored by USPI.org and publishes articles that cover most anything a PI would be interested in finding out.
They have  educational and networking opportunities available online, and at upcoming USAPI sponsored seminars and conferences. Benefit from the knowledge of the best and most respected minds in the investigative world!

Their blog "curbside Investigator" not only gives you recent articles but also gives you music to listen by!

The articles, which are archived back to January 2006, are easy to understand and even fun to read. Episode 57 gives you  SIXTEEN TIPS ON TESTIFYING IN COURT  
                                                      By Jack Murray, CLI
Good information for all of us starting out in this field......and there are many more articles.

Later!

 

Sunday - working on syntax

Found this photo and love it. Don't you ever feel like your life is going like this!

 

I am starting to understand the internet research and feeling like I belong in this class again.

I actually went to the beach today and enjoyed myself.

Later

Interesting article on Police use of online information sites.

USA Today has a story on how police departments across the US are adding a new tool to their crime-fighting arsenal: online maps. A few start ups out there are using public records to map out crime, which helps police departments track crime trends.

Police departments are then able to send out alerts to the community. The knowledge empowers communities to keep an eye out. It's a modern Neighborhood Watch program.

Almost 1,000 police departments have signed up for these services. Providers include CrimeReports.com, CrimeMapping.com, and SpotCrime.com.

Police have also used existing online maps to creatively solve crimes. Google Street View was used to help locate a missing child this past January.

Friday at home

I sent several people invites to be on my Linkedin site and got responses from all of them. One person I actually sent an email to yesterday about her job emailed me back with specific details of what her job is. I thought that would be a good way to find out if working in retail security was something I might be interested in doing. I do not want to sit behind a desk and monitor theft in stores so I now know that is a job I would not be interested in doing.

I finished reading the rest of the Internet Investigation section today to try and figure out what "it" all means. I think if I keep at it I might actually know some day!

Home today

Today I am sitting at my table working on my PI assignments. I had to actually get some things done other than my blog so I am working at home. Too bad, as they were giving away free samples at Panera Bread today and they looked good.

One of my kilns isn't working so I had to take apart the electric firing device and call the manufacturer to find out how to fix it. Then I am fusing a glass bowl as a gift for some people we are staying with for a wedding in Atlanta, so I had to work on that piece.

I also bought two shirts last weekend and their sleeves were too long so I shortened them........they look ok. 

I did decide to join twitter today as joining a social network is part of our assignment. I googled "social networks" and it gave me a long list of choices. I like to "tweet" but I am not sure it is going to work for this course. I have always wanted to twitter so at least I am learning now.

I have checked out two other students blogs and am impressed with their work. It is always fun to see how other people do a similar project. I always think mine is great until I look at others!

I still haven't heard anything from the TSA, but I will keep you posted. I really want to work somewhere where they do attitional training as part of your job. I'm not sure if I mentioned that when you work at the TSA they will train you to do all sorts of specialized jobs. That appeals to me as I don't like "standing in the same place a long time."

Back to finding another "social network" that might be more suited to this course.

Later

Later at Panera Bread

So, I had coffee this morning and soup for lunch and I have "sort of" figured out how to work on my new blog. I have finished reading the instructions several times but being a mac user, it isn't exactly like the program that Mark is using............oh well.

Tomorrow.

Sitting at Panera Bread

The BU private investigation course has gotten to be more time consuming than it was in the beginning so I have moved myself and my computer (it is an online course) to Panera Bread where there are no phone ringing or husbands demanding my time....and they have great food and drink. This is my second day here and already I fell like I am catching up to the internet research class.

This blog is a project for everyone in the class and I am sure all the blogs will be very different as are the people taking this course.

Welcome to Deb PI

Deb PI is an idea I had this Spring when I was floundering on what I was going to do with my professional life.

I started looking for a job in January. I actually came North to Rhode Island to sequester myself in my room, determined that I would find a profession that I would like to work in.

My friends laughed at me because I chose the wors't time in our lifetimes to find any job, let alone one that I liked. I figured I was smart, savy and had lots of skills that any company couldn't live without.

I was wrong.

I spent weeks in front of the computer looking for jobs online. I called everyone I know to ask them for help with finding a job. Nothing worked.

I changed course and decided that I didn't have the skills for the job I wanted so I had to find a way to get those skills and then get the job. I hunted through jobs online to just decide what I might want to do and then I was on a government job site and saw many different types of investigator jobs. When I researched what credentials I would need to apply, I decided I needed to take a new road to get there.

I looked online for a school to get the PI credentials and found BU. I signed up immediately only to find out shortly thereafter that the course was delayed until July because of lack of interest.

I started looking into government jobs that anyone could get and were at least related to private investigation. I found jobs available with the TSA (transportation security) at the logan airport. It is a long process to apply for that job but I went for it. I went through all the steps to apply but when I was finished, there were no spots available. I am in what they call a "waiting pool" for that job.
While interviewing for the TSA job, I found out that once you have a job with the TSA you can move within the government job base with ease. This combination seemed to be perfect for me.

Now I am waiting for a job to open up Logan International and finishing my Private Investigation course at BU. The whole experience has been uplifting.

I have even met a Professional Investigator who only does criminal cases and am getting a little insite from him.