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22 Oct
2018

Private Investigators: Most Common Requests

by Michele Harris | with 0 Comment | in Private Investigators

Private Investigators Most Popular Information RequestsPeople often ask what the most popular requests for service or information we get are.

In the past 6 months or so, the most popular request we’ve received is for information on cell phone bills or landline bills. As we’ve covered before, phone records are only obtainable with a subpoena.

The next most popular request comes from people who want us to follow their spouse or significant other. We can do this, however, we will not give you specific details unless you retain counsel or are listed as pro se in an active court case. We can offer you non-specific information, for example, “He/she is at a chain food establishment in Berlin, NJ with a white male,” but nothing more. Read More

08 Oct
2018

Private Investigators: Education vs. Experience

by Michele Harris | with 0 Comment | in Private Investigators

Private Investigator Requirements

It seems lately there have been a lot of schools popping up claiming you can be a private investigator after 8 short weeks (or four months or whatever, the educational program lengths vary). This is misleading. In fact, while there are no educational requirements for private investigators in many states, including PA, NJ, DE, MD and WV, there are experience requirements. Specifically, you must have a minimum of 5 years’ experience as an investigator to become a licensed private investigator in these states. Relevant experience can include:

  • SIU Insurance Investigator
  • Police Officer with a local or state police department in an investigative capacity (a detective, for example)
  • With an investigative agency for a county, city, state or federal organization (including military)
  • Working 5 years full time a private investigations firm

There are NO exceptions to this requirement. Do not be misled…education alone will not get you licensed as a private investigator in the states mentioned above (the states Harris Investigations holds licenses in, as it were). In New York, it’s 3  years of experience that you’ll need.

Education for Private Investigators

Of course, we’re not discouraging relevant education prior to entering the field of private investigations. It makes sense for many individuals interested in a career as a PI to complete a degree program in criminal justice or a related field. This provides a comprehensive understanding of (and appreciation for) our justice system. A degree (or, in some cases, a certificate) could even facilitate the process of acquiring the necessary experience required for licensure. However, we want to be clear that education alone is simply not enough.

Other Requirements and Observations

There are only seven states that do not require their private investigators to have a license: Alabama, Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi and South Dakota. Some states – including California, Florida and New York – require a specific license to serve papers! Some other states require you to have an actual office location as well.

When in doubt, check the actual rules for this stuff and hire someone that operates on the right side of the law – not on the “gray” or wrong side. Make sure you choose someone who is licensed according to the laws of the state you live in.

21 Sep
2018

A (Private Investigations) Star Is Born

by Bonny Clayton | with 0 Comment | in Private Investigators
A (Private Investigations) Star Is Born

Most everyone likes a good origin story, right? So we’ve decided to share ours here on the blog.

Michele started out in investigations as an office manager for a private investigator in Montgomery County, PA. She applied for the position while attending business school and arranged to graduate two weeks early so she could assume her role at the PI agency. Starting out handling all the office work and inside investigations, she soon moved up to working out in the field. She became so competent at training, hiring and firing people as well as handling the day-to-day operations of a PI firm that the owner put a great amount of trust in her. Maybe too much trust – a couple of years into Michele’s tenure, he pretty much left her alone to run the firm.

Enter Charles Harris, who she met while she was active in investigations. They began dating and shortly thereafter, Charlie came on board to help Michele part-time. Fast forward to their honeymoon, and Michele returned to discover a lack of work at the agency, so she began working part-time for other Montgomery County investigators. After being bounced around and witnessing some questionable things occur at the agency, Michele and Charlie struck out on their own in December 2005. Thus, Harris Investigations, LLC was born!

Initially, they obtained only their PA Private Investigator licenses. At the urging of their clients, however, they went on to secure their Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland licenses. Additional office openings followed, resulting in three Pennsylvania locations – Lansdale (their headquarters), Harrisburg and Pittsburgh – as well as satellite locations in Wilmington, DE and Lawrenceville, NJ.

The firm has enjoyed a long history of recognition in the private investigations industry, which includes landing in the top 3 of Legal Intelligencer’s Best Investigative Agency category every year since 2010.

06 Sep
2018

Top 5 Requests Private Investigators Can’t Legally Fulfill

by Michele Harris | with 3 Comments | in Private Investigators
Top 5 Requests Private Investigators Can’t Legally Fulfill

Top 5 Requests Private Investigators Can't Legally Fulfill

We get requests from people all the time that they just don’t realize we can’t honor. Well…we can’t do them legally, anyway. And since we are a reputable private investigation firm (licensed, bonded and insured), we only perform services when we can do so legally. Potential clients see these things happening in movies and on TV and they think it’s real. So we want to set the record straight about some things Private Investigators CANNOT do for you:

Pull phone records. This request is common in divorce cases. This cannot be done without a subpoena, and a subpoena can only be obtained with the help of an attorney. However, if you’re on the same phone plan you’re perfectly within your rights to request your own records.

Provide driving records. In Pennsylvania, driving records are not available to anyone unless the driver has completed a DL-503 (Request for Driver Information) form. PennDOT will honor a subpoena as well, but that can take months to be returned. Even if you get an attorney involved (in PA), they’ll still need the signed form or a letter from the driver’s attorney granting permission to request the driver’s history. Many other states have similar rules; drivers’ histories are usually NOT available to the general public.

Put a GPS on your spouse’s/significant other’s car. You can only put a tracker on a car that you own or co-own. In other words, since we don’t own your wife’s car, we can’t legally place a GPS on it.

Run a license plate. Regardless of what state you’re in, we will only do this if you’re an attorney, insurance company representative or someone with a court order.

Find your mother (or father, sister, cousin, etc). Technically, we *can* find them. But we can’t give you their address without their express consent. In fact, unless you are an attorney or insurance company representative, the information you can be given is very limited. On the other hand, if you ARE an attorney we can find just about anyone with their basic information, often in 24 hours or less.

With all that being said, some of the things we CAN do for you include surveillance, service of process, background checks and more. Call us at (888) 484-9827 or email us today to discuss your case.

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