Through the eyes of a woman (private investigator)

Festive Fling spells trouble for cheating partners

2009-12-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Award winning Senior Investigator, Maria Cooper, explains why Warwickshire Investigation Agency (WIA) approaches the Christmas party season on high alert.

Warwickshire Investigation Agency’s team of specialist covert surveillance Investigators are set for another busy season as Christmas approaches. They will be out in force and undercover investigating complaints from the public that the police are neither willing nor interested in exploring - The Christmas epidemic of the cheating partner.

Maria explains, “The run up to Christmas is always a busy time for us. We know that statistics show a staggering 49% of partners admit to having or wanting to have sex with work colleagues at their Christmas office parties.” She continued “It’s the age old story where people try hard for most of the year to ignore office based attractions but with the introduction of alcohol and a relaxed party environment, common sense sometimes leaves the room”

WIA was founded in early 2008 by Maria Cooper, an ex-police officer and Royalty body guard of 20 years service. She explains, “In real terms we are fairly new to the industry of Private Investigation having been established for just under 2 years. What we bring to the industry however is a massive injection of surveillance based skills learned over the course of many years in specialist service within the Police Force.”

It was put to the former surveillance specialist that many people would regard spying on an individual as being straight forward task. Surely, its just a case of following and watching? Maria smiled, commenting ”yes of course we follow and watch, but it is a common misconception that the role is that simple. In fact, there is so much to learn about the art of becoming an effective surveillance officer that even those working within police surveillance squads who are doing it day in and day out are still learning and honing their craft with each week that passes.”

She continued “ We have successfully transferred professional surveillance services into the public sector. We are being approached by more and more by HR Departments and internal investigation officers of medium to large size companies and organisations countrywide, requesting our covert surveillance teams to uncover sickness and injury frauds, fraudulent use of company assets and breaches of contract issues such as internal thefts or moonlighting by employees.” she continued “we are fortunate enough to have access to technical surveillance measures such as GPS trackers, and digital state of the art imagery in our covert vehicles which enables us to go about achieving our tasks undetected”

But it is the Christmas party season that is starting to impact on the surveillance market. Maria explains, “Dealing with matrimonial and cheating partner investigations accounts for a significant part of our covert surveillance case work. Many private clients, male and female, approach us for help in investigating alleged or suspected ‘affairs’. I don’t know if it is my background that singles Warwickshire Investigation Agency out or perhaps it is the fact that there are few fully trained female surveillance specialists within the industry, but we have experienced a significant rise in the volume of cheating partner enquiries over the past 6-8 months alone. She continues “unfortunately, the party season can be the starting point for many affairs. Somehow good reason and sound judgement can be lost by the most professional of individuals and once the affair has started it can be difficult to stop”

Maria went on to explain that private clients suspecting an affair are usually 95% sure that something is going amiss, “most clients are seeking that last 5% of evidence before confronting their partner or making any decisions on how they truly feel about the situation. They need an answer, yes or no to “are they having an affair?” and without exception, they are in need of sharing the burden and worry with someone independent and non judgmental. It is fundamental to me that we don’t just provide the photographic and written evidence that good surveillance will provide, morally I believe that we should also be providing support for the client where it is needed. This is the foundation upon which we base all of our investigations.”

I asked Maria if every cheating partner surveillance is the same or were some more difficult than others, she smiled again saying “every case is individual and presents its own challenges. We have followed the full spectrum of suspected cheaters, from lorry drivers through to Company Directors and even a Consultant Physician. Temptation presents itself to all of us at one time or another, it is simply a case of whether or not you take advantage or the situation and sadly it seems that so many people do.”

I wondered whether Maria has ever been shocked by her findings, she explained “No, not at all. It is important to keep an open mind and never to anticipate something in the surveillance world, as it will surely catch you out. If you are a professional you will simply plan and prepare prior to an operation and the successful execution of the op is dependent on good covert skills and flexibility to every given situation.”

Maria explained that she has witnessed many surprises during cheating partner investigations “sometimes we can begin a task with a clear brief from our client that he believes his wife is having an affair and he even suspects he knows who with. We gather relevant information on car details, descriptions and log the movements of the suspected parties which culminates in a covert surveillance operation. Last week we undertook one such case which revealed to us and the client that the wife was indeed having an affair but with another woman. Successful covert evidence was gathered of intimate behavior taking place in a local pub. Seemingly the landlady knew this affair had been taking place for sometime, the husband had no idea.”

Maria’s advice for the festive season is “you are the person who knows your partner best. If you believe that something is going on, odds on you may be right. There are recongised indicators such as changes in behavior, sudden interest in working late or attending work overnight conferences, being overly protective of a mobile phone or speaking far more than usual to supposed same sex work colleagues. Often John from work turns out to be Susan which he used to work with or vice versa. If you have your suspicions keep a diary of times, events etc and after a spell contact a professional investigator recongised for and professionally trained in covert surveillance. They should work with you to provide you with the answers that you seek.”

So, as the festive party season approaches, be warned all cheaters as you may be being watched. To risk a long standing relationship for a fleeting affair - are you crackers?

An exclusive interview with the U.K's Senior No1. Ladies Private Detective

2009-12-08T06:23:00.000-08:00

Real Life No.1 Female Detective Agency Interview

Founder and Senior Investigator of Warwickshire Investigation Agency, Maria Cooper, speaks about her new role as the lead detective in the U.K’s No.1 Female Detective Agency

Q. Firstly, let me congratulate you on receiving an award from WAPI (World Association of Professional Investigators) That was quite an achievement in your first year of trading

R. Thank you. Yes, we were really pleased and honored. It meant a great deal to me personally as I was determined to enter the industry making a significant contribution to private investigation, and to raise the bar on the specialist skill of covert surveillance. So to be recognised by the WAPI Council as Best Newcomer 2008 was a real thrill.

Q. I understand that your background was in Policing as a surveillance specialist?

R. That’s right. I served for 20 years in the Police specialising in both Royalty and VIP protection officer duties and more latterly as a member of the Force dedicated surveillance team.

Q. Both of those roles must have been interesting, were they challenging?

R. Yes! But the level of training for both roles is second to none. My training for the protection and bodyguard role was done alongside serving members of the SBS (Special Boat Service) and the role itself brought me into contact with many people I would never have otherwise met. It was quite a privilege

Q. Can you tell us any secrets about the Royals, give us the inside scoop?

Maria Laughs...

R. No, Sorry! my lips are sealed. As I have said, I considered the role to be a privilege, therefore it follows that what I heard and saw is privileged information!

Q. I expect you could write a book with all the stories you must have stored away

R. I supposed I could and I’m sure it would be a good read, but really, the Royals are people the same as you and I and they deserve their privacy. Their role isn’t an easy one being permanently in the public eye.

Q. Why did you move on from that role?

R. I had to, it wasn’t from choice. The Police Service at that time imposed tenure of post on specialist departments, which meant that you had to move on. The idea was that experienced officers would be rotated back into uniform on the streets and that in turn would raise the standard of officer, new probationers working alongside officers who had many years service and experience. In truth it didn’t work. It caused a huge slump in moral and in my view was an enormous waste of public money. My training for my specialist roles will have run into many tens of thousands of pounds, then as they moved me on, they had to train someone else all over again. It was crazy!

Q. So, you went on to the surveillance squad?

R. Yes. I was very fortunate. In my final year on Protection Duties I was approached to fill a place on the upcoming Level 1 surveillance course due to be held in Milton Keynes. My department didn’t have to foot the bill as the space had come about from someone else dropping out. So before I could really think about it I was on the course. I was told that it would be unfair to grade me as all the other people on he course had gone through an interview process to be there, unlike me. I had never really given surveillance a second thought at that time so this was just an opportunity for me and there was no job riding on my pass or fail performance.

Q. How was the course compared to your bodyguard training, easier or harder?

R. Actually, both are extremely demanding and stretch you in different ways. I was like a duck out of water for the first couple of days, trying to become familiar with all the surveillance speak and set plays. The driving also was very different to the advanced driving skills I had learned previously but I soon settled into the role and really loved it!

Q. I’m guessing that you passed the course?

R. Yes I did, many didn’t which was a shame because as a team you become quite close. But the right decisions were made. I was told that if I were to be graded on my performance I would have got an ‘A’ grade which would open the role of surveillance specialist to me. If you wanted to apply for Drug squad you had to attain at least a grade ‘B’. So, there it was. Out of sheer luck I had been shown the role that I wanted to specialise in next. I subsequently applied, went through the interview progress and found myself back on another course, this time with the pressure of a job hanging on my result. 3 weeks of intense training again and a really good time was had by all. I got my grade and started my new job just 3 months later.

Q. What did your working role entail?

R. In a nut shell, intelligence officers around the force would gather information via different sources on high level criminals (committing the most serious of crimes) who were known to be active in a particular police area. Our job as a team was to successfully follow these people gaining further intelligence on their movements and associates, which sometimes led to witnessing crimes being committed. The information was all recorded both photographically and documentary. When crimes were committed we would call in uniform officers to effect the arrest, the criminal never knowing at that stage that he had been followed for the last week, his every move noted. There were times when we were forced to show our hand and effect the arrests ourselves.

Q. Can you tell us about any of those?

R. Yes of course. On one occasion we followed a drugs runner. We observed him meeting with his ‘boss’ and receiving a jiffy bag full of money in an exchange made in a car. We then followed him into London were we witnessed him exchanging the money for Heroine. We followed him back into the force area and made what is termed a ‘strike’ on the car whilst he was stationary at a set of traffic lights.

R. Another time we followed a known prolific burglar for the day. He drove around and about all over the show before eventually crossing into Bedfordshire police area. I followed him on foot whilst the rest of the team plotted up around the area effectively sealing the immediate escape routes. I gained access to a lovely old couples garden where through a knot hole in the fence I watched him force the side window of a house, burgle it and exit with his stolen goods in a pillow case which he had taken off one of the beds. I co-ordinated officers on foot at the front of the house to continue observing and to follow him back towards his car whilst I extracted myself and ran to catch up. By the time I reached the roadside, the burglar had got to his car and an arrest had been attempted by another team member. He tried to flee in the car, crushing the female officers legs between his car and one of the covert police cars, then he sped off with half of the team in pursuit. The injured officer was a good friend of mine and as I ran into a neighboring house to phone for an ambulance and launch the force helicopter to assist in the pursuit, I remember my hands shaking terribly.
Strangely, this had all taken place directly outside a doctors surgery and a doctor ran out and administered Pethidine to my colleague who was screaming in pain. In that respect at least we were lucky!

Q. Did the burglar get caught?

R. Yes, The team were very professional in the light of such stress. He was safely followed at a distance to Milton Keynes where he tried to attack a further female member of the team as she arrested him. He was over powered by her team mate and taken to the police station. He received a custodial sentence for his trouble.

Q. Was the officer with the injuries OK?

R. Eventually. She went to hospital and the recovery took time but she returned to the same role and carried on undeterred. Remarkable really.

R. You were medically retired from the police in 2002, what happened to bring that about?

Q. I was unfortunate enough to be the passenger in a police car on two occasions when we were hit by other vehicles. The short story is that I had a disc removed from my neck and metal work implanted in the spine to stabilise the back. I didn’t work successfully within the police service again.

R. The recovery, both physical and mental was quite lengthy. I had, through no fault of my own, lost my life’s career. I had never done any other job. I joined as a cadet at the age of 17 and now found myself in limbo. That’s quite hard to handle. The police Service that I had served diligently for over 20 years, tried to turn its back on me in an attempt to avoid paying a medical pension. I had to fight long and hard at a time when I had no real fight left. I was fortunate to be supported by a wonderful man called Tony who was my Force representative, a bit like our version of a union rep. He supported me emotionally where he could and fought hard for me, liaising with the force medical officers and the unfeeling senior admin staff who sat in their ivory tower at headquarters.

Q. You sound a little bitter

R. Yes, sorry about that but frankly I am. I was part of a large family called the police service, to whom I devoted everything. It was a nasty wake up call to realise that actually you weren’t appreciated in the slightest and that you were just a number on a file who was going to cost them money. At one stage my career was reviewed by the senior admin woman when I was off sick recovering from major back surgery. They dragged me into headquarters when it was difficult to sit for any length of time so she could make a decision based on whether they stopped my pay or not whilst I continued to recover. I was grilled over many things for the best part of an hour at the end of which it became apparent that she was under the impression she was talking to an entirely different officer altogether and had to be told by Tony that I was WPC COOPER. It was a hard time but there had to be a future and I decided that it made sense to leverage from the skills the police had taught me that I would be capable of physically performing. Hence my transition into the private Investigation world

Q. You must have been very well qualified to transition with all your Police law training?

R. Yes and no. Obviously from a criminal law point of view I was and from a skills perspective relevant to surveillance I was. But I recognised that my knowledge of civil law was lacking. So my preparation for establishing Warwickshire Investigation Agency involved undertaking a distance learning course in advanced private investigation through the Institute of Professional Investigators. The course provides a good and comprehensive insight into the world and work of the private detective and helped to educate me in the civil law requirements of the role.

Q. Did you have a particular plan for the direction of the business when you launched in 2008?

R. Yes. My USP (unique selling point) is my specialist background and investigation skills. Also, I am a woman in a predominantly mans world. In my view, both my experience and the fact I am female makes me fairly unique in this industry. The main core of the business therefore would be based on covert surveillance work

Q. Were you accepted by the men easily?

R. Actually yes. All investigators will undertake surveillance because it is such a large part of our work. Few though are fully trained professionals in that arena and fewer still are female. I think that helped to become noticed in the crowd of newcomers. I worked hard in the early months to find investigators around the UK and particularly in the midlands on whom I could rely and depend. I targeted the potential skills of surveillance as a priority and vetted many examples of surveillance footage and written records for identifying a potential extended team. That process is still on-going and the team continues to grow.

Q. Do you only use ex police officers?

R. No. The team leaders and case managers are ex-police and every case comes through me for review and comment. But no, we employ many capable investigators around the UK that do not have police experience. Relative to surveillance, I run my own in-house training for the teams and we train regularly in the art of covert foot and mobile surveillance. We are fortunate enough to have fully equipped state of the art covert surveillance vans at the Agency and all are trained operatives in their use. We also deploy and monitor technical surveillance devices such as GPS trackers and again we train specifically for technical surveillance.

Q. What kind of work do you find you do most of, is it all following love cheats?

R. No, far from it! We do undertake many cases involving infidelity and cheating partners for our private clients and the intensity of that work took me a little by surprise. Most male investigators don’t relish this kind of work but it is a role that I am very comfortable performing. I am a people person and I think it helps to be female somehow, whether the client is male or female themselves seems to make no difference. They tend to trust a female investigator more for some reason. I guess again my background helps to confirm the level of service they can expect from WIA and goes a long way to dispel the myth of all investigators wearing dirty rain macs and hiding behind lamp posts wearing trilby’s!

Q. So what other kind of work do you cater for?

R. We do a lot of work with Local Authorities and Housing Associations relative to gathering information via surveillance for anti social behavior prosecutions and crack house closures. We also work with H.R. departments of medium and large sized companies and industries to help provide evidence of fraudulent sickness and injury claims and serious breaches of contract. Such work demands a high level of surveillance expertise to achieve the best quality results, which is after all what we are paid to do. I insist that all surveillance carried out by us is conducted to the same rigorous standards as I used in the police service. That way, no rules get broken and the end product is of a very high standard which will be robust in any court, civil or criminal.

Maria jokes....

R. I know that it makes me sound a bit OCD and anal and I laugh with my team about it often but honestly I don’t know any other way to work!

Q. I read an article about the recession and how you have contributed towards helping U.K. businesses survive the downturn. Are you continuing with that work?

R. Yes, very much so. Again, it came along and took me by surprise really. I run a business and I totally appreciate how crippling it can be from a cash flow perspective when the customer doesn’t pay. Many businesses small and large have gone to the wall as a result and its not fair. We offer a ‘locate and trace’ service which initially was geared more for tracing relatives and friends. I modified and extended the service, applied for a Consumer Credit Licence which enabled us to offer a specialised locate and trace service for debtors. It has proved very successful and as a result we have assisted to recover a huge amount of debt on behalf of british businesses which has eased their cash flow issues. The service also works for private individuals in that we trace the debtor and then advise and encourage the client to issue a statutory Demand, which you do not necessarily need a solicitor to do - you can do it yourself or we can do it for you and our process server department will effect the legal service of the document to the debtor. We have found a significant increase in the volume of our process serving on behalf of solicitors and the legal profession since we expanded the service to cover the retire U.K. We find ourselves serving a whole host of different legal papers from non-molestation orders to court warnings, bankruptcy petitions to freezing order and more.

Q. It sounds as though you have established Warwickshire Investigation Agency on the map quite successfully in a relatively short space of time

R. Yes, as I say I am pleased with our progress so far, the important thing for me is the standard of service being upheld. I ask all of our clients for voluntary feedback at the end of every case and we listen to the comments! It is from these suggestions that some of our additional services have come. It is all about meeting the customer demand and hopefully surpassing their expectations.

Q. So, what is the plan for the future?

R. For the immediate future? Much of the same. We have a wide variety of specialist services on offer now and that is keeping us busy. I am still very hands on at ground level with the surveillance and investigations and will involve myself in the thick of things every way I can. I love it. It challenges and stretches me and thankfully for my sanity, I have found another niche in life where I can be of benefit.

Interview Ends.

Full details of all specialist services offered by Warwickshire Investigation Agency can be viewed on the webpage:

www.warwickshireinvestigation.co.uk

Initial consultations and advice are free of charge and obligation. To speak to Maria directly, contact: 01789 770980 or complete the contact us form on this link to receive a call or email advice from one of our specialist investigators

An increase in Infidelity and Cheating Partner cases gives rise for concern says UK leading female PI

2009-08-04T02:54:00.000-07:00

The Senior Investigator at the UK's leading female private investigation agency, Warwickshire Investigation Agency, speaks out about her role as a female detective and comments on the apparent rise in infidelity related casework in the UK

With a career spanning over 20 years in the police service, I was used to carrying out investigations into most areas of crime and disorder. During my career I specialsed in VIP protection duties but more latterly, I formed part of the force surveillance unit which concentrated its specialist covert capabilities on evidence and intelligence based investigations into high level criminal activity. I retired from the service in 2002, deciding to transfer my experience of investigation and surveillance into the public arena with the intention of concentrating mainly on professional witness evidence gathering for local authorities and housing associations relevant to Anti Social Behaviour. My research had shown that specialist corporate investigations such as employee absenteeism, false injury claims and breach of contract work was also well suited to a professional surveillance operative.

I knew that being a female and highly trained surveillance operator would set me apart from the crowd and that can be a good thing in my industry - everyone needs a unique selling point in business. I also knew that as a level 1 trained expert, I was well placed to bring together a team of like minded professionals leveraging from my contacts in the police and military surveillance worlds. And so, Warwickshire Investigation Agency was born with its focus firmly placed on expert surveillance based investigation. What I hadn't envisaged in those early days was that matrimonial and cheating partner investigations would feature so highly in our case book.

In 2007-2008, infidelity based surveillance and investigations accounted for approximately 35% of our workload. This figure in itself I thought to be high but based it on the fact that WIA offered something slightly different in terms of ex-police trained female operators. In 2009, such investigations account for 48% of our caseload and it is still only July! It has become clear to me that there is a very real need for professional level covert surveillance services who cater specifically to this need, so much so that this is now offered as one of our specialist services throughout the U.K.

From the very beginning I was aware that often we are the first and in many cases the only people to have been taken into the confidence of our clients. We find that our role is just as much that of a confidant and independent listener as much as it is that of an investigator and evidence gatherer. At the stage that our clients make that first call, they are already 90% sure of their facts and generally speaking are frightened and vulnerable. I believe that it is crucial that we offer support and a virtual shoulder to cry on in addition to our role of evidence gatherer. I have never had a client, either male or female who has not thanked me for just being there, even when the eventual result for them has been the confirmation of their fears. Almost without exception, our clients report a feeling of absolute betrayal and a break down of trust within their home environment. I feel that it is imperative that our role provides a stable platform, where it is safe to talk freely and one that most importantly is based on trust and confidentiality, integrity and respect. In many ways it is a privilaged role. One where we are privy to the most intimate of information, all of which are effectively being imparted to a total stranger. For me, the fact that the client has had the courage to make that first step is enough for me to recognise that the least they deserve in return is the safe haven of confidentiality and the guarantee of expert and specialist help.

WIA has a 100% accuracy rate in regard to our infidelity investigations, be they matrimonial or as a result of cheating partners. All too often it is my role to provide the evidence confirming an affair, but happily, there are a few occasions where we have been pleased to report that our clients fears were in fact unfounded. I can not account for the apparent steep rise in the number of infidelity related cases. Perhaps it is merely that the public are now more aware of the existence of private investigators because of the internet - perhaps infidelity has always been there in the background, undetected at this level for many years, I don't know? Personally, dealing with the distress of our clients on almost a daily basis makes me sincerely hope that the tide will turn and the trend will wane, sadly my instinct tells me otherwise.

To learn more about matrimonial investigations and dealing with cheating partners go to www.warwickshireinvestigation.co.uk or call 01789 770980 in complete confidence for a free, no obligation consultation.

Warwickshire Investigation Agency hold full membership of the World Association of Professional Investigators (Award winner 2008), are registered with the Information Commissioners Office (Data Protection Act registered) and are fully insured.

An Ode From The Surveillance Professional

2009-05-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting in the obs van
Camera trained upon the house
I’ve been wide awake for hours now
But here it’s as quiet as a mouse

I’m looking for signs of movement
What this may be is never certain
At this point in time I’d be content
With just the twitching of a curtain!

An hour later and my patience pays off
There’s a light on in the hall
Within 20 minutes we should be moving
My time’s not wasted after all

At 24 minutes the front door opens
Our target walks swiftly to his car
The radio alerts the rest of the team
I know exactly where they are

5’10, slim build with short dark hair
Wearing jeans and a rugby shirt
6 months on the sick from his current job
With a bad back which he claims he hurt

Rumour is he working 3 days a week
Fitting windows for a local firm
The team’s mobile now and on his tail
Keen to uncover his secrets and learn

Snaking with him through the traffic
We stick to him like his new best mate
Now arriving outside the warehouse
We plot up again and wait

He loads windows, boxes and heavy tools
The camera records it all on rapid fire
The log’s updated, the detail precise
We have all the evidence that we require

The client is happy, we’ve proved the case
Caught red handed committing the crime
So I close the log and put the cameras away
And charge all batteries ready for next time

It’s been a long day, now its time to relax
And put up my feet if I dare
But there goes the phone, the next jobs in
“I think my husbands having an affair!”

To learn more about our surveillance services, false absenteeism investigations or to speak to an investigator contact us on 01789 770980 or visit our website at www.warwickshireinvestigation.co.uk

The cheating partner, the tracker and the damning surveillance evidence

2009-05-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

What is better - GPS trackers or physical conventional surveillance?
The honest answer is that both have their place in professional surveillance. Both can be used to achieve different ends and in certain situations, a case will benefit greatly from using a mixture of the two. The trick is for your Professional Investigator to be fully conversant with the pros and cons of both in a given situation and to advise you accordingly of the best solution to your needs.

Obviously, there are many variations of the type of work we do as investigators, and within our role, surveillance plays a big part. It depends hugely on what the clients objective is for a given task as to what type of surveillance we will recommend. To give you an idea though of the benefits of GPS tracking and conventional surveillance, lets use an example of a matrimonial investigation we conducted recently.

The client (lets call her Sandra) approached us as she believed her husband (we'll call him Bob) was having an affair with an ex-colleague. Bob's work required that he worked 'away' 2 days a week in offices in Coventry and on those occasions stayed overnight in various hotels in the Coventry area. Sandra however could never find any receipts relating to Bob's hotel acommodation or evening meals. On more than one occasion Bob had come home with unexplained marks on his body and Sandra, understandably suspicious by this stage, had interrogated Bob's work mobile for text messages, finding one which thanked him for a 'special night' followed by a 'x'. The text had come in from Tony. Now whether Tony was a male or female was in question, but Sandra needed to establish:

was Bob lying to her
where did Bob go on these overnight stays
was Bob having an affair
and if so, then who with

We advised Sandra that in the first instance a GPS tracker would provide background information regarding the locations where Bob's car went to on the times that he was 'away'
and armed with this information we could perhaps re-visit Bob himself with conventional surveillance (operatives following Bob himself). The client agreed and this is the story of what happened...

In the very early hours before Bob was due to leave for Coventry, and under the cover of darkness, we placed a GPS tracking device on the car that both Bob and Sandra shared. The device remained 'asleep' until the car started to move at which point it woke up and gave us live tracking information every 5 seconds, plotting the vehicles every move. This could continue for anything up to 2 weeks. Bob's car moved that day at 7.14am and set off on its journey towards Coventry. That much was true then!

He did indeed go to the Coventry based office and remained there for the entire working day parked in the private office car park. Bob's car left the car park at 5.19pm but went nowhere near any hotels and instead stopped in a rural area, a hamlet of 8 houses, where it remained all night until 8.15 the next morning. At this point the vehicle once again went to the Coventry office and then home again to Sandra arriving at 7.30pm that evening.

Bob reported to Sandra that he had stayed in one of his usual hotels and had the usual boring evening and dinner for one in the restaurant.

We now knew that Bob was lying. Not only that, the tracker had told us down to 15 feet accuracy where Bob's car had been during the evening when he was supposedly in the hotel. In fact, when we superimposed the tracker imaging onto Google Maps, the tracker placed the car on the driveway of a large house in a leafy village just outside of Coventry.

The next time Bob left for Coventry, we were behind him with a team of professional surveillance operatives, tailing his every move. On the occasion that we followed him conventionally, he went directly to the leafy village and into the arms of his lover! Bob did go to the office, but that day just for 4 hours before returning to the other woman (I'll call her Toni with an 'i', an equally bogus name to the one they both used on his mobile phone). We continued the surveillance on Bob and Toni until lights out in leafyville at 11.15pm. That evening they had gone to a local pub for dinner, eating, drinking, laughing and cuddling - all in the lens of our covert camera hidden in a handbag of one of our female surveillance operatives. Using identifying photos of wheel alignment and a few little tricks that we employ to demonstrate that the car does not move overnight, we left Bob and Toni, returning to the location at 6am the following day. As expected, we found the car bonnet was cold and the wheels had not been moved since we left the previous night. Bob had remained there for the entire night it would seem. At 7.30, and seemingly not to disappoint, Bob emerged, kissed Toni goodbye on the door step and left for the Coventry office. Video and stills evidence had been gathered a-plenty, all that remained was to break the bad news to Sandra that in all honesty, she knew in her heart was coming.

So, you can see from this example, the GPS tracker did its work and provided us with valuable 'information'. Remember, it can only tell us where Bob's car went, not what Bob was doing. Only professional conventional surveillance could accurately provide that level of 'evidence'.

Bob admitted all to Sandra when faced with Sandra's evidence package..he could hardly deny it really. He confessed to the affair having taken place on and off for over 12 years!

Sandra and Bob are still together. The affair, it is alleged, is over. I wonder if we will see Bob again?

Help! I need a Private Investigator!

2009-02-04T06:34:00.000-08:00

Finding a professional PI can be a nightmare! There are a lot of professionals out there who will provide you with good advice but there are also a great deal of so-called investigators, many of whom are self taught, 'have a go' un-professionals! (is that a real word?)

What do you think of when you first conjure up the image of a P.I?

Let me guess, is your image a well dressed, well trained professional, skilled at his/her craft or might it be the greasy haired, trilby and raincoat wearing, chain smoking chancer portrayed in so many of the old movies? Uh huh, I thought so!

Don't worry, I'm not offended (much). Today's PI professionals have to work hard to shake off the image and reputation that has gone before us....but as one of the leading professionals, it is only fair to guide you through 'the maze' and ensure that you find the right person for the job, whether that be us or any one of a number of our professional colleagues.

So here it is, the check list of things for you to tick off. Please print it off and refer to it should you have the need to approach an investigator. Trust me, any professional worth their salt will not mind in the slightest being quizzed over their credentials, standards and services. Good luck with your search and remember, we are here at the end of the phone (01789 770980) to give you advice for FREE!

Your check list

Further FAQ and advice can be found on our advice page : Advice page

1. ARE THEY AFFILIATED TO A PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATION BODY? As private investigators do not need to be licenced yet, all good agencies should have an affiliation to one or more of the following recognised industry bodies:

World Association of Professional Investigators (WAPI)
Institute of Professional Investigators (IPI)
Association of British Investigators (ABI)

If you are not satisfied or are at all concerned, go to the registered body website and email them to check if the agency is a full member.

2. ARE THEY INSURED? All agencies are required to have professional indemnity insurance, make sure they do as this covers you if there is an issue.

3. ARE THEY DATA PROTECTION REGISTERED? Any agency you employ will have access to your and possibly other individuals private information and data – the agency should be registered with the Information Commissioners office.

4. LISTINGS – most reputable agencies will be listed in Yellow Pages, Yell.com, Thomson's local or some such similar listings publications. Please note however that this can be seen as a negative indicator, that is, having this listing does not guarantee that the agency will be professional, however if they are not listed anywhere, then there is a pretty good chance that they are not going to be as professional as you would like!

5. CHECK THAT THE AGENT IS PROFICIENT IN THE FIELD THAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. Ask what the agency specialises in, what experience the agents/operatives have and what professional qualifications they hold. In WIA’s case, surveillance is our specialism and as such, we only use professional police or military trained surveillance operatives.

6. WILL THE AGENCY PERFORM A RECCE VISIT? All good agencies will offer a ‘recce’ of the operation in order to provide you with a written estimate of the cost prior to the commencement of the task.

7. WHAT WILL THE FINAL REPORT LOOK LIKE? Professional agencies will provide you with a full briefing report, outlining the processes used and results obtained, with photographic evidence if necessary. A one page overview or email is not sufficient…..

8. DOES THE AGENCY OFFER A FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION? The professional agent will always deal with you courteously and will offer you free advice on your first consultation, whether that be by phone or in person.

THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

2009-01-29T10:24:00.000-08:00

Well, the work of a Private Investigator can be both varied and interesting. Every day the phone rings with new challenges to face, some can be mundane, some amusing, some rather sad, and some are well....quite intriguing . None more so than the call I took in the summer of 2008.

Imagine what was going through my mind when I lifted the receiver to be asked if our services included surveillance in a graveyard? I honestly thought at first that this must surely be a friends attempt at 'winding me up'? But I stayed on the line as the story began to unfold and was soon drawn in to one of the most interesting investigations we have handled for a private client in a very long time.

The facts were that the client and her immediate family believed that the clients brother (lets call him James) had been murdered by his wife (we will call her Joyce) James and Joyce were both in their mid to late 70's and had been married for many years, although not happily. The couple had two children (Samantha and Michael) both of whom are married adults with their own respective children.

James (the deceased) for many years had conducted an affair with his mistress, with his wife's knowledge.

In 2006, Joyce called her two children on the phone to say that 'Dad had had an accident' and was unconscious on the bedroom floor.

Michael arrived to find his father wedged between the wardrobe and the wall of the married bedroom with a small round section of reddening and bruising apparent on his forehead. He was taken away unconscious in an ambulance and never regained consciousness. He died two days later in hospital.

After his father had been taken away by ambulance, Michael returned to the house to find his mother Joyce at the kitchen sink washing a hammer! She gave no explanation and Michael, fearing the worst, left the room in disbelief but revealed the facts later that day to his wife, Angela. Michael and Angela believed James' death had not been an accident but they had no proof. Joyce, even at the funeral, outwardly displayed anger and hatred towards her dead husband. As a result, Michael distanced himself from his mother. Every year on specific anniversaries such as James' birthday, Christmas, Easter and Fathers day, members of the family would lay tributes on the grave of James. Every year these tributes would systematically be removed or destroyed. In the years that followed, the death of James placed a terrible strain on Michael and Angela's marriage and they eventually parted. Under threat of disinheritance by his mother, Michael returned to the fold and even denies now that he witnessed what he did on the day of his fathers 'accident'

Warwickshire Investigation Agency's client was requesting surveillance to be carried out on the grave of James as one such anniversary was approaching. The instruction was to gain any evidence of Joyce defacing the grave site or indeed the floral tributes.

We realised that whilst this enquiry was related to the possible offences of criminal damage to or maybe even the theft of the floral tributes, actually the impact of securing such evidence was potentially far greater.

We mounted a two person surveillance vigil on the graveyard, employing physical and electronic surveillance together with technical night time imaging equipment. The operation commenced with filming of the laying of the tributes by family members and continuous footage was shot over the following 36 hrs. The result was that we captured Joyce attending the graveside and removing two of the four tributes. She damaged the third and left the forth untouched. She removed all four tribute cards. The footage was very telling, showing the actions of a clearly angry old lady.

WIA footage and our surveillance logs have been handed to the police and we have acted in the initial stages as support/liaison between the family and the local police encouraging the families request for the police to open an enquiry into James' death

At the time of writing this blog entry, the police are looking into the case. Medical evidence has been uncovered in the coroners report which gives James' cause of death to be 'injury to the head'

The family continues to fight for justice on behalf of James.

Life through a lens....

2008-12-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

...and so ends another busy year for Warwickshire Investigation Agency (WIA).

Far from the image conjured up by TV favourites such as Magnum PI and The Rockford Files, the role of the modern day UK private investigator moves at a much slower and less glamorous pace, but is no less interesting for it!

WIA's clients include Local Authorities, Businesses and Private individuals whose needs are very different and diverse; however every client is assured of receiving the highest levels of service and professionalism, delivered with integrity, trust and discretion.

Looking forward to 2009, we aim through this, our new blog, to bring you an insight into the world of the private investigator, but this comes with a twist. WIA is the UK's premier female detective agency and therefore our insight in to the world differs from the usual musings of our industry colleagues.

This blog will be written through the eyes of a woman and will detail our thoughts and opinions, our highs and lows and the challenges we face in the modern world of private investigation.

Ladies and gentlemen we bring you our blog, please drop again in for our next instalment.