Family Protection Services

There are times when you or your family is threatened and requires extra protection. At those times, you need a body guard you can trust. Whether for a short time such as changing locations or travel, or for a longer stint of around-the-clock protection, Stough International is on the scene for you and your family.

Skip Tracing

Skip Tracing is locating a persons whereabouts.

Some possible reasons to use this service include:

• Bad debts
• Avoiding lawsuit or judgment
• Abusive home life
• Mental illness
• Runaway
• Abduction
• Locating long-lost relatives/friends

With skip tracing, it is important to verify and follow up the data found, then search other sources until all leads are exhausted.

Sources: Wise Geek, Parrent Smith

Murder Mysteries

An article in Writing PIs recently detailed that private investigators solve murders. Well of course we do! As they state:

It’s true that PIs, who are civilians, are less constrained by government rules — for example, PIs are not bound to the same evidentiary laws as law enforcement. It’s an assumption, however, that an experienced PI, especially one who specializes in legal investigations, would use “unknown” methods for obtaining evidence. In our investigations agency, we’ve gathered evidence using established rules and procedures to establish chain of custody (documented procedures demonstrating how we got evidence from where it was to our evidence locker). These procedures guarantee reliability and have resulted in courtroom admissibility and victory for the lawyers who employed us.

Security Consultation

Q. What is Security Consultation?
A. Security consultation is a term used when we are asked to give the "best" security practices or advice on technologies or software that will help improve security of a system. This service is linked to vulnerability testing and security auditing, however it is not seeking a security hole or vulnerability, rather it is giving advice on how to lock down a system without performing an audit or test of the system in question.

Q. Why do I need a security consultation?
A. To protect your enterprise from losses, regardless of the size of the business. These losses are estimated to cost U.S. businesses millions of dollars each year.

Q. What sorts of things are included in a security consultation?
A. No security plan or program can be effective unless it is based upon a clear understanding of the actual risks it is designed to control. Specific areas of the business operation are scrutinized including; perimeter and facility security, cash handling procedures, computer security, proprietary information, hiring practices, benefit abuse, emergency procedures, and contingency planning.

Q. What do you provide to me?
A. A comprehensive written report is provided identifying the risks and vulnerabilities of your business. This analysis results in the development of specific countermeasures and corrective recommendations to reduce or eliminate the risks.

Q. We had a security consultation some time back. Should we repeat the process?
A. This service is recommended to be performed at least once every two years.

Sources: Maley Investigations, Daniel Securities

Trial Preparation

Stough International offers trial preparation. Don't count on your attorney to handle every aspect of your case. Private investigators are frequently used in trial preparation to help you win your case!

What is Trial Preparation?
Trial preparation involves gathering and preparing the raw material for a court or hearing. Trial or hearing preparation can include evidence gathering, forensic investigation, private investigations, evidence analysis, preparing witness testimony, creation of investigation reports, medical investigations, criminal investigations, and many other assets. Effective trial preparation can be essential to winning a case, so it should never be ignored.

But won't my lawyer take care of trial preparation?
Unfortunately, many people lose important court cases because they assume that their attorney will take care of all the details before a hearing or court case. The attorney's job, however, is to prepare the material at hand. If there is not enough evidence for your case your lawyer may simply not be able to prepare a strong legal argument. By taking the process of trial preparation into your own hands through the hiring of a qualified investigative professional, you can drastically improve the chances of success in court.

How do I know if I need additional trial preparation from an investigative expert?
If your attorney is not completely sure that you will win your court case, you should hire a private investigator, who may be able to uncover evidence to help you. In fact, if there is any chance that you may not get the outcome you want in court, why take the chance? Appeals and additional trials are costly and time consuming. A private investigator can help you get the proof you need for your hearing or court date.

How can a private investigator help with trial preparation?
A private investigator can help with surveillance and background checks of suspects. An investigator can help with witness interviews, evidence gathering, and can even help find missing persons. A qualified investigator can even act as an expert witness on your behalf. In short, an investigator can help your attorney get the raw material needed to win your case.

Source: PI Now

Why do I need a Private Investigator?

Private investigation is not just stuff for the movies anymore. There are 101 reasons to use a private investigator. Our service is top notch, but in case you don't know why you might need one, here are just a handful of examples from this week's top headlines around the country:

• Perhaps you are a city official who believes your fire department has committed some violations and need an objective third party opinion to read into the details, while maintaining the strictest confidences such as the mayor of Gardiner, Maine. Source: Kennebec Journal
• Maybe you are a veterinarian who has lost his beloved dog like Dr. O'Banian. Source: CBS4 
• It could be that you think someone has been eavesdropping on your private telephone conversations as in the case of homeowners as reported in the New York Times.
• Hopefully you are not the family member or friend of a missing child who is presumed to be dead, but no body has been found, or maybe you work with the police department as in the case of Jhessye Shockley in Glendale, Arizona. Source: Arizona Central Or in the kidnapping and murder case of Holly Pirrainen of Boston, Massachusets. Source: Fox Boston 

Private Investigator vs. Private Detective?

Is there a difference between a Private Investigator and a Private Detective?

That depends on the state private investigator licensing laws for your state. In many states, the words ‘private investigator’ and ‘private detective’ are interchangeable, but in some states there actually is a difference in their accepted meaning. For example, in New Jersey those who want to become a private investigator must adhere to the licensing laws as detailed in the Private Detective Act of 1939. The person who has the prerequisite investigative experience is called the ‘qualifier’ and when the New Jersey State Police Private Detective Unit issues the license, the qualifier is actually classified as a Licensed Private Detective. The owner of a licensed detective agency may hire employees, who when properly registered with the state licensing authority, the investigative employees are classified as a Private Investigator.

Historically, the profession of non-law enforcement investigations started back with Pinkerton in the late 1800’s. At that time the term “private detective” was the formal name and the outfit they worked for was called a “detective agency.” There were many movies and books that began using the “private-eye” moniker more and more. It was television starting in the 1974 with James Garner in the Rockford Files that really brought the investigative profession into the limelight. The show also had a major influence on most people using the private investigator title. The P.I. title became famous with the Magnum, P.I. television show featuring Tom Selleck.

Starting around 1960, many states did not want the public to confuse a private detective with that of a police detective. There has been a trend amongst many state licensing authorities and state investigative associations to use the title ‘private investigator’ as compared to ‘private detective’. In fact, many have actually taken legal steps to stop using the “detective” title.

Source: PI Magazine