Archive for the 'Report Writing' Category

The Cost of Investigative Internet Research

Published on January 16, 2012 in Courts, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Power User Tips, Private Investigator, Report Writing, The Investigator's Computer and Training & Education. 1 Comment Tags: , .

Why does it cost so much just to look on the Internet?”

I get this question a lot, and too often from “professionals” who should know better. I will list a few of the reasons here.

To begin with, I never know how the research results will be used in the future. That means that the results must be properly documented so that it would be reproducible if someone else with similar skill did the searches at the same time as I did.

If at some future date what I find becomes important evidence, then how it was found, where it was found, when it was found, and what it actually looked like becomes very important. My report and the supporting material may be the only proof of the existence of the material being entered into evidence.

The computers must be free of malicious code (S. 31 Canada Evidence Act). We often set aside a computer for this purpose after doing some Spring-Cleaning.

The logic of the research process must be clear and easy to explain to anyone. This logic must be explained in the report. Search statements must be recorded. The project directory and file naming and structures must be logical and properly documented. The evidence must have a clear and documented chain of custody.

Providing this evidence requires skill, training, experience, software, computers, office space, support staff, and time.  Finally, did you know it takes at least twice as long to do the report as it does to do the research?

 

The Investigator’s Conundrum

Published on September 23, 2011 in Odds & Sods, Private Investigator and Report Writing. 0 Comments

As an Investigator, my task is to determine Who Is Who, Who Knows Whom, and Who Did What to Whom, then I have to explain all this to the client, courts, lawyers, police, and prosecutors.

Better Presentations

Published on April 15, 2011 in Report Writing. 0 Comments

Clive On Learning has a good list of 50 tips that will help make your next presentation better, regardless of your experience level.

Pronunciation Guides

Published on April 13, 2011 in Communication, Report Writing and Training & Education. 0 Comments

8 Online Audio Pronunciation Guides That Help You Speak Words Correctly

Mispronouncing foreign or unusual English words during a presentation or during court testimony immediately signals that you are not an expert in the subject you are discussing.  These sites will  help you pronounce both English  and foreign words better.

Surveillance Advice

Published on December 15, 2010 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Private Investigator, Report Writing and Surveillance. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Two concise article on conducting a surveillance:

The RICE Method of Analysis

Published on June 30, 2010 in Business Continuity, Competitive Intelligence, Methods and Report Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Use the RICE method to decide how to respond to information or intelligence:

R for reliability. The basic truthfulness or accuracy of the information you are evaluating.

I  for the importance of the data based upon its releveance

C  for the cost of your possible reactions or actions relating to the information

E  for the effectiveness of your  actions based upon this information. Would actions based upon this information solve the problems you face?

This format is useful for summarizing collected data and for analyzing how you might apply the data in a broad range of situations.

PS:

Just remember, as the old pessimist philosopher Arnold Schopenhauer stated, “The truth will set you free . . . but first it will make you miserable.”

Three Dimensions of Note-taking

Published on September 28, 2009 in Methods, Notebooks, Private Investigator, Report Writing and The Investigator's Computer. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

I have written previously on taking notes using audio, images, and handwritten notes. Now I am contemplating taking video notes using a simple camcorder called the FlipUltra. This seems like a briefcase-friendly device for this purpose. The problem with the alternatives is the size and weight of the device.  This simple plug-and-play device is good for conducting interviews, taking street scenes, and other recordings that use-up less than 60 minutes of recording time. Using the FlipUltra should be a lot easier and give better results than using my point-and-shoot Lumix camera and of course, longer recording time.

Disappearing & Invisible Ink

Published on August 6, 2009 in Handwriting, Methods and Report Writing. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

MOSSAD PEN

This writes like a normal pen, but if you heat the paper the written words disappear. Putting the paper in the freezer makes the words reappear.

RUSSIAN KGB DISAPPEARING INK PEN

This pen features a special gel ink developed by real KGB scientists during the Cold War (and made in Russia), that disappears completely. Because it is a gel pen, you don’t need to press hard which prevents paper indenting.

UV Sensitive INK PEN

I guess every good spy needs to have his missives disappear, but I  need to secretly mark documents for later reference.

Pens like this have been  around for quite some time.  The Fisher Space Pen was at one time offered with UV Sensitive Ink refills. I occasionally use UV sensitive ink to mark important documents for security purposes.

Quantity Over Quality

Published on August 4, 2009 in How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, News and Report Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

In the past US security clearance investigations were falsified. Now we learn that they have too many background checks to do, and not enough time to do them and the solution is to produce factually correct but incomplete reports. We also see that this job is a “shredder, and agents are grist for the mill,”.

 “This job is a shredder, and agents are grist for the mill,” said K.C. Smith, an OPM investigator in Austin, Texas, with 23 years of experience. “There are people who are getting sick, under a lot of stress, their family life is suffering. They are just beat down.”

Investigators say it is common practice to spend nights, weekends and holidays writing up reports, and some don’t report the overtime they work for fear it will be held against them in their performance evaluations.

 Investigators say it is common practice to spend nights, weekends and holidays writing up reports, and some don’t report the overtime they work for fear it will be held against them in their performance evaluations.

Some say their superiors have made it clear that the priority is to close cases, and they say they have felt pressure to turn in even incomplete cases that lack crucial interviews or records if it will help them keep their numbers up. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that the Defense Department’s security clearance process is plagued by such incomplete cases: 87 percent of the 3,500 initial top-secret security clearance cases Defense approved last year were missing at least one interview or important record.

Investigators are rewarded for investigation reports, not for doing proper investigations.

Orwell’s 5 Rules for Effective Writing

Published on March 20, 2009 in Communication, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator and Report Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Poor writing is not a recent problem. In 1946, George Orwell wrote his essay, Politics and the English Language, about his five rules of writing effectively.  Orwell concluded that if you follow his five rules, then you would distinguish yourself by clearly communicating your ideas.

Orwell’s Rules

  1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech seen in print.
  2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
  3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
  4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
  5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

Texter

Published on March 16, 2009 in Communication, Power User Tips, Report Writing and The Investigator's Computer. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

Texter saves you countless keystrokes by replacing abbreviations with commonly used phrases that you define. It runs in the Windows system tray and works with applications you’re typing in. It can also set return-to markers for your cursor and insert clipboard contents into your replacement text, in addition to more advanced keyboard macros.

How did I ever live without this?

Fact Checking

Published on February 13, 2009 in Communication, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Private Investigator and Report Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Every writer, reporter, and investigator should read the article entitled Checkpoint by award-winning author John McPhee in the Feb. 9-16, 2009 issue of New Yorker Magazine . The abstract is available, but you must be a subscriber to read the full article online. Of course, you could go to the library and read the article, or just buy the magazine.

Open Channel D

Published on January 23, 2009 in Notebooks, Private Investigator, Report Writing and The Investigator's Computer. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

The Pen Communicator from the Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series would connect agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin with U.N.C.L.E. headquarters in New York City if they said the phrase “Open Channel D”.  It also included amnesia inducer and electronic scanner functions.

Now we have the Pulse smartpen that records conversations and indexes them to what you write using special notebook paper. It doesn’t take much imagination to think of ways one might use this during investigations.

Secret Laser Printer ID Codes

Published on July 18, 2008 in Forgery, Privacy, Private Investigator, Report Writing and Security. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

This is not a new issue. A 2004 PC World article described the technology. In February, 2008, I wrote about the EU concerns that these secret printer ID codes may break EU Privacy laws. The EFF has a list of the printers that print these secret codes used by the US government to match a document to the laser printer that produced it.

Another article about this appeared in USA Today a few days ago.

Printer dots raise privacy concerns

The dots, invisible to the naked eye, can be seen using a blue LED light and are used by authorities such as the Secret Service to investigate counterfeit bills made with laser printers…

Privacy advocates worry that the little-known technology could ensnare political dissidents, whistle-blowers or anyone who prints materials that authorities want to track.

The dots are produced only on laser devices and not ink-jet printers, which are most commonly used at home…

As an investigator, this might present an opportunity if the dot pattern is consistent enough to be matched to a particular printer or printer type without being able to decode the dots. If this were the case, then you might not need the ability to decode the dots in some instances. For example, at a company with many different types of laser printers. The process of elimination might indicate which printer(s) could have created a document.

Three Dimensions of Note-taking

Published on June 30, 2008 in Notebooks, Private Investigator and Report Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Steve Osborne’s article, Ultimate Note-Taking: Capture Text, Audio and Visual Notes, provides some good pointers on taking good notes using audio, images, and handwritten notes.