the international councilor - cii2.org · the international councilor ... roy whitehouse, ruth...

25
The International Councilor April 2015 In this Issue Presidents Message 1 Asia 2015 Regional Meeting 1 From the Editor 2 Europe Regional Meeting 3 Secretarys Column 4 2015 AGM News 5 Brian King Gives Back 6 New CII Director of Training 7 Regional Meeting Pictures 8 Letter or Singapore PM 9 Membership News 10 Featured Articles Conventional Wisdom & the Next Unknown Jack Devine 11-18 Resource of the Month 19 A Universal Professional Brenda Skrabar 20-23 Interpol Certificate 25 The International Councilor Lois Colley—Editor All Rights Reserved April 2015 Presidents Message Sheila Ponnosamy, CII A POSITIVE VISION, A POSITIVE ACTION Asia Regional Meeng a Smashing Success 60 members, guests, and speak- ers joined together for educaon, networking, and parcipaon in the Interpol World 2015 exposi- on in the amazing city/state of Singapore. Sponsored by Main- guard Internaonal, the meeng was held February 1416 at the Marina Bay Convenon Center in conjuncon with an Interpol con- ference that drew over 4,000 del- egates and some 200 exhibitors. The Regional Meeng kicked off with a cocktail recepon and din- er at the elegant Singapore Crick- et Club, which overlooks the his- toric Singapore Supreme Court building, where Lord Mount- baen accepted Japans surren- der to England at the end of the Second World War. Aſter a late night of networking the next day, members and guests went to school. Connued page 4 CII members & guests engaged at 2015 Asia Regional Meeng Sheila Pon- nosamy accepts award from In- terpol on behalf of CII Dear Members, Lately, in my research on pre or post- conference tours for our upcoming India AGM (from 20 to 25 October 2015), I came across the teachings of the Dalai Lama and have been in- spired by his words of wisdom. The Dalai Lama is exiled to India and lives in a hill staon city Dharamshala – which is so majescally beauful! Spoilt for choice as I am…..India is an incredible country with such scenic variety, thus I cant decide whether to visit the serene backwaters of Ker- ala in the south, take in the breath- taking mountains in Kashmir, or im- merse myself in the ethereal Sikkim and learn about the histories of Bud- dhism and Hinduism. I am so looking forward to the AGM in New Delhi and I know our hosts Pawan Ahluwalia and Sachit Kumar have planned an amazing program for us so this is definitely an AGM not to be missed! Anyway, back to my inspiraon, the following quotaon has much in mind lately: Connued Page 6

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Page 1: The International Councilor - cii2.org · The International Councilor ... Roy Whitehouse, Ruth Hoffman and others at the 2015 ... Time flies when you are having fun they say,

The International Councilor

April 2015

In this Issue

President’s Message 1

Asia 2015 Regional Meeting 1

From the Editor 2

Europe Regional Meeting 3

Secretary’s Column 4

2015 AGM News 5

Brian King Gives Back 6

New CII Director of Training 7

Regional Meeting Pictures 8

Letter or Singapore PM 9

Membership News 10

Featured Articles

Conventional Wisdom & the

Next Unknown

Jack Devine 11-18

Resource of the Month 19

A Universal Professional

Brenda Skrabar 20-23

Interpol Certificate 25

The International

Councilor

Lois Colley—Editor

All Rights Reserved

April 2015

President’s Message

Sheila Ponnosamy, CII

A POSITIVE VISION,

A POSITIVE ACTION

Asia Regional Meeting a

Smashing Success

60 members, guests, and speak-

ers joined together for education,

networking, and participation in

the Interpol World 2015 exposi-

tion in the amazing city/state of

Singapore. Sponsored by Main-

guard International, the meeting

was held February 14– 16 at the

Marina Bay Convention Center in

conjunction with an Interpol con-

ference that drew over 4,000 del-

egates and some 200 exhibitors.

The Regional Meeting kicked off

with a cocktail reception and din-

er at the elegant Singapore Crick-

et Club, which overlooks the his-

toric Singapore Supreme Court

building, where Lord Mount-

batten accepted Japan’s surren-

der to England at the end of the

Second World War. After a late

night of networking the next day,

members and guests went to

school. Continued page 4

CII members & guests engaged at

2015 Asia Regional Meeting

Sheila Pon-

nosamy accepts

award from In-

terpol on behalf

of CII

Dear Members,

Lately, in my research on pre or post-conference tours for our upcoming India AGM (from 20 to 25 October 2015), I came across the teachings of the Dalai Lama and have been in-spired by his words of wisdom. The Dalai Lama is exiled to India and lives in a hill station city Dharamshala – which is so majestically beautiful!

Spoilt for choice as I am…..India is an incredible country with such scenic variety, thus I can’t decide whether to visit the serene backwaters of Ker-ala in the south, take in the breath-taking mountains in Kashmir, or im-merse myself in the ethereal Sikkim and learn about the histories of Bud-dhism and Hinduism. I am so looking forward to the AGM in New Delhi and I know our hosts Pawan Ahluwalia and Sachit Kumar have planned an amazing program for us so this is definitely an AGM not to be missed!

Anyway, back to my inspiration, the following quotation has much in mind lately: Continued Page 6

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2

Editor’s Message by Lois Colley

***

Ruth Hoffman, Assistant Editor

Ryan Colley, Editorial Staff

Hacking the Code of Ethics

There’s an old saying that public relations folks rely upon: there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Thus far, 2015 has become a perfect year for our profession to test that theory, with markedly more publicity for pri-vate investigators in the U.S.. But even the PR folks have to admit that not a bit of it has been good.

The industry’s integrity nightmare began with February’s federal grand jury indictment of five individuals from two interrelated California firms: Moser and Associates of Menlo Park, and Siragusa Investigations of Novato. According to the indictment, two California investigators were hiring people to hack into e-mail accounts, Skype accounts, and protected computers for the benefit of their clients involved in civil litigation. Additional-ly, they were found to have illegally implemented keylogging technology, which captures and records the key-strokes made on a device in a covert manner, leaving the victim unaware that their actions are being moni-tored. The indicted men are charged with one count of Conspiracy, six counts of Accessing a Protected Com-puter and Obtaining Information, and two counts of Interception of Electronic Communications. Each viola-tion alone can be penalized by a fine of up to $250,000, and the violations combined could mean up to twenty years in custody.

Following the mid-February indictment, there came rumors of a NY hacker-for-hire case in which a Private Investigator would plead guilty. On March 6, it was reported that PI Eric Saldarriaga of Queens, New York, en-tered his guilty plea in Manhattan, for hiring hackers to delve into personal and legally protected information. News outlets report that he’d been involved in these sorts of deals for five years prior, and that he had infil-trated upwards of 60 e-mail accounts. The FBI became aware of Saldarriaga in a year long investigation into the hacker-for-hire business. It appears that Saldarriaga’s plea will soon attract unwanted attention to his clients, who reportedly include NYC based law firms in the area of personal injury, medical malpractice, and divorce.

We’ve all had that compelling client who pushes us to do more. But part of our duty to keep our profession honorable is that, whenever pushed by the peskier clients, the ones who have a million sneaky ideas, we reit-erate our position: even though we could work outside the confines of the law, we simply won’t work outside the confines of the law. Especially in the face of such errant behavior by investigators, we’re at a crucial mo-ment in which we need to protect our industry’s honor and integrity. And while we’re at it, we can protect ourselves from 20 year jail sentences. Whenever I feel forced by polite conversation to reveal my occupation, I always find myself providing the following disclaimer: “You must know this: It’s not as interesting as it sounds.” Why is it not as interesting? Because following the letter of the law means that the work day goes a little smoother, and that the pay day comes without a $250,000 fine. Sure, my lack of enthusiasm for skirting the law might not make for thrilling conversation at a dinner party, but I always preferred to dine outside of a jail cell anyway.

Here’s to happier industry headlines for the remainder of 2015!

Best, Lois Colley

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3

Europe Regional Meeting

Set for Next Month

May 28—31 Jersey Channel Islands

Asia Regional Meeting Recap

Continued from page 1

The seminars included six lectures on topics that

focused on forensics and HR practices relating to

investigations. Lecturers came from Singapore,

Australia, and Hong Kong.

Following the seminars, delegates from CII met

with Thomas Herko, Assistant Director Interna-

tional Partnerships & Development to discuss pos-

sible collaboration on future initiatives. President

Sheila Ponnosamy and Herko agreed to continue

discussions in that regard.

Interpol World 2015, was a true international con-

ference, with attendees from around the world.

Through the magic of Sheila Ponnosamy and Pon-

no Kalastree, CII was invited as a supporting agen-

cy and as such, was provided a complimentary

exhibit booth (value $8.000), which was visited by

numerous investigators, law enforcement officials,

attorneys, and corporate security executives. A

number of potential new members learned about

the Council and to date, two qualified applicants

have already applied for membership in the Coun-

cil.

On Wednesday evening, CII members mingled

with over 1,000 Interpol delegates at a reception.

During this reception, CII was acknowledged as a

supporting organization of Interpol. (See page 25)

The Regional Meeting ended with a farewell feast

on Thursday; after which members from Singa-

pore, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vi-

etnam, India, Indonesia, and the US left one of the

most well attended and productive Regional

Meetings.

Congratulations and a sincere thanks are due to

members Ponno Kalastree, Sheila Ponnosamy,

Sant Kaur Jayaram and the entire Mainguard Inter-

national staff for their untiring efforts in hosting

this event. Their time, money, and efforts were

well appreciated by all in attendance.

Plans are set, members are packed, and Jersey of the

Channel Islands is anxiously awaiting members of the

Council to ascend on this picturesque island off the

coast of France.

Graham Dooley has worked long and hard to plan a

great European Meeting at this historic venue. Plans

include a tour of the famous Jersey War Tunnels; a

pub outing; Networking conference; Lecture by Alan

Gay; and a tour of the La Mare Wine Estate.

The good news is that it is not too late to register.

Simply contact Graham at [email protected]

So, join CII members Graham, Mike Warburton, Anne

Styren, Leena Aavameri, Sachit Kumar, Roy

Whitehouse, Ruth Hoffman and others at the 2015

European Regional Meeting. You won’t be disappoint-

ed.

For more information (including hotel registration go

to the CII website at www.cii2.org

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From the Desk of Anne Styren

News from the CII Board of Directors

Dear Members,

Time flies when you are having fun they say, and it seems I’m having more fun than usual as it’s al-

ready mid-March! So what’s been going on these first months of 2015?

Being the Secretary of CII means that I’m involved in many things – not always doing much myself

but being informed of the work done by others, as well as managing projects of my own. There is so

much going on and I’m so grateful to be able to take part. Being CII’s secretary also makes me appreci-

ate the many hours and the great effort that is given to the organization by all involved; board members

and committee members and appointed persons who all strive to help as much as possible. And we all

do this without any remuneration. I think it is amazing! I’d like to tell you about two projects for which

the hours invested behind the scenes are not easily spotted from the outside.

You might remember that it was suggested that we create an electronic brochure about the CII that all

of us can use. Well, it’s almost ready! And I’m sure you can imagine the number of e-mails and conversations needed to create

a good text and a suitable design, decide on fonts and sizes and colours, and to manage all the tiny details to create something

truly useful. The brochure is now complete, and we thank Ryan Colley for spearheading this project.

Another project I’ve been active with is the update of the new website. I’m sure we all feel the new site is a huge improvement

from the old one. It has a sleek look and is easier to navigate. But the work is not 100% completed. When you transfer old ma-

terial into a new format, some old material might tag along. So we have spent time and effort in checking all the pages and links

on the open site, to be certain that everything is updated. The next step within the website revamp is reviewing the “members-

only pages”. Our ambition is to improve the member database and the navigation as it is a bit complicated today. If you have

suggestions and comments, please contact me or the “website general,” John Sexton.

Of course, we have important projects that you, dear members, can be directly involved in: our meetings! Just around the cor-

ner is the Europe Regional Meeting in Jersey (May 28-31), and we’re all looking forward to this fall’s incredible AGM in India.

To me the great advantage of a CII meeting is the opportunity to meet new people, and to learn from experts in other areas and

regions. There are so many differences in how we work- the methodology and the culture varies from country to country. Shar-

ing experiences and “war-stories” when we meet in person makes it easier for me to describe the advantage of using local ex-

perts for international research projects. So you’ll meet me in Jersey and India for sure!

Anne Styren

CII Secretary

PR Committee + Board Pleased to Offer Informational Pamphlet

The PR Committee is pleased to announce that in conjunction with the Board, we have developed an informational pamphlet for all members to

share with their clients and industry colleagues. The pamphlet will include information on the organization, how to locate a member, and how to

verify membership. The brochures will be available for everyone to see in person in Singapore and will be made available for you to download

and print at your discretion after the conference.

As always, we remind you to stay engaged with the organization via social media. Be sure to “Like” the CII page on Facebook and follow us on

the newly updated CII LinkedIn page.

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5

Registration is open

There is no time like the present to get

going and register for what promises to

be one of the most exotic AGM’s ever,

being held in Incredible India! Hosts

Sachit Kumar and Pawan Ahluwalia are

working night and day to ensure that no

member gets any real rest, as they have

an agenda stocked with tours, network-

ing, seminars, dinners, luncheons, hospi-

tality suite, trips, and post convention

tours.

2015 AGM - News You Can Use

Click here to register.

Our Venue is Set Our hotel is a 5 star venue, The Grand New Delhi, which has to be seen to be believed. Our hosts with the most have negotiated an unbelievable (but true) rate of $130 USD per night, which in-cludes breakfast and numerous ameni-ties. To book your room CLICK BELOW

CII AGM 2015

.

Be a Sponsor

Details on page 24

http://www.cii2.org/sponsorship

Pre & Post Convention Tours at a discount!

Hosts Pawan Ahluwalia and Sachit Kumar have gone the extra mile

by arranging with a well respected travel agent to arrange specially

priced pre and post convention tours excusive for CII delegates at a

very special price. See exotic India with trusted guides and best of

all, at a fantastic rate. Some of the tours offered are:

Tour Z T – 1 – Sightseeing of New Delhi

Tour Z T – 2 – Same Day Agra

Tour Z T – 3 – New Delhi Sightseeing and Agra Overnight

Tour Z T – 4 – Agra (1 night) + Jaipur (2 nights)

Tour Z T – 5 – Agra (1 night) + Jaipur (2 nights) + Jodhpur (1 night) + Udai-

pur (2 nights)

Tour Z T – 6 – Delhi – Goa (2 nights)

Tour Z T – 7 – Delhi – Amritsar (2 nights)

Tour Z T – 8 – Nepal (3 nights / 4 days)

For more information, or to arrange for these once in a lifetime

adventures contact:

http://zutshitravel.com/cii-conference-india-pre-post-tours/

Book Flights Now for Great Savings!

There are some great rates out there for flights to India if you shop

around. A recent quick check on the internet found the following

great round trip prices for October 2015 for selected cities (all prices

in USD):

Air India Air Emirates

From Chicago $1,100 From San Francisco $$1,059

From Sydney $1,088 From New York $1.003

From Chicago $1,100

Singapore Air British Air

From Singapore $447 From London $770

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6

“In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a pos-itive vision.” Dalai Lama

Reflecting on these words, they certainly ring true for CII’s grander vision. Our theme of the year “Growing Together – Building Strategic Alliances in Today’s Technological Era” was communicated well during our recent CII Regional Meeting in Singapore (14 to 16 April 2015). We achieved recognition as a Supporting Association by the organizers of the Interpol World 2015. A copy of the presentation is seen on page 25 of this issue of the Councilor.

Apart from our networking sessions with fellow investiga-tors and members at the Singapore Cricket Club for dinner (and a buffet lunch at the Novotel Clarke Quay hotel) we met with other professionals in the one day seminar who support our work as investigators. We had speakers shar-ing on Managerial Forensics, the application of Forensics science to commercial cases, Cyber Forensics, and a delib-eration on the challenges faced by investigators. The sem-inar was an opportunity to establish alliances with other industry players who can support our work as investiga-tors, and also be potential clients to open the doors of business opportunities for us.

There was also a discussion with Interpol representatives regarding information sharing, and they are keen to move towards a public-private sector alliance in that realm. This will be a milestone for both Interpol and CII, as the public and private sector cooperation has never been formally acknowledged, even if it happens during the course of our work as private investigators. The discussion is still in its infant stages, but the plan to formalize a working arrange-ment is an exciting start for this collaboration. We look forward to hearing ideas from our members to present our proposal, as we all will be involved in some way!

It is my vision that we should be recognized as the preeminent professional association for private investiga-tors worldwide, and I believe that this can be achieved by regularly upgrading our professional image. I foresee ben-efits in terms of both business and professional develop-ment, if we are willing to grow together as a team.

Growing together requires us to embrace change, to ex-pand our network of resources, to keep abreast of new technologies that improve our knowledge and skill sets, and to ever expand upon the range of related services that we can offer to our clients.

I look forward to exciting times ahead as we grow togeth-er and seize the opportunities ahead of us.

With best wishes, Sheila Ponnosamy President

President’s Message continued from page 1 Brian King Gives Back

Working cases pro bono

While many CII members are well aware of Brian

King’s commitment to volunteerism, it is now out in

the public. Due

to a compelling

article published

in Justice, a pub-

lication of the

Ontario Canada

Bar Association,

Brian is now well known by lawyers and people com-

mitted to justice throughout the Province.

Brian has committed himself to working an entire

year, pro bono, for the Association in Defense of

Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC), on cases deemed by

many to be faulty. Brian says that he expects to

have over 25 cases to review and investigate. He

also plans to encourage other private investigators

to volunteer and to establish a protocol for investi-

gating these types of cases.

Brian already has several of these cases under his

belt, including two infamous injustices, one involving

a 1959 case (Steven Truscott) and the second one

regarding Robert Baltovich, whose travails and Bri-

an’s tenacity to the truth are well documented in

the best seller, No Claim to Mercy by Derek Finkle.

The AIDWYC, which has 20 exonerations since 1995,

is thrilled to have an investigator of Brian’s experi-

ence and stature working for them. Brian is also

looking forward to leaving the executive suite and

hitting the mean streets of Toronto. As he told the

author, “I live and breath investigations.”

Thank you Brian for making us proud.

For the full article: http://www.justmag.ca/

spring2015/fea_devotedToJustice_spring2015.html

The “Steely Eyed Investigator”

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7

Esteemed members, colleagues and fellow professional

investigators, I am no stranger to many of you as I first

joined the Council in March 1977. After leaving the Coun-

cil in 2011, I was reinstated in 2013. Recently, our Coun-

cil President made an announcement that I, Robert

Dudash, was appointed the Council’s Director of Training.

I wholeheartedly accepted this appointment. I do have a

background in training; I had been in charge of another

association’s training program for the past ten years. I

stepped down from that prestigious position to allow an-

other individual an opportunity to show their abilities,

expertise and talents and to grow even more with added

responsibility. I shall add that after stepping aside, I was

then appointed as the School Director for that associa-

tion’s newly created Continuous Education Training Acad-

emy.

Within CII, I had been appointed as the Chairman of the

Council’s Continuing Education Committee, wherein I had

the help of two very talented and capable Council mem-

bers, Raul Fat and Jacob Lapid. Despite both of them be-

ing very busy on other Committees, I was very fortunate

to have them both assisting on one of the projects as-

signed to the Committee.

You may be wondering what you can expect from a newly

appointed Director of Training. I am not planning any

drastic, “overnight” changes to the training program, but I

would like to share my philosophy regarding training with

you. Professional education (training) for investigative and

security professionals is a continuing process. Several

professional associations (and numerous U.S. states) have

license renewal requirements, which mandate individuals

to attend Continuing Education programs. Commonly im-

posed by an association, business, or government entity

for membership renewal, these programs offering Contin-

uous Educational Units (CEU) for individuals to maintain

or renew their licenses in good standing.

While the Council does not have a requirement to attend

or participate in Continuous Education courses or classes

for membership, the Council does recognize the extreme

importance of our members keeping current with our pro-

fessional needs, and with the changing requirements in

various areas of our profession. These changing require-

ments may include court decisions on a myriad of topics,

or the development of new techniques or technologies

that apply to our profession.

With this philosophy, and in order to provide a platform

for our members to experience real time training, the

Council previously implemented the practice of having

professional seminars that are held at our Annual General

Membership (AGM) meetings. Our AGM seminars, spon-

sored by the Council, are unique in that we require “no-

fee” for attendance. An additional factor of uniqueness is

that our seminars are open to all of our members and non

-members, with certain conditions. The Council President

has asked me to review our CEU training philosophy and

to review and assess our current training program. I shall

then: 1) Give her any recommendation (s) regarding our

training program goals,: 2) Work with the entire member-

ship on what their individual wants/needs may be and: 3)

Develop a training program that is meaningful, by making

use of the talent and creativity of our members.

Will you see an immediate change in our training pro-

gram? The answer is a simple, “No.” I say that because

our upcoming AGM, October 20-25, 2015, in New Delhi, is

already well ahead in all planning aspects. Our conference

hosts, Pawan Ahluwalia and Sachit Kumar, have lined up

terrific training seminars. His knowledge and expertise

have made my involvement really easy.

Thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself, and to

share a brief overview of how I’d like to see our training

program evolve. As new training proposals undergo finali-

zation and approval, I will keep you apprised of the ex-

citing developments to our program. As always, my in-box

is always open to you. I appreciate any comments you

may have, or any features/ ideas you would be interested

in sharing. You can expect a reply from me for any input

you would like to provide.

Warmest regards,

Robert

The Future of CII’s Training Program: An Introduction to Robert Dudash

By: Robert A. Dudash, CII Director of Training

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8

2

0

1

5

A

S

I

A

M

E

E

T

I

N

G

CII Exhibition Booth at

Interpol World 2015

Women of Mainguard at the Singapore Cricket Club

Ed & Trang Henry from Vietnam Mary & David MacLoed of Australia

Pawan Ahluwalia, James Filgo

and Ponno Kalastree Singapore

Supreme Court At the Singapore Cricket Club

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9

Singapore

President

USA

Netherlands Treasurer

Romania

Israel

India

Past President

USA

USA

S

Orchard Road Singapore 238823

Dear Sir

Yard, ons

associati second Singaporean

always

saw

ous

Council offers condolences to Singapore Prime Minister on

the loss of his father, Lee Kwan Yew the

“Father of Singapore.”

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10

Pending

Applicants

Zuraimi Abdul Basheer— Glen Iris Pte Ltd. Singapore

Barbara Burr—Intelle Quest

Davis (San Francisco) California USA

Kitty Hailey—Kitty Hailey Investigations Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

Warren Levicoff—International Detective

Agency Inc. Hideaway Hills (Columbus) Ohio USA

Alois Loucka—Nexus Consulting

Czech Republic

Roy Ramachandaran— Knight Intelligence & Forensics

Singapore

Jing Shi—Beijing Tianchao Business Investigations Co., Ltd.

Beijing China

Boon Swa Tang — Nemesis Investigations Pte Singapore

Yosh Wong—Emmaus (Asia Pacific) Ltd.

Hong Kong, China

Bajrang Yaadav—Bombay Industrial Guards Thane (Mumbai) Indai

More information about the applicants can be

found on the CII website. Anyone with knowledge of these applicant’s qualifications

can contact Galen Clements at [email protected]

(Remember no posting about applicants

on the listserv)

Current Membership Numbers

Certified 276 Affiliate 10

Qualified 14 Honorary 6

Associate 2 Emeritus 4

Senior 18 Applicants 10

Total Membership 330

Countries Represented—58

Continents Represented—6

Most Recent New Members

So far in 2015, the Executive Board has granted member-

ship to the following individuals:

George Barnsley— Diligent World LTD Airdrie Scotland UK

Brenda Beyersdofer —Quest Assoc. of Ohio

Cincinnati Ohio USA

Niall Cronnolly– Eagle Investigation Services Atlanta Georgia USA

Wayne Halick—Millennium Investigations

Addison (Chicago) Illinois USA

Cynthia Hetherington— Hetherington Group Wayne New Jersey USA

Rodney Johnson—Erudite, Ltd.

Seongnam South Korea

Gautam Kumar—Globe Detectives Mumbai India

Gustavo Monroy—Steel Cloud Company

El Paso Texas USA

Michael Symons Stanhope Gardens, NSW, Australia

Fred Verkerk—AMF Recherchediensten

Hilversum Netherlands

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

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21

C O N V E N T I O N A L W I S D O M

Conventional Wisdom & the Next Unknown

J A C K D E V I N E A N D A M A N D A M AT T I N G LY

Despite our inability to anticipate or predict it, intel-ligence analysts across the public and private sector are constantly on the lookout for the next Unknown.

In fact, the role of the intelligence community is to identify future threats, collating all the intel available on potential cri-sis areas and then backing it up with state-of-the-art computer

AH

ME

D A

BD

EL-F

ATA

H

MH370: FROM KNOWN TO FORGOTTEN

On March 8, 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared somewhere over the Indian

Ocean. While the flight was never recovered, the media covered it almost obsessively,

until it didn’t. World Policy Journal chronicles the frequency the story appeared in three

major print publications: The Guardian in the United Kingdom, Le Monde in France, and

The New York Times in the United States. Our timeline reflects the number of news articles

written about the story until it disappeared from the headlines—charting the life of a story

as it drifted into the unknown.

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22 WORLD POLICY JOURNAL

T H E U N K N O W N

Jack Devine is a 32-year veteran of the CIA, president of The Arkin Group, and author

of Good Hunting: An American Spymaster’s Story, published by Farrar, Straus and

Giroux (2014). Amanda Mattingly is a senior director at The Arkin Group and former

foreign affairs officer at the State Department.

capacity and robust human analysis rooted in expertise from every corner of the globe.

But even with this capacity, the one predictable and immutable reality is that there will continue to be intelligence fail-ures in the future. It is inherent in the busi-ness. Just as many view the September 11 terrorist attacks as an example of an intel-ligence failure, so too is the recent terrorist attack in Paris on the satirical news out-let Charlie Hebdo. Both were Unknowns. While the landscape of Unknowns spreads dangerously before us, there are precau-tions we can take if we are wise in our ap-proaches, both strategic and imaginative in our thinking.

Looking back over our years in this business, from the most remote stations to the leadership suites of the Central Intel-ligence Agency in Langley, Virginia, the common thread that runs through genuine failures is an overreliance on conventional wisdom and a reluctance to properly weight more imaginative possibilities.

That said, let’s look at the current world situation through the lens of dis-tilled conventional wisdom to briefly out-line from an intelligence perspective what

might lie ahead in arguably the top geopo-litical challenges we are facing today. Af-ter that, for the sake of argument, it would be useful to look at two potential forces that could throw this analysis totally off kilter and produce the next unwelcome Unknown. At the same time, it would be beneficial to highlight a few possible intel-ligence steps that might help get in front of seemingly fast developing situations.

THE MIDDLE EAST

For the foreseeable future, it is very likely that there will be terrorist events directed against American and European interests, and regrettably some probably will be suc-cessful, though hopefully not on the scale of the 9/11 attack. These attacks, however, will not fundamentally change the dynam-ics of the Middle East. We will continue to see terrorist forces at work, nasty Sunni-Shia sectarianism at play, and the United States entangled in the region’s problems because of our key national security inter-est. IS and Al Qaeda will not establish a ca-liphate; in fact, they may well have reached their high water mark, and will diminish in influence as it becomes increasingly clear

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to go unchanged for the foreseeable future. It is unlikely that President Vladimir Pu-tin will pull back from Crimea or abandon support for rebels in eastern Ukraine until some arrangement is worked out to provide the Russian-speaking people in the East some autonomy from Kiev. Meanwhile, Putin will continue to use covert action to keep Ukraine weak and divorced from the West. Still, the Russian economy is highly dependent on a robust economic relation-ship with Europe and the United States. Faced with sanctions and falling oil prices, he can only push his agenda so far before the political and economic backlash at home becomes unsustainable.

CHINA

Turning to China, we are likely to wit-ness a continuation of the status quo, al-beit in the context of an ever-increasing militarization of its armed forces. To be sure, China wants to be taken seriously as a world power, and in many ways, Presi-dent Xi Jinping’s instincts about national-ism and China’s role on the world stage are not dissimilar to Putin’s view of Russia—a highly nationalistic force to be reckoned with. However, it is very hard to imagine a scenario where China’s leaders use military force in Taiwan or the disputed Senkaku Islands to resolve their long-term designs on these areas. China’s robust economy in-evitably has led to military expansion and

that they do not have a winning ideology with broad based appeal. In the end, the vast majority of Arabs will not sign onto their barbaric strain of Islam.

While public officials are not prepared to espouse it, we have drifted into a policy of containment in this region and further afield in the Muslim world, which is start-ing to look like the policy we used against the Russians during the Cold War. Basically, we will be holding the line until the extrem-ists run out of steam or debilitate each other. This will take time. After all, it took decades for the Soviet Union to collapse. So it will be with Islamic radicalism, though it is likely to collapse sooner because its foundations are weaker than those of the Soviet Union.

At the same time, the other long last-ing struggle in the Middle East is between Israelis and Palestinians. It is hard to see how this situation will improve or dete-riorate in a meaningful way in the years ahead. Over the past 25 years, there have been a series of well-intended initiatives, including Secretary of State John Kerry’s shuttle diplomacy last year, which have all come up short. In fact, the positions seem more intractable than ever, and there is no cause for optimism today.

RUSSIA

The dispute with Russia in Ukraine is shap-ing up as another place where we have slid into a policy of containment, which is likely

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Putin declares independence of Crimea.

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the flexing of muscles, but like Russia, its economic ties to the West are so great that any military adventure would surely do ir-reparable damage to China’s economy and much of the world’s economy for that mat-ter. The Chinese fully understand this.

OTHER HOT SPOTS

Similarly, we could look at several other hot spots to round out conventional wis-dom about the future. North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela are all places where analysts may reasonably conclude, despite the pe-riodic tugging and pulling, that our most effective policy will also be one of contain-ment without any major shift in the cur-rent dynamics. It is a fairly safe bet that the preponderance of intelligence community analysts will come down in this general area as they evaluate these hot spots.

UPENDING FROM UNKNOWNS

History suggests that most of this con-ventional wisdom will pan out. But it is also a pretty safe bet that at least one of these estimates will fall on hard times be-cause of the syndrome of the Unknown. In our recent history, we have seen conven-tional thinking upended quickly in the face of rapid economic, political, and so-cial change. Examples of this range from the toppling of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 to the missing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in

2003. Going back further to the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union came much quicker than conventional wisdom believed in the late 1980s, or in Chile in 1973.

In Chile, conventional wisdom held that the nation’s military would not move against socialist President Sal-vador Allende after the failed coup at-tempt known as the tancazo, or “tank putsch,” coordinated by insubordinate, lower-ranking soldiers. The intelligence and policy community scarcely believed there would be another uprising against Allende, and instead, directed its ener-gies toward the next election to help the moderate Christian Democrats mount a credible challenge in 1976. Even in the weeks leading up to the actual coup in September 1973, there were diplomats in our own embassy in Santiago and top ana-lysts in Washington who did not believe information about the impending coup. Despite hearing and reporting coup ru-mors for weeks, no one believed it would happen until we received solid, corrobo-rating information from reliable sources the day before the coup.

Conventional thinking was that Chile was a democracy, and the military would not intervene. But indeed, the economic situation in Chile had become so dire, pro-tests on the streets so frequent, and there was enough dissent within the ranks, that

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somewhat more amorphous concern is the likely and unanticipated impact of social media on political systems, especially on autocratic governments should they face a sustained economic decline.

In the Arab Spring uprisings that led to Mubarak’s ouster in Egypt in 2011, fol-lowed by the ouster of President Moha-mad Morsi in 2013, the Internet and so-cial media, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, played an important role in bringing down these governments. The protests organized via social media demon-strated that popula-tions across the Mid-dle East are becoming less willing to fol-low leaders who fail to provide for their needs and deprive them of economic and political freedom. To-day, citizens are able to triangulate information fed to them by those in positions of power. This trend will increase as the methods used to commu-nicate grow and governments’ ability to circumvent them contract, especially in

the generals took it upon themselves to restore order in the country. Washington welcomed the coup when it happened, with little understanding of the brutal and repressive consequences to come under the Pinochet regime.

History also demonstrates that con-ventional thinking can be the result of an overreliance on prominent exiles or sin-gular sources of intelligence—concealing Unknowns that were lying hidden in plain sight. Exiles are a key source of such con-cealment and may have the ear of impor-tant political figures and policymakers. By virtue of their distance, however, they are rarely in a position to provide accurate in-telligence of the situation and, moreover, have their own agendas that may hardly correspond to our own. Recall that we were scarcely welcomed as “liberators” when we went into Iraq in 2003, a consequence of several prominent exiles convincing high-level American officials.

TILTING THE PINBALL

What factors should we be pondering now that would tilt the pinball machine in cur-rent global hot spots? There are two major factors to consider. One scenario would be a major economic downturn, due to con-tinued low energy costs, or a more general recession, most likely brought about by a significant slowing of the Chinese econ-omy, which is long overdue. The other

the universe of the autocrat is less stable and more at risk than ever before, its outcome increasingly unknown and thus more likely to produce surprises.

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APRIL - JUNE 2014

04/01Boko Haram kidnaps over 250 girls in Nigeria.

06/05IS launches Northern Iraq Offensive.

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of the many Unknowns concealed within another Unknown, not unlike the matryosh-kas, or Russian nesting dolls, one inside the other. Any one of these could prove most chaotic and deeply damaging to our own national security interests. Indeed, the uni-verse of the autocrat is less stable and more at risk than ever before, its outcome increas-ingly Unknown and thus more likely to produce surprises.

THE AUTOCRAT & THE UNKNOWN

Autocratic governments, such as those in Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, or Ven-ezuela, seek to centralize power over the people in all aspects of life—from their economy to civil society, including the media. The centralization of power and the accompanying control over the purse strings inevitably leads to corruption and unrest during tough economic times. As we saw during the Arab Spring, discontent in Egypt and Tunisia radiated outward from unemployed youth and disenfran-chised students who felt powerless to ef-fect any substantive economic or political change. In a nation under international economic sanctions—Iran, North Korea, or Russia—or in a country facing a stalled economy and downward trending oil rev-enue—think China and Venezuela—even a hike in bus fares can spark widespread discontent that can spread faster today via social media than ever before.

authoritarian states. While this trend is clear, the Unknowns that remain are the pace and reach of such methods.

In this context, it is critical to under-stand just how politically unstable all these trouble spots are because they are funda-mentally autocratic states without authentic popular political roots. In essence, they rely heavily on the personalities or the popular-ity of those running these states to hold the populace in check. This works reasonably well until they have to face grave economic problems and the accompanying increase in dissidence and unrest—complex mixes that are of their very nature Unknowns, indeed all but unknowable until they are nearly upon us. It is most difficult to calibrate just how intense this discontent will become since it will depend on the severity of the economic problems they confront and the real disconnect between leaders and their people. Therein lies the darkest heart of the Unknown—an age-old problem greatly ag-gravated with the advent of social media as we observed in the collapse of the autocratic governments in the Middle East during the Arab Spring.

Virtually all these hot spots try to erect high walls to limit the effectiveness of so-cial media because they know instinctively just how threatening it can be, and just how vulnerable they are to it. We are not rooting for such dramatic change anywhere because of the unpredictability of its outcome—one

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07/07MH17: Malaysia plane crash in Ukraine.

08/19IS beheads an American journalist.

08/07Ebola: State of Emergency declared in Liberia.

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supporting President Putin or conversely turning on him in the face of violent pro-tests in St. Petersburg, rioting and looting in Moscow, or strikes by Gazprom work-ers across the country. So far in Iran, the Revolutionary Guard Corps has remained loyal to the hard-liners of the regime, but potential divisions in the ranks could pro-vide an opening for opposition forces to exploit under certain economic conditions, accompanying a groundswell of support for regime change. When the vast mass of bazaaris—the small businessmen of Iran’s urban bazaars—turned on the Shah in 1979, the monarch was destined for the dustbin of history.

The next important Unknown in sce-narios like these is the circumstances ac-companying a sudden power vacuum. In autocratic governments, institutions tend to be weak and can come easily undone when the political pendulum swings away. Our intelligence analysts need to know the vulnerabilities of institutions like the cen-tral bank, the state-run oil company, the judiciary, or the press. Understanding po-tential opposition forces and leaders—be they good or bad from a Western perspec-tive—who might step in to fill the void in a sudden regime change is equally impor-tant. Who or what could come to the fore following political and economic upheaval in any of these countries would greatly im-pact vital American or Western interests,

Indeed, it is worth remembering that amid a backdrop of falling oil prices in the 1980s, a nationwide hike in bus fares in Venezuela in 1989 sparked widespread protests known as the caracazo, roughly translated as “the big one in Caracas.” The rioting, looting, and violence that took place over the course of more than a month resulted in great political instability, anti-establishment sentiment throughout the country, and ultimately, the rise of another strongman promising relief, Hugo Chavez. Today, Venezuelans are again facing tank-ing oil prices and a dramatically deteriorat-ing economic and security situation. Un-der these circumstances and in the age of social media, it’s not hard to imagine an-other caracazo, potentially with graver con-sequences, and President Nicolás Maduro’s government falling apart at the seams.

The capacity of autocratic govern-ments to contain large-scale unrest across the country or violence in the streets will greatly depend on the loyalty of the mili-tary brass and law enforcement—in other words, their troops’ willingness to fire on their own people in defense of the govern-ment. This is where there can be an often Unknown divergence in support, and why intelligence analysts have long studied the alliances between autocrats and the mili-taries that support them. Along this line of thinking is the following Unknown—the likelihood of the Russian military

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OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2014

09/24French hostage murdered by IS.

10/31Blaise Compaoré resigns in Burkina Faso.

12/28AirAsia QZ 8501 disappears.

10/31First Ebola case in the U.S.

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United States has little influence or vis-ibility will remain a haven for extremist groups that can threaten the United States and our allies, much as in the 1990s after the Soviet withdrawal from that country.

Iran is another example where, despite the challenges for recruiting, building net-works, and obtaining on-the-ground intel-ligence, it is crucial that we are not simply relying on exile sources or conventional wisdom. The stakes in Iran are high, and if our efforts to secure a nuclear deal with the Iranians fail, the risks of escalation will rise rapidly and dramatically. We should position ourselves now to encourage and take advantage of trends within Iran—this includes robust intelligence collection, the establishment of a flexible and responsive network of sources within the political op-position, and the cultivation of potential leaders who could help govern Iran if and when the current regime collapses.

Considering the possibility of rapid political and economic change in any of these areas of the world and the potential fallout are precisely why we have slid into a policy of general containment. Stung from years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq where we actively sought regime change and tried to export Western democracy, we have come to this policy naturally. The pendulum swings here as well. But a pol-icy of general containment and a reliance on conventional wisdom can only get us so far, and our intelligence community and policymakers need to be actively planning for all possible scenarios of the Unknown and using covert action to influence out-comes in our favor.

By definition, it is all but impossible to determine where the next Unknown will emerge, but it is safe to say there will be one and sooner than we think. l

presenting new challenges and opportuni-ties, and making it all the more crucial for our policymakers to have the intelligence necessary to craft sound policy and posi-tively influence events as they unfold.

ROBUST NETWORKS

The likelihood for rapid change in our globalized economy requires more than ever that we have robust intelligence net-works around the world. We need to in-vest heavily in sources of information that can tell policymakers about government plans and intentions, but also in sources in all the potential areas of dissent in these countries so that we are in a position to understand and evaluate the influence and impact of these social networks. In each case we must do our best to minimize the Unknowns. Moreover, where necessary, we must lay in the covert action plumb-ing—that is to say, we need already estab-lished on-the-ground sources and reliable partners who are ready and able to act in a fashion consistent with our national se-curity in a crisis. Rather than relying on prominent exiles or singular sources re-moved from the countries in question, we need a vital network of sources inside to help our intelligence community deter-mine on-the-ground conditions and find legitimate local partners needed for any covert action plans.

As an example, after our military with-drawal in Afghanistan, we should by now have a large network of reliable partners and trusted sources so that we are in a po-sition to ramp up covert activities with tribal leaders should it appear the Taliban is overwhelming other factions or liaising with Al Qaeda after our withdrawal. In-stead, what we have is a vast black canvas of Unknowns. An Afghanistan where the

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Featured Articles

RESOURCE OF THE MONTH - Google Search Tools

This resource of the month is one that is so simple it’s often overlooked. How well do you know Google

Search tools?

You can simplify and speed your Google searches by learning quick keystroke shortcuts. Of course,

we all know the obvious ones, for instance, using quotes if you’re looking for an exact word or phrase,

which excludes unhelpful results. But what about these:

Using an Asterisk

Use an asterisk within your search as a “placeholder” for any terms you don’t know. Use it with quota-

tion marks to further narrow down your results. For instance, if you were looking for a William Faulkner

book, but couldn’t remember the full title, you would type:

“the sound and * *” and Google will return to you results for The Sound and the Fury.

This has lots of uses, for instance, if you only have part of a business entity’s name.

Removing Words

Using a dash before a word, search term, or site, excludes results that include that word, term or site.

This is useful for things with multiple meanings, and is especially useful in narrowing down individuals.

For instance, if you wanted to find your subject John Doe the mechanic in Utah, but you keep getting

search results for Dr. John Doe, M.D. in California, searching it this way would dramatically narrow

down your results.

“john doe” “utah” -doctor -medical -m.d. -california

Connecting Terms

Similarly, you can connect words by placing a dash between the words. This indicates to Google a con-

nection between the words. For instance, instead of typing

arson florida

you can get better results with:

arson-in-florida

Connecting Two Words That May or May Not Be Separated

If you’re not sure if your subject is on Twitter as “KanyeWest” or Kanye_West,” you can search using

the two words connected by an underscore, for example:

Kanye_West

and Google will return the words either linked together (KanyeWest) or connected by an underscore.

For instance:

related:webmd.com Continued on page 23

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Featured Articles “A Universal Professional”:

A Slovenian Investigator Defines Detective Work

By Bernarda Škrabar

In Slovenia, the word detective still sounds a bit exotic, but this profession has

recently become more recognized in public. The dictionary of Standard Slove-

nian Language defines a detective as a servant of the public (and therefore na-

tional security), who investigates crimes. At this point, we already come across

a completely false description. Detective activity in Slovenia is an exclusively

private (economic) activity. In the national security system, detective activity is

a subsystem of private security and should not under any circumstances interfere with the scope of ensur-

ing public safety. However, we believe that Slovenia should be inspired by foreign models and should

work towards a public private partnerships. Pečar (1998) says that the state allows private security ser-

vices because the state alone is not able to meet security services needs of citizens. So how does this ap-

ply to a detective’s activity? Private investigative activity, as indicated by Gostič (2002) is not providing

security in terms of a public service (as provided by the police), but the basic mode of detective activity is

in its economic nature. Detective services are understood in the context of a higher standard, not paid by

the state, but by the client.

Another definition that is found in Dictionary of Standard Slovenian Language interprets a detective as a

person who is hired by a client to professionally care for the protection of his interests (Dictionary of

Standard Slovenian Language, 2008). It is already clear from that definition, that a detective, when hired

(by a client) performs services exclusively on the basis of written authorization of the client and helps to

protect his interests.

The profession of a detective in some way shows a duality. On the one hand this profession can be dan-

gerous, and on the other hand it is very human because its main focus is to help people (Balažic, 1998)

and therefore has positive moral qualities and works with the aim of helping people. Klavora (2001) also

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states that a detective is an expert (professional)

who assists citizens in solving their problems.

And what does the internet say about detectives?

For example in Wikipedia we can find a slightly

broader definition: A detective is an investigator,

sometimes a member of a law enforcement agency,

or a private investigator, known also as a “private

eye.” They are often depicted in movies and TV se-

ries (http://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detektiv).

The definition is broader since it is based on detec-

tives' work in United States, where they can be state

officials or private investigators. A detective or pri-

vate investigator (professionally) investigates, and

therefore observes, asks and inquires, reviews – all

with intention to obtain evidence and facts

(McMahon, 2001). A Private investigator according

to Maier (2001) is a person who under the written

authorization of a client deals with detection of

crime and investigates civil matters.

The word detective originates from the Latin words

detegere, and detectum – meaning detection, and

discover. Detectives work by trying to protect the

interests of the client, discovering the facts, reveal-

ing ambiguity and trying to find evidence that will

be helpful to the client and which can assist them in

the further proceedings. Detective activity is, there-

fore, a private investigative activity. A detective or a

private investigator is any natural person who car-

ries out this activity or engages in business or ac-

cepts a case, in which he gains information about

criminal offenses or civil injustice, reveals the loca-

tion of certain controversial event concludes posses-

sion or recovers stolen property, looks for the causes

of the accident, fire or damage or injured people. A

detective also looks for evidence that could be used

in court or before other authorities, officials and in-

vestigating authorities (Becnel, 2009). The main

focus in detective activity is to gain factual infor-

mation (Golec, 1995).

The general public unfortunately still has a preva-

lent opinion that a detective is an eccentric loner,

spy, who works by any means necessary, who fol-

lows people, especially unfaithful husbands and

wives, while not bound to any morality or code of

ethics. From this point of view, this profession has a

very negative connotation. Maier (2001) also notes

that the public perception of detective work involves

cases of divorces and the stereotypical image of

spying through the keyhole.

This stereotypical image was created by fans on the

basis of foreign films and series, in which we wit-

ness a lot of action, fast cars, weapons, enigmatic

atmospheres and miraculously quickly solved case.

Detective work is sometimes colored with action,

but the core of detective work is serious, responsi-

ble, and requires a whole and unblemished person.

A true detective is an intellectual adventurist

(Balažič, 1998), because he always has to be pre-

pared for the unexpected, he has to be quick and

creative, and demonstrate self-initiative (Brow,

2003). To be a detective is not a profession but it is

a lifestyle. A detective has no steady rhythm; his

day depends on the case on which he is working on

(Škrabar, 2011). Clients hire a detective usually

when they feel they are not able to solve a particular

problem or gain facts, because they don't have the

time or the knowledge of how to do so. Detective

activity is a search for truth (Brown 2003). A detec-

tive is in some way a seeker of truth. In cases like

disputable traffic accidents, suspicious injury claims

A Universal Professional

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for damages, creditor-debtor relationships, a detective

is searching the truth of the events that already hap-

pened, or even in present events - breath tests, in-

spections, monitoring of sick leave etc.

Detectives must, irrespective of his/her position on

certain matters, when finding information, data, facts

or evidence to be used in specific inquiry, evaluate

those objectively. This responsibility means that the

detective is also an objective truth seeker. In doing

so, we emphasize the word objectivity because the

words truth and fact are not synonymous. What a cer-

tain person is considering as the truth is not neces-

sarily a fact, since our own views can distort the truth

(Golec, 1995). A detective is obliged and also must

evaluate the truth objectively.

Detective work is to detect or disclose secret or un-

clear facts; finding actual evidence for the client. Kla-

vora and Perko (2009) formulate detective work as “a

set of measures” that help an individual or firm to

determine the subsequent course of some events that

have happened or are happening to their loss and the

state with its mechanisms cannot provide sufficient

security services to them.

A detective serves the law as a seeker of truth (Riehl,

2010). The most important, of course, is the evidence

with which a detective solves a particular case

(Stephens, 2008). McMahon (2001) says that investi-

gating is collecting factual information. Factual infor-

mation in a precise written report is the product de-

tective sells to his/her client (McMahon, 2001).

A Detective’s economic activity is in the sale of their

reports to their clients (Becnel, 2009), therefore it is a

commercial activity as Jaklič (1998) states. Many

individuals who have hired a detective envision the

detective as an assistant who saved them from an un-

solvable situation. In legal investigations, Golec

(1995) states a detective has a good reputation and

the courts trust them because their work in many

ways helps the lawyer. The detective's task is to find,

develop and gather information and get the infor-

mation into the appropriate form - a detective report -

which has to be relevant, so that it can be presented

in possible subsequent proceedings in court

(Stephens, 2008). The success of a detective in the

detection, disclosure and investigation is the result of

his efforts that consist of professionalism, discipline,

diligence, talent, creativity, etc. As Klavora (2001)

states, a detective's mission is to find quality infor-

mation for the client who needs to make the right de-

cision. Detective work consists of searching, collect-

ing, acquiring, studying, observing, monitoring and

evaluation of facts and evidence in addition to dis-

covering actual situations. Investigation, according to

Sennewald and Tsukuyama (2006) is reviewing, stud-

ying, searching, monitoring and collecting the actual

data, which ultimately gives an answer to a specific

question or solve a specific problem. Detective is

bound to secrecy. The information obtained for the

client is protected as a business secret or is marked as

confidential. Anyone who has information has a pow-

er and an advantage over opponents or competitors.

This conclusion has been valid for thousands of years

considered primarily by leaders, military command-

ers, while today this argument has been in constant

use mainly for people in the business world. A detec-

tive with his persistence patiently searches for, col-

lects, compares, verifies and separates the wheat from

the chaff to be able to solve the case, to prove the

truth and thus help the client to take a step forward in

the right direction (Škrabar, 2011). The end result of

a detective's work is the factual explanation of what

A Universal Professional

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transpired if the incident or issue is linked to the past

event i.e. an accident; or is occurring if the issue is in

the present (Sennewald, Tsukuyama 2006). Nemeth

(1992) says that a detective with his work gives a client

the foundation, conceptual framework on the basis of

which they can evaluate the case and make a certain

decision or any further action.

Conclusion

A detective must be a universal professional, who

sometimes has to admit powerlessness in a particular

case, which happens mainly for operational reasons.

Even with knowledge, experience and high profession-

alism, detectives must rely on a bit of luck, since it of-

ten happens that he is at the right time in the right place

and so can gather the right intelligence, which he might

not have had if he had come to place five minutes later.

A detective is a person who must be highly profession-

al and ethical; someone who constantly works on his

personal development as well as development of

knowledge. A detective must constantly strive to im-

prove to create a highly professional service.

The Roman philosopher Cicero said: "As you sow, so

shall you reap." The investigator should be aware of

that: if his job is well done, he will sow good results

and good relations with clients, colleagues, etc., and

therefore will reap success, goodwill and new clients.

A Universal Professional

Searching by Operator

Adding an “operator” to your search is like telling

Google what window you want to look through to

get your information. Sometimes sites like Face-

book might allow people to create search set-

tings such that their profiles aren’t publicly

searchable through search engines. A quick way

to work around this is to use “site:” as your oper-

ator. An example would be:

site: Facebook “john doe”

I have found this to be especially useful when I

come across a site whose internal search engine

seems to be sluggish or returns poor results.

Sometimes Google can come up with faster and

more accurate results than a weaker website

can for it’s own data.

Cache:

It can be useful to get an image of what a site

looked like in the past, and these images can

often include deleted data. For instance, if John

Doe used to reveal a lot of negative personal

information on his blog, but has since cleaned up

his act, you might be provided with an old image

of his online personality by searching:

cache:johndoe.blogspot.com

Related:

Using this with any website will return sites that

appear similar. This can be useful when trying to

develop connections between a subject and oth-

er business entities or websites, or competitors.

Do you have something to contribute to this

column? Be featured in next month’s news-

letter by sharing a resource you’ve found

helpful!

Resource of the Month

Using Google Tools

Continued from page 19

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24

DCI—DETECTIV CONSULTING INTERNATIONAL GMBH

GLOBAL INVESTIGATIONS &

INSURANCE FRAUD SERVICE

CEO: JURGEN “FRITZ” HEBACH

GERMANY

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EMAIL: [email protected]

INTERNET: WWW.DCI.NAME

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