Utah Private Investigator Blog - Salt Lake Investigation Blog

Most private investigators have experienced the roller coaster ride that comes with the job of being private detective. Some months bring cases that are a piece of cake. The investigator pulls up on surveillance and the subject is already active. The subject is followed flawlessly and all objectives are met. Everything goes without a hitch and the client is happy. Then there are cases where it seems that nothing can go right. The subject can’t be found and the investigator wonders if the subject even exists. A successful case can bring up the investigators spirits and this influences the whole caseload. A difficult case can drag down the investigator and this can have a negative affect. It doesn’t take long to notice this pattern. This pattern can be controlled. The private investigator must be sensitive to their attitude. Successful cases should elevate moral and other cases ought to reap the benefits. Difficult cases should be fought with hard work and remember that they should not be a drag on other cases. If you are looking for a Utah private investigator check out Salt Lake Investigations. 

Well, I just got back from vacation at Newport Beach. We had the opportunity to stay at a beach house. It was an amazing experience. Just before the trip I found a podcast on private investigators called the curb side investigator. I downloaded 19 of the 22 episodes that I thought might be interesting and listened to these episodes during the drive. I was thoroughly impressed with the podcast. Scott Styes is the P.I. and he sounds like a great investigator. I look forward to more of his podcasts. Apparently he works out of the Los Angeles area. So of course I was thinking about my work as an investigator while I was in California. I thought about how it would be to follow someone during an investigation in the California area. I think the P.I.’s in these large cities have their work cut out for them. I did a case in the Phoenix area a while ago and it was a nightmare. Part of the problem was the traffic and the other part was that I was totally unfamiliar with the roads. Anyways, it is good to be home and to get back to work. The sad thing is that I was home for only a couple of hours and I had to go do some surveillance on a case. I just couldn’t help myself. Hopefully, I can dedicate more time to the blog. Need a Utah private investigator?

The other day I had a case where I had a photo of the subject and a person exited the residence but they did not resemble the person in the photo.  I decided to take video of the person anyways.  The person walked around the property and then returned inside.  I then looked at the photo and the person still did not look like the subject.  I returned for surveillance at a later date and followed the same person to a doctor’s appointment.  It turns out that this person was the subject!  How could this happen?  This person looked nothing like the photo.  Actually this happens more frequently than you would expect.  Sometimes photos can actually screw you up.  The subject may have changed their hair style, or put on weight, etc.  One big curve ball can be ball caps.  A ball cap can totally change the look of a person so be careful.  My advice is to always roll video when you’re in doubt just in case.  Also, try to pinpoint a distinct characteristic on the person’s face like a scare, mole, square chin, long nose, etc. If you are in need of a private investigator in Utah please give Salt Lake Investigations a call.

Ok, here is an honest breakdown from a Utah Private Investigator of which video cameras that I like and don’t like. First of all, I am a big Mini DV fan and so I won’t be discussing 8 mm or DVD. There are two brands that just don’t pass my test. Let’s start with Panasonic. I have to say that I love the features that Panasonic gives along with the small size of the camera. I think that Panasonic is doing some really good things, for example, huge optical zooms which is a huge need for a private investigator. I have noticed that other brands are trying to catch up with Panasonic’s large optical zooms so I really give Panasonic credit for this. I bought one of these cameras about one year ago. The picture quality was pretty good. I love the idea of a large optical zoom but when I used it I really wasn’t all that impressed. The camera was very shaky when it was zoomed out and it didn’t seem to be a very clear picture. My main beef with the Panasonic is with the video out jack. One day I was burning video to a DVD for a client and bumped the cord to the video out jack and the picture went fuzzy. At first I didn’t know what caused the picture to go out and then found that the video out jack is poorly made. If you even touch the video cord while you’re trying to record a DVD the picture will go fuzzy. That is not acceptable for good quality video for a client. This is my main reason that I will no longer even look at a Panasonic. I just don’t think the camera will hold up for more than three or four months. Also my clients deserve clear video without the fuzz from bumping the cord. Next brand is JVC. I believe it was the GR-D 270 with a 25 X optical zoom that I purchased. I give credit to JVC for putting in a large optical zoom. JVC has seemed to have kept up with Panasonic in offering large zooms. Similar to the Panasonic though, once the camera is zoomed out the picture clarity seems to falter. The picture quality overall wasn’t bad but processor did not bring in very bright colors. I think that the JVC may be built a little better than the Panasonic. I would rate the two brands equal overall. Are you ready for my favorite camera? The Canon Elura series. The Elura series has a great picture with good color. The camera is small in size for concealing when needed. Decent optical zoom up to 20X. For a time I only looked at the optical zoom and disregarded the digital zoom because of picture quality. I was shocked to find that you can actually go into the digital zoom with the Elura series without the video pixilating. I believe this has to do with a better video processor. Many of the Canon Optura cameras only have a 10 X optical zoom but I am curious to see if you can go even further into the digital zoom because of an even better video processor than the Elura series. Top loading tape is a big benefit. My only drawback about Canon in general is the durability of their processors (for most people this could be a huge drawback). I can only get about a year out of a Canon before the processor starts going out. I do use the camera nearly every day but you would think that it would last longer than a year. If I can get one year out of the camera though, I am happy. I really want to try a Sony next time. I have heard nothing but good things about the Sony. If you have any suggestions for a good camera leave a comment. Also, check out izzyvideo.com for some amazing things that you can do with a DV camera!

UPDATE:

Time goes way to fast and so does technology!  Since I wrote this post a lot of things have changed.  Companies are really pushing hard drive video cameras now.  I keep up with technology to be competitive but I am having a hard time making a switch to Hard Drive.  There are too many possible problems making the switch.  IE some courts may have a hard time accepting evidence without an original copy.  I still continue to use Mini DV.  I am using an Elura 100 and will consider the ZR950.

You may be saying to yourself “I am sick of my boss making all of the money”, or “I could do such a better job at running this business than my boss”. So you start your own business. You do a better job than your boss and you start getting clients. Next thing you know your working 70 hour weeks and the money starts flowing in. Unfortunately, your business begins running you instead of you running your business. Your start working long hours and you feel like your not making much progress. Do you ever feel like all you do is put out fires? I sometimes feel this way. So what’s the problem….your staying busy right? I know that my problem running a Utah private investigations firm www.utahspy.com is that I try to do way too much myself. I do most of the investigations, marketing, collections, accounting, reporting, etc. I think many private investigator firms and businesses in general have this problem. Paul Allen talks about this in his blog about outsourcing everything that is not your core business. I think that I need to implement this idea more in my business and I’m sure my wife would appreciate seeing me more. Salt Lake Investigations has private investigators in Utah to serve your needs.

I just got back from an out of town case. I stayed in a hotel and this morning at 4:00 a.m. I was faced with the decision on whether or not to check out of the hotel. The thought came into my mind that I would surely be able to break free from the surveillance to check out of the hotel and grab my belongings later on in the morning. I decided to check out of the hotel at 4:00 a.m. before conducting the surveillance and good thing! At 5:49 a.m. the subject left their residence and never looked back. I followed the subject over 200 miles to a different town. That would have made for an extremely long day if I would have had to return for my belongings! Lesson learned. If you need a Utah Private Investigator consider Salt Lake Investigations.

You’ve done your drive by now it’s time to pick your parking spot. I can promise you that this is one of the most important decisions that you will make when you set up surveillance. If you’re too aggressive you may jeopardize the case before the subject even leaves the residence. There are some subject’s that are absolutely paranoid and make notes of vehicles that they don’t know.  Parking to close can ruin your case before you even follow! If you’re too passively and park far away you may never even see the subject or may lose them from the start.  This is why parking could be the most important decision that you make when conducting surveillance.  It is important to note that each case is different and therefore it is impossible to have a set of rules for every situation. I decided to lay out some general rules and you can use your own judgment. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could drive by the subject’s residence three or four times to pick the perfect spot? Many times you have only one drive by opportunity to figure everything out. A general rule is the busier the area the more times you can drive by without being noticed. I have had some areas that were so remote that I couldn’t even conduct a drive by. In that case hopefully you have good vehicle information so you can pick up the subject’s vehicle when they drive off. Avoid pointing your vehicle directly at the subject’s residence where possible. You’re usually better off if you point your vehicle a different direction and turn your neck to view the subject’s residence. Sometimes you have no choice but to point your vehicle at the subject’s residence which isn’t all that bad because it can save you a sore neck. I would also recommend parking in a way that you can see the subject’s front lawn and the subject’s vehicle but not the house. You’re better off if the subject can’t see your vehicle out their front window. Even better would be parking on a different street but still with a view of the subject’s lawn and vehicle. The best situation is nearby busy parking lot. A parking lot is a private investigator’s dream (although if your the only vehicle in the parking lot that’s a problem). The key is to find balance. You need to be aggressive enough to obtain the information needed for your case but not too aggressive as to where you get caught. A good private investigator will continually assess the situation and adapt where needed. Unfortunately, many private investigators don’t give a lot of thought to where they park their vehicles. If you are in need of a professional Private Investigator in Utah please go to www.utahspy.com.

Could it be any hotter? A radio news report was just on and they were talking about not leaving dogs in a hot vehicle. Meanwhile I’m burning up! Today is supposed to be 92 degrees outside but I swear it is 250 degrees in my car. I think I could fry an egg on my dash. I am sweating enough to fill a swimming pool. I guess a good private investigator has to make these sacrifices. The problem is that there are many circumstances where I cannot run the vehicles engine and therefore no AC! One of these days I will find a something that works well at cooling my vehicle. Here is what I found that works….crack the windows(as low as possible), use fans, use a sunshade not only on the windshield but the rear window to the vehicle as well. The sun shades actually work wonders. The sun beating through the window is where 95% of the heat comes from. This is why I always look for a shaded area. Sometimes I attach a sun shade to the side windows as well. I tried to make a home-made swamp cooler with a fan and an ice chest but I am still perfecting it. I recently tried a solar powered fan that you attach to the top of the window but the results were poor. I own a fan that sprays water which keeps you cool but is kind of messy. Anyone have any good ideas???? Need a private investigator?  Try Salt Lake Investigations.

Start early! 6:00 a.m. Oh yes I said 6:00 a.m. You have to get your bed off you back. When conducting surveillance for insurance fraud type investigations it is important to begin early. There is nothing worse than setting up surveillance and finding out the subject is already gone. Upon arriving at your place of surveillance there is a lot of work to do. When you do your drive by write down vehicle make/model/color/license plate number/and unique characteristics of the vehicle. These details are what you will use to ID the vehicle when the action gets going. If there are no vehicles in the driveway it’s possible the subject parks in the garage. P.I’s hate garages. Thankfully, many of the subject’s that I watch don’t use their garage. Notice your surroundings. For example: in snowy months check for fresh tire tracks in the driveway (fresh tire tracks could mean the subject has already left the residence), look for items in the yard to give you information (toys in the yard would tell you there are children and the subject may take them to school), check the length of grass telling you when the subject may need to mow their lawn, or any signs the subject spends time outside. Noticing your surroundings can bring in valuable information and just may help solve your case! Your next step will be to figure out possible exits the subject may use when leaving the residence. Some neighborhoods are nice to P.I.’s and have only one or two exits. Then there are the neighborhoods with ten thousand ways to exit. Figuring out the exits to the neighborhood may help so you’re not caught off guard. Keep an open mind to possible ways the subject may drive. There are times when I have lost a subject because I did not think they could “go out that way”. You may now begin your wait (hopefully not too long). But wait! You need to choose your parking spot. Your parking spot is the most important detail when setting up surveillance. Next time…..where do I park? There is much more to this than you think! Are you looking for a Utah Private Investigator?

Is there any better profession out there? I love being a private investigator. How can you beat getting paid to spy on people? Well, let me tell you what this blog is all about. I am designing this blog for both the P.I. and non P.I. alike. Some of the blogs will be P.I. tips on various subjects and some will be actual case stories. Unfortunately I will be forced to limit some of the content in the stories due to confidentiality with clients but I will try to give you the good stuff. This blog is meant to be both entertaining and educational. I decided that I have too many stories to tell and if I don’t start getting them down on “paper” I will forget them. For now I am starting with this blog and who knows maybe some day I will add a podcast. Look for good things to come and enjoy!  If you are looking for a private investigator in Utah please go to www.utahspy.com.

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