(wrong string) â€™s Intercepts Exceed Limits Set by Congress from Mark Pelts on 2009-04-19 (file.mbox)

From: Mark Pelts <mark..._at_gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:56:15 -0500

>From - Sat Mar 02 00:57:16 2024
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From: "Its from Onion" <areda..._at_msn.com>
To: "TSCM-L2006" <TSCM-..._at_googlegroups.com>
Subject: So you want to be a PI...
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:14:29 -0500
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Not me!

1. Tell us a little about yourself (Where are you from? Where did you go to=
school? How old are you? Describe your job and how long you’ve been at i=
t, etc).

I’m from Atlanta, GA, and graduated from the University of Georgia in 197=
9. I’m 53 years old

2. Why did you want to become a private investigator? When did you know tha=
t it was what you wanted to do?

Well, I became a PI in a somewhat roundabout way. I had previously been a C=
riminal Investigator with NCIS in North Carolina, and when my father became=
ill, requested to transfer at no cost to them, to the Atlanta NCIS office,=
so that I could be near him if he got worse. This they declined to do, and=
so I resigned (after all, family comes first to me, above all else). While=
it was good to be closer to my dad and my family, I was unemployed. Of cou=
rse I had to seek employment somewhere, but didn’t really want to get bac=
k into law enforcement. As I was good at surveillance, I thought investigat=
ing in the private sector would be a good fit for me, and it was.

3. If man wants to become a private investigator, how should he best prepar=
e? What’s the best route into the job?

Contrary to what most guys think, being a cop is actually a detriment to be=
coming a PI, instead of vice versa. Cops roll in loud and very obvious and =
visible, while a PI needs to be stealthy and very, very low profile. He nee=
ds to get information in a roundabout way, not by using the authority of hi=
s office, or uniform. So cops coming to the job find it hard to break old h=
abits, and seldom have I seen cops become good PI’s. On the other hand, I=
have found that my experience in the military, especially in naval specwar=
, has been a great help in my current job. In my naval career, I went throu=
gh BUD/S training for SEAL Teams, got injured about 2/3 of the way through,=
and then got into the Special Boat Units, tasked with inserting and extrac=
ting the SEALs. There, stealth and independent thinking was a valued commod=
ity, just as it is in the PI industry. I would say that a guy with a good, =
practical military background (as an “operator,” not as an office “po=
ag”) who takes the state course in licensing, who has learned a lot about=
deception, cover and concealment, and is a good fast thinker, will be a go=
od PI.

4. How competitive is it to get a job as a private investigator? Do most gu=
ys set up their own business or work for someone else?

It’s not really that hard to get hired, as long as you’re qualified, bu=
t staying on the job is harder. This job has a lot of turnaround, and you s=
ee guys come and go due mostly to their own job performance. If you see a g=
uy who has been at the same company for a number of years, it’s a safe be=
t that he’s getting the job done. Some guys leave and start their own bus=
inesses, but I know one such guy, who tells me that he’s being eaten up i=
n insurance costs for himself as well as his investigators, so to me it’s=
not worth the hassle.

5. What is the best part of the job?

Working independently, making many of your own decisions, solving problems =
using your own skills and not having someone constantly looking over your s=
houlder.

6. What is the worst part of the job?

Boredom. Often you have to sit in a surveillance position for literally hou=
rs upon hours until something happens, if it happens at all. In such a situ=
ation, you can’t read a book, or newspaper to relieve the boredom, becaus=
e as soon as you do that, something is bound to happen, and you’ll miss i=
t. I should say here that I work workman’s comp cases exclusively, meanin=
g that I conduct surveillances on people who claim to have been injured at =
work. As such, getting videotape of them changing an engine out of their tr=
uck, exercising, or other such activity, is the key to my work. Sometimes i=
t happens, and sometimes nothing happens, but you have to remain constantly=
vigilant nonetheless.

8. What is the biggest misconception people have about the job?

I’m not really sure, but I feel that most people probably think it’s a =
lot more glamorous than it really is. It’s a lot of very hard work; doing=
hours of research online before you even leave the house, driving miles to=
the case, sitting hours on a site waiting for something to go down, gettin=
g it all on film, driving back home, and then writing it all up in a report=
. Not so glamorous. But there are moments, like when after hours of waiting=
, thinking the day’s wasted, and suddenly seeing the subject (supposedly =
completely disabled) drive from his place, you follow him for miles and mil=
es to a junkyard, where he spends the next 2 hours crawling all over a junk=
ed car stripping parts off of it. And documenting it all on videotape. That=
makes the job worthwhile.

9. What is the work/family balance like?

Not too bad. While you may have to work some major holidays (as that’s wh=
en most people are apt to be active), you often start work very early, and =
so are able to return home in the neighborhood of 3 or 4 PM, instead of the=
6 or 7 many others experience.

10. Any other advice, tips, or anecdotes you’d like to share?

Just an anecdote. Once I had to follow a woman back to her very secluded, r=
ural farm house one afternoon, and set up surveillance to see if she’d do=
any work around the farm. This meant that I had to stay there all night, a=
nd wait until the wee hours of the morning when many folks do their farm ch=
ores. Well, there was no way I could just sit in my car in front of her hou=
se, or anywhere near it, due to the secluded nature of her place. I’d hav=
e stood out like a sore thumb. So I had to park my car about a mile away, a=
nd insert myself with my video camera into her area through some very thick=
woods. When I arrived, I set up my position behind a fallen tree, from whi=
ch place I could see her house pretty well. I had to be very quiet as she h=
ad a lot of dogs which ran loose around her property. Well, I got into posi=
tion, watched for many hours with no activity, and about 3 or 4 in the morn=
ing, fell asleep. After a while, I was startled awake by a rustling noise. =
I peeked over the top of the log, and saw a big black rottweiller sniffing =
the ground, and walking straight in my direction. I luckily had work camo f=
atigues, and had a navy K-Bar knife with me, as well as having sprayed myse=
lf with that scent-blocker that deer hunters use. The dog came closer and c=
loser, and I had absolutely no choice but to become as still as I possibly =
could, making sure that I slowly reached down and grabbed the handle of my =
knife. The dog came right up to the log, stepped up on top of it, and stood=
looking over at me, and sniffing my clothes. After what seemed like an hou=
r, but which was only probably 5 seconds, he stepped down, right onto my ch=
est, then off onto the ground. He walked along about 15 more feet, then tur=
ned and ran back to the house. I lay there for about 30 minutes, making sur=
e that he was really gone, and just trying to regroup my shaken nerves. Aft=
erwards, I slowly made my way to another position with better concealment, =
from where I later got some good video of her working outside. I feel that =
on that day, more than on any other, I earned every penny of my salary.

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<DIV>
Not me!
 
1. Tell us a little about yourself (Where are you from? Where di=
d you
go to school? How old are you? Describe your job and how long you’ve been=
at it,
etc).
I’m from Atlanta, GA, and graduated from the University of Georgia in =
1979.
I’m 53 years old
2. Why did you want to become a private investigator? When did y=
ou
know that it was what you wanted to do? 
Well, I became a PI in a somewhat roundabout way. I had previously been =
a
Criminal Investigator with NCIS in North Carolina, and when my father becam=
e
ill, requested to transfer at no cost to them, to the Atlanta NCIS office, =
so
that I could be near him if he got worse. This they declined to do, and so =
I
resigned (after all, family comes first to me, above all else). While it wa=
s
good to be closer to my dad and my family, I was unemployed. Of course I ha=
d to
seek employment somewhere, but didn’t really want to get back into law
enforcement. As I was good at surveillance, I thought investigating in the=

private sector would be a good fit for me, and it was.
3. If man wants to become a private investigator, how should he =
best
prepare? What’s the best route into the job?
Contrary to what most guys think, being a cop is actually a detriment to=

becoming a PI, instead of vice versa. Cops roll in loud and very obvious an=
d
visible, while a PI needs to be stealthy and very, very low profile. He nee=
ds to
get information in a roundabout way, not by using the authority of his offi=
ce,
or uniform. So cops coming to the job find it hard to break old habits, and=

seldom have I seen cops become good PI’s. On the other hand, I have found=
that
my experience in the military, especially in naval specwar, has been a grea=
t
help in my current job. In my naval career, I went through BUD/S training f=
or
SEAL Teams, got injured about 2/3 of the way through, and then got into the=

Special Boat Units, tasked with inserting and extracting the SEALs. There,=

stealth and independent thinking was a valued commodity, just as it is in t=
he PI
industry. I would say that a guy with a good, practical military background=
(as
an “operator,” not as an office “poag”) who takes the state course =
in licensing,
who has learned a lot about deception, cover and concealment, and is a good=
fast
thinker, will be a good PI.
4. How competitive is it to get a job as a private investigator?=
Do
most guys set up their own business or work for someone else? 
It’s not really that hard to get hired, as long as you’re qualified,=
but
staying on the job is harder. This job has a lot of turnaround, and you see=
guys
come and go due mostly to their own job performance. If you see a guy who h=
as
been at the same company for a number of years, it’s a safe bet that he=
’s
getting the job done. Some guys leave and start their own businesses, but I=
know
one such guy, who tells me that he’s being eaten up in insurance costs fo=
r
himself as well as his investigators, so to me it’s not worth the hassle.=

5. What is the best part of the job?
Working independently, making many of your own decisions, solving proble=
ms
using your own skills and not having someone constantly looking over your=

shoulder.
6. What is the worst part of the job? 
Boredom. Often you have to sit in a surveillance position for literally =
hours
upon hours until something happens, if it happens at all. In such a situati=
on,
you can’t read a book, or newspaper to relieve the boredom, because as so=
on as
you do that, something is bound to happen, and you’ll miss it. I should s=
ay here
that I work workman’s comp cases exclusively, meaning that I conduct
surveillances on people who claim to have been injured at work. As such, ge=
tting
videotape of them changing an engine out of their truck, exercising, or oth=
er
such activity, is the key to my work. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes=

nothing happens, but you have to remain constantly vigilant nonetheless.</P=
>
8. What is the biggest misconception people have about the
job?
I’m not really sure, but I feel that most people probably think it’s=
a lot
more glamorous than it really is. It’s a lot of very hard work; doing hou=
rs of
research online before you even leave the house, driving miles to the case,=

sitting hours on a site waiting for something to go down, getting it all on=

film, driving back home, and then writing it all up in a report. Not so
glamorous. But there are moments, like when after hours of waiting, thinkin=
g the
day’s wasted, and suddenly seeing the subject (supposedly completely disa=
bled)
drive from his place, you follow him for miles and miles to a junkyard, whe=
re he
spends the next 2 hours crawling all over a junked car stripping parts off =
of
it. And documenting it all on videotape. That makes the job worthwhile.
9. What is the work/family balance like?
Not too bad. While you may have to work some major holidays (as that’s=
when
most people are apt to be active), you often start work very early, and so =
are
able to return home in the neighborhood of 3 or 4 PM, instead of the 6 or 7=
many
others experience.
10. Any other advice, tips, or anecdotes you’d like to
share?
Just an anecdote. Once I had to follow a woman back to her very secluded=
,
rural farm house one afternoon, and set up surveillance to see if she’d d=
o any
work around the farm. This meant that I had to stay there all night, and wa=
it
until the wee hours of the morning when many folks do their farm chores. We=
ll,
there was no way I could just sit in my car in front of her house, or anywh=
ere
near it, due to the secluded nature of her place. I’d have stood out like=
a sore
thumb. So I had to park my car about a mile away, and insert myself with my=

video camera into her area through some very thick woods. When I arrived, I=
set
up my position behind a fallen tree, from which place I could see her house=

pretty well. I had to be very quiet as she had a lot of dogs which ran loos=
e
around her property. Well, I got into position, watched for many hours with=
no
activity, and about 3 or 4 in the morning, fell asleep. After a while, I wa=
s
startled awake by a rustling noise. I peeked over the top of the log, and s=
aw a
big black rottweiller sniffing the ground, and walking straight in my direc=
tion.
I luckily had work camo fatigues, and had a navy K-Bar knife with me, as we=
ll as
having sprayed myself with that scent-blocker that deer hunters use. The do=
g
came closer and closer, and I had absolutely no choice but to become as sti=
ll as
I possibly could, making sure that I slowly reached down and grabbed the ha=
ndle
of my knife. The dog came right up to the log, stepped up on top of it, and=

stood looking over at me, and sniffing my clothes. After what seemed like a=
n
hour, but which was only probably 5 seconds, he stepped down, right ont=
o my
chest, then off onto the ground. He walked along about 15 more feet, t=
hen
turned and ran back to the house. I lay there for about 30 minutes, making =
sure
that he was really gone, and just trying to regroup my shaken nerves.
Afterwards, I slowly made my way to another position with better concealmen=
t,
from where I later got some good video of her working outside. I feel that =
on
that day, more than on any other, I earned every penny of my salary.
 
 
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