LPDAM's PI BLOG

LPDAM PREPARES FOR SEMINAR EXTRAVAGANZA 2006

2006-02-10T17:29:00.000-05:00

The LPDAM has formed a Seminar Committee lead by Vice President John
Lajoie. Lajoie has extensive experience in running investigative conferences , most notably the NESC in Atlantic City. The 2006 two day Seminar and Trade Show is planned for Sept 22 and 23rd at the Holiday Inn in Marlborough. With an exciting speaker line up and committed vendors the show is sure to duplicate the highly successful 2004 Seminar. Members and vendors can view additional preliminary information at the Association web site: www.lpdam.org

PI BONDING COMPANY SURVIVES HURRICANE AND RELOCATES

2005-09-16T15:42:00.000-05:00

Many LPDAM members obtain their PI Surety Bonds and Constable Bonds from International Sureties, LTD at exceptionally favorable multi year prices.

Formerly of the beleagured city of New Orleans , they have relocated to 1417 Centre St., New Iberia, Louisiana 70560. The new phone number is 504-581-6404 and the new fax number is 337-256-5641 .

The contact person we have had for many, many years is Cappy Kehoe, hopefully she is still with them. Member Kevin Flynn reports " please be patient with the fax as they have a lot going in and out over that line."

JAY GROOB ELECTED CII PRESIDENT

2005-09-13T18:21:00.000-05:00

LPDAM MEMBER JAY GROOB ELECTED President of the Council of International Investigators at their 2005 Annual General Meeting in CACAIS, LISBON, PORTUGAL. The conference was hosted by Roy Whitehouse of W.I.S International, a Portugal firm.

Jay is a long time member of the LPDAM and owner of American Investigative Services, Inc. in Brookline, Massachusetts.

CONGRADULATIONS JAY !!!

EMERGENCY ADDRESS BOOK

2005-08-23T08:25:00.000-05:00

-In case of emergency, put your cell on ICE -
USA Today Article -From LPDAM President John Buckley

In case of emergency, put your cell on ICE
By Elyse Andrews, USA TODAY

A movement is underway to turn the ubiquitous cell phone into a source of information for paramedics and other emergency personnel responding to accidents, crimes and disasters. A British paramedic came up with the idea of asking cell phone users to input an entry into their cellular phonebook called ICE for "in case of emergency."

Accompanying that acronym would be the name and phone numbers of the person who should be called if something has happened to the owner of the phone. The ICE campaign was launched in Britain in April, but people really started paying attention after the July terrorist bombings in London that killed 56 and injured hundreds. Bob Brotchie, a Cambridge-based paramedic for 13 years, says he has responded to many accidents in which the injured person carried no information about next of kin or emergency contacts. This makes it difficult for paramedics because they don't know the patient's medical history or allergies, he says. The British campaign, initially promoted in conjunction with Vodafone's annual Life Savers Awards, is "going phenomenally well," says Brotchie. Vodaphone is a British mobile phone company. Now paramedics in the USA want to encourage ICE usage by Americans. "I certainly think it can help," says Matthew Levy of the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics. "(We are) hoping that we can get people excited."
Joe Farren of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association-Wireless Network says the industry is definitely interested in joining the campaign. And word is spreading in the USA via news reports and word of mouth. Linda Huntress of Meredith, N.H., received an e-mail about ICE that she forwarded to her friends and family. She programmed ICE into her phone, noting that it's better than other forms of identification because women sometimes go out without a purse but bring their cell phones. "Basically, we have cell phones so that we have a way to reach help," she says. "I would want my family to know what happened to me." Farren says there are so many different U.S. service providers that one of the challenges is getting all the companies to promote use of the same acronym. If they don't, it will be confusing to those who need the number, he says. *

NCISS-LPDAM NEWS BULLETIN

2005-08-22T09:46:00.000-05:00

Data-protection turf war pleases lobbyists
From the NCISS Legislative Committee

August 17, 2005

Data-protection turf war pleases lobbyists By Elana Schor, The HillThe many data-security bills wending their way around the Hill are sparking a turf war in the Senate but relief on K Street, where lobbyists in several industries welcome the crush of options as a much-needed drag on momentum.While acknowledging the need to regulate trade in consumers' personal information to prevent identity theft, lobbyists say the universe of companies potentially affected by new data-security standards presents challenges that lawmakers have yet to address fully. By next month, two more congressional committees are likely to join the four already working on the issue.''It's difficult to even define an industry here because you have so many different kinds of companies who have suffered breaches - data providers, banks, credit-card providers. It's difficult to decide who would have jurisdiction,'' said Abby Stewart, a lobbyist at Jefferson Consulting Group, which represents one of the businesses that recently has endured the public-relations nightmare of a personal-data breach.

The Senate Commerce Committee cleared the first hurdle just before the August recess, unanimously approving an anti-ID-theft bill that prevents the trading of Social Security numbers without their owners' consent and allows easy freezing of consumer-credit reports. But banking lobbyists, and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), were displeased with Commerce's quick movement."The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a Banking Committee issue, and Senate Commerce just ripped it out and put it in their bill," said one banking lobbyist who asked not to be identified. "his is the problem with all the bills; it's a huge jurisdictional fight."Bob Davis, top lobbyist for America's Community Bankers, sent a letter to Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and ranking member Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) urging them to withhold support for the bill over two provisions: credit freezing, which banks fear could inadvertently discourage consumers from signing up for new credit cards, and permitting state attorneys general to sue nationally regulated banks for noncompliance. Stevens and Inouye nonetheless endorsed the bill, which was introduced by Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).

Stewart echoed the banking lobbyist's sentiment when discussing the Senate Judiciary Committee, which postponed consideration of three separate data-security bills until the end of recess. "It's an intriguing concept that they would have jurisdiction at all," she said.The lead Senate Judiciary bill, sponsored by Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and ranking member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), attracts criticism from lobbyists because it could let states wriggle free from some aspects of new national data-security rules. Another Judiciary bill, written by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), has a crucial cheerleader in ChoicePoint, the data broker that disclosed the first of this year's high-profile security breaches."We'd like to see a vehicle like that get through," said David Davis, vice president of government affairs at ChoicePoint, referring to Feinstein's bill. The company supports Feinstein's language about the definition of "real harm" posed to consumers, sometimes call the "California standard," which would trigger automatic notification of an ID-theft risk.Davis praised Stevens's promise to hold up floor consideration of the Senate Commerce bill until chairmen can resolve their jurisdictional clashes but noted the realities of a legislative clock ticking down into fall. "If all the stars were aligned, and Banking and Judiciary stepped back, then you would still have the House," he said.

ChoicePoint is one of only a few stakeholders actively pushing for a bill to pass this year. Most other lobbyists were not discouraged by the likelihood that Congress's crammed calendar would make consensus on data security unreachable before 2006.So far only the House Financial Services Committee has tackled the question of who pays for consumer notification after a security breach, one of the most pressing priorities for banks and credit-card issuers. That committee's bill, introduced by Reps. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) and Mike Castle (R-Del.), requires the company responsible for the information exposure to foot the bill for "reasonable and actual costs."One financial-services lobbyist said an accountability vacuum in the aftermath of a large-scale data compromise could be hazardous. "If there is a fear of liability, about what happened and who's paying, the flow of information gets severely restricted."Giving too many concessions to banks and credit cards could alienate data brokers such as ChoicePoint and Lexis-Nexis, which was hacked by ID thieves in March in a breach the company first projected as one-tenth of its actual size.
In addition to requiring responsible companies to pay for notification, some lobbyists would like to see banks get reimbursed for the new creditcards that often must be issued after a breach.In the House, the Energy and Commerce and Judiciary committees remain in the process of drafting their data-security bills. The former version will likely give blanket enforcement power to the Federal Trade Commission, an annoyance to banks that want their financial regulators to take on data-security duties to avoid creating new bureaucracy.

Yet another player in the game is the private-investigation community, which has formed a lobbying coalition and embarked on a vigorous publicity push to remind lawmakers that access to Social Security numbers does not solely affect public law enforcement.Lawrence Sabbath, who lobbies for the National Council of Investigation & Security Services (NCISS), said the substitute amendment in Stevens's committee ironically could keep private eyes from tracking down the same fraudsters who perpetrate ID thefts. "They recognize that there are potential problems," Sabbath said. "There is some indication that that [Social Security] provision may not remain in the bill."
_________________________________________________________
Submitted by Bruce Hulme, Chairman, for the NCISS Legislative Committee.

Professional investigators wishing to support the medial/PR/legislative efforts of the National Council of Investigation & Security Services and to protect investigators' continued access to SSN, DOB, DLN and personal information from restrictive federal legislation in Washington may send contributions to the NCISS Legislative Fund at 7801 Sparrows Point Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21219.

Information about NCISS may be obtained by calling 1-800-445-8408 or going to www.nciss.org*

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HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH YOUR COMPUTER

2005-08-15T08:05:00.000-05:00

JOHN HEALY OFFERS A NEW PI PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE

How to Investigate by and Make money with your computer! Lunch and con't bkfst included!! This seminar will have something for everyone , from the newbie to computer investigation, to the seasoned veteran.
ONE case where you "investigate bycomputer" in depth, will more than pay for the cost of these two days.
The details of the Seminar are proprietary and as sensitive information will be discussed we will not publish course content in this public venue.

PRE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED REGISTER EARLY AND SAVE $$$
DATES:November 7,8 20059:00 AM - 4:30 PM each day.
LOCATION:Holiday Inn711 Dwight St.Springfield, Mass Near the Jct of Rts 91 and 291. Centrally located and easy to get to FromNew York and New England

INSTRUCTOR:Instructor: John M Healy, Litigation Intelligence Services, LLC
President; NH League of Investigators Lt. (Ret) NH State Police
Past President; New England Council of State InvestigatorAssociations -NECOSIA
Adjunct Faculty NH and VT Police Academies

Phone/Fax 603-746-4994
e-Mail: jhealy@conknet.com http://www.litigationintelligence.com/

Includes: Con't Bkfst, lunch and all handouts. Minimum 30 students required to go forward.
COST: PRIOR to SEPTEMBER 23, 2005Cost: $275.00 for members of State Associations Licensed Investigators who are not members: $350.00
AFTER SEPTEMBER 23, 2005 $325.00 for members $400.00 for non members

PP Tom Jackson wins Presidential Award

2005-07-22T08:27:00.000-05:00

Past President Tom Jackson has won the 2004-2005 LPDAM Presidential Award. Conferred by Past President Tom Shamshak for continued excellance and service to LPDAM and the PI profession. Tom is a Charter member of LPDAM and the longest continously serving member of the Board of Directors. A well deserved award !!!

2005-07-20T06:42:00.000-05:00

We have learned that our LPDAM Vice President, John Lajoie has written a PI book reflecting his experiences as a Massachusetts private investigator. The new book,
Trials & Tribulations of a Real Life Private Eye, hits the stands soon and will be available at on-line book stores in about three weeks

"When John Lajoie approached a bank for a loan to start his private investigation business in 1989, he had trouble convincing anyone he could turn the operation into a success. Less than two decades later, Lajoie owns one of the largest investigative agencies in central Massachusetts and is regarded as one of the nation’s leading private investigators. Now, in Trials and Tribulations of a Real Life Private Eye, Lajoie tells his story, explaining the decisions and actions that allowed him to turn a struggling one-man operation into a successful agency. From the details of his work on high-profile homicides cases and as a member of elite criminal defense teams to the death threats and personal struggles that come with success in a dangerous business, Lajoie describes the reality of the world of private investigation as only an expert can."

Lets give words of support and encouragement to our esteemed brother PI and next LPDAM president. Even better....lets buy his book !!!

For more info:

http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=33023

LPDAM E-NEWS BULLETIN

2005-07-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

July 19, 2005

www.KiplingerForecasts.com
New ID theft rules coming
When a batch of credit card numbers goes missing or a hacker invades a credit bureau, potential victims will soon be able to count on getting help faster. Congress will pass an ID theft bill this year that sets a national standard for handling security breaches at financial service firms and elsewhere.
The legislation will also extend existing privacy laws to data brokerages, which collect and sell consumers’ info to other businesses. And stiffer penalties await firms whose security isn’t up to snuff. The crackdown will have some unintended consequences. It’ll be harder to collect debts owed to businesses or individuals, as well as child support and other financial obligations. Investigators often rely on Social Security numbers and other personal info to locate deadbeats.

2005-07-18T16:20:00.000-05:00

Licensed Private Detectives Association of Massachusetts

NCISS Washington DC Success

2005-07-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

NCISS Washington DC Success!
From LPDAM Legislative Chairman Tom Shamshak

Message from NCISS President Brian P. McGuinness -

Many thanks to all who came to Washington D.C. this past week to NCISS' "Hit the Hill" event and our all day Identity Theft Seminar. We had record turnout on Capitol Hill & made some valuable contacts & gained some valuable insight into the current slew of legislation that affects our industry.

Our PR campaign paid off with print media there and television interviews from news teams with CBS and NBC. The NBC interviews aired in CA but the CBS interviews should go national with a related news story and we will advise as to when that occurs. They may wait until a bill is marked up in the next week or so.

Bruce Hulme, our Legislative Chairman and Larry Sabbath, our government affairs consultant are going through all the Congressional Visit sheets now to gauge our progress on the Hill. We will post something very soon as to legislation and how much good was accomplished in Washington.

Thanks to Jon McDowall for spearheading our ID Theft Seminar. He did an outstanding job arranging for an impressive line-up of speakers including representatives from the Secret Service, Dept. of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and his own presentation was very well received. Also, thanks to Bob Heales for handling all the conference and hotel details, it was a first class hotel and the ballroom where the presentations took place was outstanding.

I also want to thank John Stoll, an exonerated former California prison inmate who was incarcerated for over twenty years for a crime he did not commit. John came to Capitol Hill and told his story which involved Sheila Klopper a San Jose CA - based private investigator working for the Northern California Innocence Project. Sheila found two witnesses out of state using SSN searches who later recanted and helped free John twenty years after his conviction. It made for a powerful story and demonstrated our continued need for full access to database searches and SSNs. John and Sheila were interviewed by the media and also met with Congressional staff during our Hit the Hill campaign.

NCISS also moderated the second Data Provider and Private Investigator meeting which preceded our lobbying effort. There were over 20 representatives in attendance. There will be a summary posted soon by Jimmie Mesis from PI Magazine. We are gradually making progress; there were no significant breakthroughs but the effort was worthwhile and will be continued in Las Vegas for a third meeting.

More to come...

Brian P. McGuinness, President
National Council of Investigation and Security Services
www.nciss.org
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING NCISS

2005-07-18T08:48:00.000-05:00

Immediate Past President Thomas Shamshak has just returned from a successful trip to Washington DC.

Tom reports; "The lobbying event here in DC went very well. I attended the Investigator - Data Provider roundtable on Wed. I managed to meet with 2 Congressman, and learned that Barney Frank has co-sponsored a bill to give PIs an exemption to the bills limiting access to full SS #'s. I took a few photos for the Journal; I will give you a brief account. Bob Winstanley and Dave Mink also attended."

Even during the summer vacation months the LPDAM leadership is hard at work protecting your interests.