THIEVING LITTLE BRITAINS

March 25th, 2008

A leading UK Private Investigator has found that more than three quarters of workers have stolen from their current or previous places of work. The figures show that potentially over £432m of company goods, including laptops, confidential personal data, TVs, and even an office pet in one case are stolen in the UK each year. It is also clear that very few measures are in place across companies to prevent theft from happening.

Recent anonymous online research commissioned by salgadoinvestigations.com of 1,476 British people has found that 78% have stolen from their place of work at some point in their lives. This means that with individuals admitting to stealing, on average, more than £920 worth of items throughout their careers, theft at work costs the economy nearly £432m each year. The research stipulated that office stationary did not count.

Those who denied pilfering from work however are certainly no angels, as 57% of people who haven’t yet stolen from a place of work said that they would if they thought that they could get away with it.

Jorge Salgado-Reyes, a leading UK Private Investigator is an expert in the fields of corporate and company theft, infidelity and person tracing with more than 19 years in the business, and has published the findings. Jorge commissioned the research to gain more of an understanding of Britain’s habits, and to highlight how companies can help turn this problem around.

Installing or more closely monitoring CCTV could be the saving grace for those companies who are noticing that their assets are dwindling. When asked “what would deter you from stealing an item?” 38.1% of the participants admitted that video monitoring would be the main deterrent. This was followed by 19% claiming that law involvement would be the one thing to dissuade them, with just 2.4% worried that their mum could/would find out.

Jorge had the following to say,

“In my line of work, you get used to shocking stories and facts, but these stats make for pretty scary reading. Companies are doing little to stop thefts of these kinds, with very few having deterrents such as monitored CCTV or robust asset management systems in place. The theft of confidential personal data has been in the media eye recently and for good reason – more and more companies are securing the services of Private Investigators like me to detect people committing often large-scale criminal acts of these kinds.

“It just goes to show that in today’s Britain, you really don’t know who you can trust.”

Amongst the stolen items anonymously detailed in the comprehensive survey were large sums of cash, alcohol, furniture, computer equipment and even one boss’ desk.

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Bad news for skivers! Announces Salgado Investigations

April 25th, 2007

A private detective agency has completed its first year in the Croydon area, offering employers a subtle way to weed out staff that pull ‘sickies’ or those who moonlight on the job.

SALGADO INVESTIGATIONS opened its office in the region due to the high level of enquiries from Surrey and South London areas.

Jorge Salgado-Reyes, private investigator for SALGADO INVESTIGATIONS, said: “We have found businesses; solicitors and private clients need investigators with local knowledge and a national reach.

“With its strong business reputation, Croydon is the natural choice for our office and is centrally located to operate throughout the Southeast and the UK.”

The company also assists with corporate or employee fraud, tracing, matrimonial issues and background checks.

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INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEWING

April 16th, 2007

It is essential to recognise that the key purpose in conducting an interview is to obtain facts/evidence, and to search for the truth, from the interviewee in a fair and proper manner.

Best practice is a method called the PEACE model. Planning & Preparation, Engage & Explain, Account, Closure & Evaluation. At the centre of this model is a commitment to best practice, communication skills, control, structure and flexibility.

Planning & Preparation: Planning is the mental process of getting ready. In planning the interviewer must understand;

• The object of the interview

• The relevant rules, regulations or points to prove

• What evidence is already to hand

• What deficiencies exist and what might be done about them

• How to prepare a flexible approach

• What rules must be followed

• What is known about the interviewee

In Preparation, interviewers must think about such things as the location of the interview, the environment and the administrative side e.g. should you have female witness present.

Engage & Explain: All interviews must start somewhere. There are two elements – the human side and the administrative side.

The engage element deals with the human side, set within the principle that first impressions are very important and set the tone for the interview. The explain element deals with the formalities required by law, rules or regulations or best practice and describing to the interviewee how the interview will be conducted.

Account: Having planned, prepared and opened the interview correctly, we come to the core of the interview. There are two styles of interviewing that can be followed at this point depending upon the application.The Cognitive Interview technique is designed for witnesses and has at its heart a process that allows the interviewee to relive the event about which you want information.

In the Conversation Management technique, the interviewee is asked to provide an account of what happened – the interviewer sub-divides this account into parts and probes for more detail, linking each sub-divided part to the next. Using this technique, it is essential that the interviewer be in control of the interview. He or she directs the interview and determines when specific areas are to be probed. This style is appropriate when the witness or suspect is unwilling to be totally frank or honest.

Closure: Before the formal closure of an interview, the interviewers should accurately summarise what has been said, and check that what has been said by each is correctly understood.

Evaluation: The post interview evaluation should look at three areas:

• The information obtained during the interview

• The evidence accumulated during the entire investigation

• The interviewers reflection on his/her own performance during the interview

A review of the information obtained is essential, if admissions were made, what checks might be made to corroborate these? If denials, what checks might be made to prove ordisprove these?

The PEACE model is universally acknowledged as current best practice.

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