UK Private Investigator Blog - "Criminal Records Kept for 100 years"

Hi,

It was widely reported in the UK media that five individuals who had criminal records for petty crime had taken the police to court and won the case. The police were told that keeping a criminal record of someone who stole a 99 pence packet of meet in 1984 when they were a teenager was not fair to the person in adult life as this criminal record stopped them getting many jobs.

The result of this ruling meant that the police would have to delete many criminal records of a similar nature. However, recently the police won their appeal and have been allowed to keep such criminal records on file for 100 years.

A police spokesman commented that “ This data assists police officers in their work in preventing crime and protecting the public ”. The Association of Chief Police Officers supported the judgement, saying that "the ramifications of losing the appeal were potentially huge".

However, human rights protest groups opposed the decision. A spokesman for the Liberty group said that under the current laws “people will be forever haunted by the minor indiscretions of their youth”


I hope everyone has a fun fireworks night in the UK,

Andy
Andy on 11.03.09 @ 11:00 AM CST [link]

UK Private Investigator Blog - "PIs to be licensed in 2011"

Hi,

It's been announced that the UK government has set the date for licensing of private investigators and other related industries as October 2011. It's not the first time a deadline has been issued. There was one in 2003 and one in 2006, both of which were abandoned near the deadline.

The only difference this time is that the security industry has been licensed. That covers security guards and bouncers and other such activities. There's also some rumours of parts of the 2011 licensing being dropped as the industry they cover is too small to warrant the paper work and expense.

In other news, there's to be a Royal Mail strike on Thursday and Friday. Obviously, this will have an effect in my business and everyone else's. I'll just have to wait until the following Monday to write to persons I have located to confirm it is indeed them and get them back intouch.

Thanks,
Andy
Andy on 10.15.09 @ 09:48 AM CST [link]

Hi,

UK citizens may not have heard much about it, but there's going to be a new UK Supreme Court formed on the 1st of October 2009. The very last avenue for appeal in the UK is usually the House of Lords, the new supreme court will take over that burden. The new court will open it's doors in Middlesex with projected costs of £60 Million and running costs of £12 million a year.

The UK Supreme court will take over the role of settling devolution disputes arising from the Scottish government and the assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland. It's the final court of appeal for civil cases in the UK, and most criminal cases (except those in Scotland).

The move was needed to improve transparency and independence according to one law lord, but critics have claimed it's nothing more than a fancy title and a short office move from what we have already.

I guess only time will tell.

Andy
Andy on 09.05.09 @ 02:26 AM CST [link]

UK Private Investigator Blog - "Debt Awards '09???"

Hi,

Those people not in the finance or investigation industry may not even have heard of the Debt Collection Awards,‭ ‬but I assure you they do exist.‭ ‬They have announced that members of their industry have until September‭ ‬18th‭ ‬2009‭ ‬to nominate any company they think should get an award.

Just for a little fun,‭ ‬here are the categories:-

consumer Debt Collection Agency‭ ‬of the Year‭ <‬£2m‭
consumer DCA of the Year‭ >‬£2m‭
commercial DCA of the Year‭
Debt Purchaser of the Year‭
Tracing Team of the Year‭
Enforcement Team of the Year‭
Compliance Team of the Year‭
DCA Manager of the Year‭ ‬  

I've been doing a lot of traces in Canada recently,‭ ‬I wonder why the sudden increase‭? ‬My contacts over there have been delivering top-notch results as well‭ – ‬locating ex-service men from WW2‭ ‬and finding all sorts of missing relatives.‭ ‬Give me an email if anyone needs any work done.

I've also noticed an increase in the amount of small businesses contacting me to trace run away debtors in the UK.‭ ‬I think this is still some of the recession fall out.‭ ‬According to the BBC the government's expecting slight growth in the economy but it'll take several years of steady growth to get back to where we were.

Anyway,‭ ‬I hope you've all enjoyed the summer‭! ‬Judging by the weather the last few weeks a UK‭ “‬Indian Summer‭” ‬has went right out of the window...

Thanks,
Andy
Andy on 08.20.09 @ 07:27 AM CST [link]

UK Private Investigation Blog "Taps and bad Pis"

Hi,

It’s been a busy month for the investigation and security industries! At least for gossip…

The scandal involving journalists tapping celebrities phones and hacking their answering machines drew a stern reply from investigation associations. Journalists and private investigators in their employ were able to hack into celebrities voice mail messages as they had stupidly left the original pre-programmed 1234 password as the answer machine’s entry code. That’s exactly how British scientists broke the enigma code machine in WW2, the Germans had used a very simple 1234 code rather than one of the billions available to them.

The Association of British Investigators made this statement – “The Association shares the public concerns regarding the unlawful practices of persons claiming to be either private investigators or journalists. Despite the introduction of legislation in 2001 that required investigators to be licensed, the profession is still no closer to this happening”.

The call for further licensing of information users such as investigators and journalists was also made by many investigators. The statement was echoed by the other UK investigation associations. It’s always the maverick investigators who are not members of UK investigation associations who do this sort of thing, and they spoil the credibility of real investigators in the process. These acts were so obviously illegal no real investigator would go near them.

Once licensing is started you'll find people commiting such acts are in fact not licensed investigators, but cowboys.

Thanks,
Andy

Andy on 07.19.09 @ 01:55 PM CST [link]

UK Private Investigator Blog - "Turkey Shoot"

Hi,

Well, I’ve heard it all now! I regularly check my association newsgroups and information sources for private investigator news around the world. There was an incident in Annsville, New York State, USA in late May.

Apparently, a private investigator was sneaking around on a farm in Annsville trying to gather evidence on the owner for a workers compensation claim. The farmer saw what appeared to be a large turkey on his land and grabbed his shotgun and marched off to hunt the bird. He trailed the bird until it saw it enter some woodland bordering his farm and then opened fire on it.

As you may have guessed - it wasn’t a turkey, it was the private investigator! The unfortunate PI is in critical condition in hospital from what I’ve heard and the local cops are investigating the farmer. They said in a press statement that although they were suspicious at first, as the farmer could be said to have motive for the attack, they are pretty sure it was an accident. They cautioned the farmer to be more thorough and identify his target better before shooting and they also said that when in woodland people should wear bright colours to avoid such accidents.

I hope the PI makes a full recovery. It's a funny story, but keep in mind someone was seriously injured.

Thanks,
Andy

Andy on 06.29.09 @ 03:37 AM CST [link]

UK Private Investigator Blog - "Oysters make you sick?"

Hi,

I’ve heard all the sorties about wives keeping tabs on their husbands to find out if they are cheating. Usually private investigators stay away from such cases, unlike what you’d hear from the movies. The reason is, if the husband’s not cheating it will be a battle to get paid. A surveillance bill runs into 100s of pounds, and fit he husband’s not cheating the wife won’t want to pay for useless information. So why bother accepting the case at this stage? The only matrimonial surveillances I’ve heard of being done are when the couple have reached the courts in a messy and expensive divorce.

Not living in London, it’s take a little while for this story to trickle down to me. In London you can buy an Oyster card. It’s a pre-paid transport card that can carry up to £90 of credit to use on London trains, underground and busses. The trouble is it also records the amounts paid for each journey and where each journey started and ended. There’s been more than a few wives sneaky enough to check up on their husbands using this information, after all he’ll leave his wallet and the Oyster card in his pockets when it comes time for her to wash them. You’ve been warned gentlemen. I doubt very much if London is the only city in the world with such a travel card, I know Sydney had something similar when I visited a few years ago.

Wikipedia Oyster Card Article:-
Oyster Card (Wiki)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Bank Holiday, and don’t be shy to give me an email if you need to find a lost family member, business associate or debtor. I’ll help you out as best I can.

Thanks,
Andy

Andy on 05.26.09 @ 03:02 AM CST [link]