Even before I was a Private Investigator, I loved to fish. I could stay by the water for hours on end, patiently waiting for that little nibble or tug on the line. Sometimes it is a big fish, and other times it doesn’t happen at all. You have your favorite or preferred location to start in and you know just how to “bait the hook” for the best results. I know just how to hold the rod to feel for that tiny twang as the fish nibbles at the bait. I know what hook size and line weight to use for the type of fish I am after. The time of day, the time of year, the activity in the area – these all have a direct effect on the outcome of the day. I could wait the entire day and get nothing, but when I do, the adrenaline rush that comes with it is something that you need to experience to appreciate or understand. I go from waiting to acting in seconds and then, what a rush when I catch that fish! It’s awesome! Fishing and hunting have very similar characteristics. The equipment and the prey may be different, but the rush is the same when you have them, whether it’s in your sight on your rifle or on the line ready to set the hook. It’s quite a feeling, however, I’ve been so busy with cases this year that I haven’t been able to actually fish for the first time since I was a teenager. But I’ve been focusing my attention on a different kind of fishing this year.
Basic principles of fishing apply to surveillance as well. When you hire a PI to follow someone you need someone who has the same characteristics as a good fisherman (or fisherwoman). They need to be able to know the best times to be there, based upon their experience, and most of all, how to patiently wait until the moment of truth – then reel them in (on camera at least). I love the rush I get when I spot the subject and begin the “chase”. But to get to that point takes a great deal of planning, persistence, and accumulated knowledge. It also takes good information. Without it, you could easily just be wasting time (and my client’s money). But I love the rush I get when a good outcome is obtained – and so do my clients.
When you need information on someone – you need a starting point. You need to supply us with everything you already have so that we have a baseline from which to work. The more information you have to start with, the better the outcome. I have a unique skill set that allows me to go beyond what the average person can do when it comes to obtaining information. This allows me to find answers that the typical member of the public cannot. Good starting information is sort of like the bait when fishing. Good information allows me to be able to do proper surveillance and get the results for the client. But sometimes the information is so limited that I need to do some digging beforehand. That’s when experience plays a key role. My team has the experience to be able to dig deep with whatever information they have and in most cases, find what is needed in order to get a lead on where to go from there to get results.
However, sometimes the information that is given is extremely limited. It seems almost impossible to find the person based on the information that is provided to us. This is where experience comes into play. My team and I have the skills to know what to do when we hit a proverbial wall and the patience to continue on when others would simply give up. I have a person in my company that excels at deep web searches. We had a case a while back where all I had from a client was a single photo, a name, and that they worked in a particular place in Elmont. We searched the web over and over and after weeks of deep searching, we had what we needed. We were able to find the person based on that minimal information, which led us to an address in Lake Success and a mountain of other information. All because we did not give up. This information enabled us to move on to surveillance and obtain the information needed for the client and to “kick bass” on this case (pun intended).
It isn’t always easy, and in some cases, the would-be client just does not have enough information for us to work with. Those are the tough ones. I am not one of those Private Investigators that will take your money if I don’t think there is a chance that I can do the job. I am at a point in my career where I can be more particular with the cases that I accept. If I do not take your case it is purely because I do not have the confidence that I can do it, based on the lack of information provided. A perfect example of this is a person who contacted me recently that said they met someone at a bus stop in New Hyde Park. She had his first name and he said he drove for Uber (although he did not have his car nearby and was at a bus stop (#redflag). That was all that she had to go on. She was desperate and felt like she missed her chance – that he could have been her “Mr. Right”. He apparently asked her to get coffee, but she was nervous and declined. She wanted our help, but we knew that we could not help her. So we declined the case, gave her some suggestions on what she could do on her own, and ended it there. While we felt bad, we would have felt worse if we took a case we knew we could not do. Plus, being a New Yorker, I would have been suspicious of the guy anyway and was relieved that she didn’t go off with him – I could have been getting a call from her relative that she was missing or worse, instead of talking to her on the phone, if she did go off with him.
But in most cases, we are able to help and always give 100% towards trying to get the information that people are searching for. It could be a background check on a potential employee or client or a person that you met on the internet that you are ready to commit to. We excel when it comes to these types of cases and love to “catch” the frauds before they do damage to your heart or your bank account. So when you are “fishing” for information on someone, don’t settle for the “catch of the day”. You need the “house specialty” which everyone always wants because they know they are getting the best. Come to us and we will put our team and our experience into your case and “reel in” the information for you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go get some bait and head off to my favorite fishing spot before it’s too late in the season. After all, I wouldn’t want to break my streak.
Investigreat, LLC is a recognized full service Private Investigation Agency that is fully licensed, insured and bonded, handling cases all over Connecticut as well as Queens NY, Brooklyn NY, Bronx NY, New York City, Staten Island and Long Island NY. Terri, along with her husband Adam, have been working cases for Legal Teams, Insurance Companies, Private Businesses, Municipalities, School Systems and general investigation services for the public since 1992.
Investigreat, LLC | Private Investigators serving Connecticut, Long Island City, Jamaica NY, Brooklyn NY and Queens NY | Office Numbers: 860-899-1710 or 718-412-1845 | Text: 718-309-1269