I have lost count of the number of interrogations that I have completed over the last 10 years but there have been over a thousand. I don't know whether this makes me an expert but it certainly means I know what I am talking about.
So how is it done? Well it is far easier than you think. There is however one golden rules:
1. ESTABLISH BASE LINE BEHAVIOUR
Let me give you an example on how it is done.
In my previous posts I have spoken about Gary and Emma and the text he received suggesting that his wife was being unfaithful.
Having read the text Gary should have saved the message and acted as if nothing important had been received. He should then have chatted to Emma about a subject he is very familiar with for example her car, or her job or a planned change to their home. (it must be a personal subject)Whilst doing this he should closely monitor her base line behaviour.
This means watching how she uses her hands; are they waved about, kept still or placed in her lap? How much eye contact does she make, where does she look when she is using long term memory or emotional recall, what is her blink rate? How many and what type of facial expressions does she use? He should also listen carefully to her voice, what tone is she using, what is her word speed, clarity and loudness. Finanlly observe her body movements and positioning, is she laid back, facing away or towards him legs closed up or stretched etc.
Once he is confident that he has a good understanding of her base line behaviour he should now steer the conversation onto those occasions when Emma has been on her own and had the opportunity to be with someone else (a lover). This includes evenings out with a friend, late nights at work, trips away etc. However it is important that Gary remains relaxed and slightly disinterested in her answers but at the same time continuing to watch her base line behaviour for any subtle changes. Then Gary should tell Emma that a friend or work colleague (John) wants to meet him privately about a very sensitive matter but will only talk about it in person. He now needs to monitor whether Emma remains passive or curious and if so just how curious? Now he delivers the first power statement. Which should be similar to 'I think John suspects his wife is having an affair'.
This will enable Gary to lead Emma onto the subject of infidelity whilst at the same time closely watching what if any changes there are in her base line behaviour. Gary should now tell Emma how he would feel if he were in John's position. How this would hurt him and impact on his life and his relationship with Emma. Finally he should ask Emma what he should say to John and whether he should tell John to get a private detective or a divorce lawyer?
This is a critical stage of the conversation because if Emma is having an affair she will become very nervous about the subjects of private detectives or divorce lawyers.
Then without warning Gary should end the conversation, tell Emma that he loves her and then find a reason to leave the room. It is very important that Gary does not raise the subject again for the rest of the evening.
In my next post i will explain what happens next.
Dan Sharp
Private Detective
Friday, 2 April 2010
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Private Detective's Interrogation Skills 'Leading a Lamb to Slaughter'
One of the hardest disciplines to master as a Private Investigator is the that of interviewing and interrogation. Government bodies have become very PC over the last decade and the word interrogation is rarely used, save for the unofficial conversations with British passport holders who have taken an unexpected vacation in Cuba.
Interviewing is quite simply the process that the private investigator uses in order to gather information. The interviewer's objective is to gather as much relevant information as possible, therefore they must manage the conversation in order to keep the interviewee focused on important subjects. However it must be managed not controlled. If the interviewer becomes too focused on their objective then the interviewee will realise what is occurring and become uncomfortable and defensive.
Interrogation however is far more complex and requires a good degree of planning and preparation. On this occasion the private investigator takes on the role of an interrogator and is after specific answers as opposed to general information. The interrogator will have a number of important questions to ask and should anticipate the likely answers and have back-up questions prepared in case they are required. This does not mean that the interrogator should have a written list of questions, far from it. The interrogator must establish and maintain a rapport with the subject of the interrogation and then guide the subject to the issues they wish to discuss.
The best way to describe the relationship between the interrogator and the subject is as follows.
Imagine a scene where a farmer decides to slaughter one of his lambs. If he walks into the pen carrying a large knife and wearing a blood proof apron the the lambs will panic and scatter everywhere. Far better that he strolls into the pen carrying a handful of maze and patiently waits for the chosen lamb to approach. He then stokes the animal and talks to it in a calm voice whilst gently leading it away from the flock. Once the animal is completely at ease he is free to draw his slaughter knife and strike the killing blow.
That is what a professional interrogator must do in order to achieve the desired result. Place the subject at ease, gently guide them through the conversation and then deliver the killer question with the same skill as the farmer slitting the lamb's throat.
Its like Hannibal Lecter inviting someone out for dinner without his dinner guest ever realising that they are the main course.
In my next blog I will show you how its done.
Regards
Dan Sharp
Private Detective
Interviewing is quite simply the process that the private investigator uses in order to gather information. The interviewer's objective is to gather as much relevant information as possible, therefore they must manage the conversation in order to keep the interviewee focused on important subjects. However it must be managed not controlled. If the interviewer becomes too focused on their objective then the interviewee will realise what is occurring and become uncomfortable and defensive.
Interrogation however is far more complex and requires a good degree of planning and preparation. On this occasion the private investigator takes on the role of an interrogator and is after specific answers as opposed to general information. The interrogator will have a number of important questions to ask and should anticipate the likely answers and have back-up questions prepared in case they are required. This does not mean that the interrogator should have a written list of questions, far from it. The interrogator must establish and maintain a rapport with the subject of the interrogation and then guide the subject to the issues they wish to discuss.
The best way to describe the relationship between the interrogator and the subject is as follows.
Imagine a scene where a farmer decides to slaughter one of his lambs. If he walks into the pen carrying a large knife and wearing a blood proof apron the the lambs will panic and scatter everywhere. Far better that he strolls into the pen carrying a handful of maze and patiently waits for the chosen lamb to approach. He then stokes the animal and talks to it in a calm voice whilst gently leading it away from the flock. Once the animal is completely at ease he is free to draw his slaughter knife and strike the killing blow.
That is what a professional interrogator must do in order to achieve the desired result. Place the subject at ease, gently guide them through the conversation and then deliver the killer question with the same skill as the farmer slitting the lamb's throat.
Its like Hannibal Lecter inviting someone out for dinner without his dinner guest ever realising that they are the main course.
In my next blog I will show you how its done.
Regards
Dan Sharp
Private Detective
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Infidelity 'Unfaithfully Yours' Part Two
In my last post I left you wondering what Gary was going to do with the information he received by text suggesting that his loving wife was cheating on him.
So what would you do if you found yourself in the same situation?
Well Gary did what just about every other person would do, he showed the text to Emma and asked her to read it. But this is where he made his first and biggest mistake.
There are thousands of so called 'Body Language' experts out there making vast amounts of money trying to convince people that reading body language is a skill that can only be mastered by buying their book or DVD. This is absolute nonsense. Everyone over the age of 21 should consider themselves to be an expert in reading body language because that is exactly what we have all being doing since we opened our eyes for the first time.
However the only way you can spot if someone is lying to you is to first make sure that you observe their behaviour when you know they are telling the truth (this is called base-line behaviour). You then carefully watch for any changes in their behaviour whilst you question them about a particular subject ie. an unusual text message implying that your partner is cheating on you. I have simplified it somewhat but I have used this method thousands of times and it has proven to be reliable on every occasion.
So Gary should have firstly considered the content of the text, asked his wife a number of questions to which he knew the answers. established base-line behaviour and then showed her the text and then and only then asked her specific questions about the content of the texts.
Gary however let his emotions get the better of him and immediately started to challenge Emma. His questions included, 'What is going on?' Are you having an affair?' Who is this person?' Emma, understandably went straight on the defensive which is what most people will do. However it also enables the dishonest person to pretend indignation and thereby avoid having to answer difficult questions. This is called avoidance behaviour and is often punctuated with phrases like, 'Are you accusing me of lying?' 'I'm not putting up with your accusations' 'What is wrong with you?' This is often followed by withdrawal behaviour where the guilty party walks off and successfully evades having to answer any difficult searching questions about their infidelity.
Gary asked Emma three questions before she said 'I don't believe you don't trust me' and then she stormed out of the room. This was followed by a blazing row during which Gary took hold of Emma's arm after she tried to hit him in the face. A short while later Emma called the police and Gary was arrested for assault.
Happy Valentine's Day Gary.
In my next blog I will explain what Gary should have done.
Dan Sharp
Private Eye.
So what would you do if you found yourself in the same situation?
Well Gary did what just about every other person would do, he showed the text to Emma and asked her to read it. But this is where he made his first and biggest mistake.
There are thousands of so called 'Body Language' experts out there making vast amounts of money trying to convince people that reading body language is a skill that can only be mastered by buying their book or DVD. This is absolute nonsense. Everyone over the age of 21 should consider themselves to be an expert in reading body language because that is exactly what we have all being doing since we opened our eyes for the first time.
However the only way you can spot if someone is lying to you is to first make sure that you observe their behaviour when you know they are telling the truth (this is called base-line behaviour). You then carefully watch for any changes in their behaviour whilst you question them about a particular subject ie. an unusual text message implying that your partner is cheating on you. I have simplified it somewhat but I have used this method thousands of times and it has proven to be reliable on every occasion.
So Gary should have firstly considered the content of the text, asked his wife a number of questions to which he knew the answers. established base-line behaviour and then showed her the text and then and only then asked her specific questions about the content of the texts.
Gary however let his emotions get the better of him and immediately started to challenge Emma. His questions included, 'What is going on?' Are you having an affair?' Who is this person?' Emma, understandably went straight on the defensive which is what most people will do. However it also enables the dishonest person to pretend indignation and thereby avoid having to answer difficult questions. This is called avoidance behaviour and is often punctuated with phrases like, 'Are you accusing me of lying?' 'I'm not putting up with your accusations' 'What is wrong with you?' This is often followed by withdrawal behaviour where the guilty party walks off and successfully evades having to answer any difficult searching questions about their infidelity.
Gary asked Emma three questions before she said 'I don't believe you don't trust me' and then she stormed out of the room. This was followed by a blazing row during which Gary took hold of Emma's arm after she tried to hit him in the face. A short while later Emma called the police and Gary was arrested for assault.
Happy Valentine's Day Gary.
In my next blog I will explain what Gary should have done.
Dan Sharp
Private Eye.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Infidelity 'Unfaithfull Yours' chapter One
Gary's story.
I have recently taken on a new client who has been the unfortunate recipient of some very enlightening and mind blowing texts. Before I begin I would just like to say that I am not a fan of this particular means of communication. It is all to often used by people to convey a message that they do not have the emotional courage to give personally. So for those of you that have used it for this purpose. Shame on you! You did a heartless and cruel thing and someone suffered because of you. Anyway I will get off my orange box and get to the story.
Anyway, Gary (not his real name of course) was less than overjoyed to be enlightened by TEXT that his loving wife of two years was having an affair with the sender of the text. The first message read
'Sorry to have to tell you this mate but I've been seeing you wife for the last few months'
At the time of receiving the text Gary was snuggled up next to his wife watching a romantic movie. Try to picture the scene? First there is the little tune letting Gary know that a text has arrived. He lazily reaches over and scoops up his phone, hits the open message button and pow! Hey! Gary your world has just ripped apart.
So what would you do now?
Gary initially thought that it was a joke from one of his friends, why did he think that? well its because the date was 14th February. Happy Valentine's day Gary. Gary's mind went into overdrive whilst he tried to figure out what to do. However time was not on his side because the texter had more wonderful information to share.
The next text read, 'She wants to leave you mate i thought it was better that you know the truth'
I have investigated numerous cases of infidelity and have witnessed some rather foul deeds but the editor of these particular texts is by far the lowest kind of ditch scum I have encountered. He would have known when he sent his texts that two things were going to happen. Firstly he was just sending a wrecking ball into Gary's life and secondly Gary's wife, lets call her Emma was just about to face some very searching questions from a less than understanding husband.
So what did our texter hope to achieve?
My guess is, total destruction of the marriage. Obviously he could not hope to win Emma's heart by sharing his knowledge with Gary. So this means that Emma had probably ended the affair and our cowardly texter couldn't deal with the rejection. So he decided to get even. Therefore the texts were totally self serving and enabled this low life to deal a deadly blow to what had been a happy marriage.
Some of you may say, 'hang on a second Emma cheated on her husband' Hello! wake up! Gary didn't know about the affair and Emma may have deeply regretted what she had done and had decided that her marriage was worth more than few hours sweaty lust in some cheap hotel room.
The point I am making is this. All of us will do something wrong at least once in our lifetime(even angels sin, ask Gabriel who struck Zachariah mute) something that in time we deeply regret doing. But if the person we did it too never finds out then the only person who suffers is the wrong doer. Do you get my drift. If no one finds out then no one gets hurt.
However that is not the case with Gary and Emma. so to get back to Valentine's evening. Gary for some reason decided to respond to the text with the question. 'If you are seeing my wife, then what is her name?'
'Emma, I see her when you are away on business in America. Listen mate I thought you should know what is being going on, I saw her two weeks age when you were away.
That was the last text Gary received and what followed next is quite typical of an imploding relationship.
However you will have to wait for the next entry to this blog because I have an early start tomorrow paying a visit to a little fellow who hasn't been paying his debts on time.
See you soon.
Dan Sharp
Private Eye
I have recently taken on a new client who has been the unfortunate recipient of some very enlightening and mind blowing texts. Before I begin I would just like to say that I am not a fan of this particular means of communication. It is all to often used by people to convey a message that they do not have the emotional courage to give personally. So for those of you that have used it for this purpose. Shame on you! You did a heartless and cruel thing and someone suffered because of you. Anyway I will get off my orange box and get to the story.
Anyway, Gary (not his real name of course) was less than overjoyed to be enlightened by TEXT that his loving wife of two years was having an affair with the sender of the text. The first message read
'Sorry to have to tell you this mate but I've been seeing you wife for the last few months'
At the time of receiving the text Gary was snuggled up next to his wife watching a romantic movie. Try to picture the scene? First there is the little tune letting Gary know that a text has arrived. He lazily reaches over and scoops up his phone, hits the open message button and pow! Hey! Gary your world has just ripped apart.
So what would you do now?
Gary initially thought that it was a joke from one of his friends, why did he think that? well its because the date was 14th February. Happy Valentine's day Gary. Gary's mind went into overdrive whilst he tried to figure out what to do. However time was not on his side because the texter had more wonderful information to share.
The next text read, 'She wants to leave you mate i thought it was better that you know the truth'
I have investigated numerous cases of infidelity and have witnessed some rather foul deeds but the editor of these particular texts is by far the lowest kind of ditch scum I have encountered. He would have known when he sent his texts that two things were going to happen. Firstly he was just sending a wrecking ball into Gary's life and secondly Gary's wife, lets call her Emma was just about to face some very searching questions from a less than understanding husband.
So what did our texter hope to achieve?
My guess is, total destruction of the marriage. Obviously he could not hope to win Emma's heart by sharing his knowledge with Gary. So this means that Emma had probably ended the affair and our cowardly texter couldn't deal with the rejection. So he decided to get even. Therefore the texts were totally self serving and enabled this low life to deal a deadly blow to what had been a happy marriage.
Some of you may say, 'hang on a second Emma cheated on her husband' Hello! wake up! Gary didn't know about the affair and Emma may have deeply regretted what she had done and had decided that her marriage was worth more than few hours sweaty lust in some cheap hotel room.
The point I am making is this. All of us will do something wrong at least once in our lifetime(even angels sin, ask Gabriel who struck Zachariah mute) something that in time we deeply regret doing. But if the person we did it too never finds out then the only person who suffers is the wrong doer. Do you get my drift. If no one finds out then no one gets hurt.
However that is not the case with Gary and Emma. so to get back to Valentine's evening. Gary for some reason decided to respond to the text with the question. 'If you are seeing my wife, then what is her name?'
'Emma, I see her when you are away on business in America. Listen mate I thought you should know what is being going on, I saw her two weeks age when you were away.
That was the last text Gary received and what followed next is quite typical of an imploding relationship.
However you will have to wait for the next entry to this blog because I have an early start tomorrow paying a visit to a little fellow who hasn't been paying his debts on time.
See you soon.
Dan Sharp
Private Eye
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Priavte Detective's Informants 'Networking for Information'
This is my first blog entry and rather than start with a dry introduction i shall simply start with what I have been involved in this evening.
If you are looking to break into the field of private investigations then you will find many tips and gems of wisdom tucked away within my text, which when combined, make the difference between an average investigator and an outstanding one. So the first and one of the most important things I will ever impart to you is 'always pay attention to detail. However I make no apologises for how I structure my sentences or indeed for the occasional slip in punctuation. After all I am an investigator, not a writer.
A good investigator never overlooks an opportunity to gather information. Tonight I called in at a lap dancing bar and spent a few hours talking to one of the girls who has always been a very reliable source of information. I shall call her Crystal. This is in order to protect her stage name which ironically she uses to protect her real name. Complicated i know but an investigator must at all times protect their sources of information (informants). It is all part of what I call the contract of trust. My sources unlike the infamous 'Huggy Bear' Starsky & Hutch, are real people who for many different reasons have decided to impart gems of information to me. It takes a very long time to build a contract of trust and therefore it is plane and simple common sense to look after your investment of time. mind you the relationship between a PI and his informant can at times be extremely complicated and has led to some very tragic outcomes.
Crystal is a very beautiful, well grounded woman who has a good heart, amazing figure and like so many dancers, an incredible ability to get men to open up and share their most intimate secrets. I am often amazed by some the things that Crystal discovers about her clients. However Crystal has acquired another skill which makes her unique within her field. She is an attuned active listener. By this I mean when you talk to her you are completely aware that she is giving you her total and focused attention. I'm sure that all of you know what it is like when you are talking to someone who is either thinking about the next thing they want to say or has drifted off into their own mind and is missing most of your conversation. Ask yourself this question though. When was the last time that someone gave you their total attention for the entire time you were talking to them? Crystal combines this skill with an intense curiosity and is genuinely interested in what other people have to say. Combine her beauty with these qualities and you have quite a remarkable woman.
There is something else that makes Crystal one of the most productive informants that i have worked with. She doesn't just listen to her clients but will often turn her attention to the other dancers and some of them just cannot keep anything to themselves. Now let me put that in perspective for you. Crystal has and continues to work in the top lap dancing clubs in England. This means that over the period of one month she will speak to over a hundred dancers all of whom have probably spoken to over a two hundred men a month. If you do the math then it gives you some idea on just how much information Crystal can collect each month.
So to get to the point, at last. Crystal and I shared a couple of drinks together. I of course had to take a few lap dances from her (tough life this PI work, although I never get bored of Crystal's attention, especially when she is working through her dance routine)during which she revealed a few golden nuggets of information.
In consequence of our chat I will shortly be contacting a rather successful sports team and revealing to them that one of the star players has been sending some rather personal text messages to a few women he has met. This wouldn't normally be a problem but this particular player is married and there are rather a lot of people who know his wife.
Thank you for your visit to my blog and I will attempt to make all further entries as interesting as possible.
Dan Sharp
If you are looking to break into the field of private investigations then you will find many tips and gems of wisdom tucked away within my text, which when combined, make the difference between an average investigator and an outstanding one. So the first and one of the most important things I will ever impart to you is 'always pay attention to detail. However I make no apologises for how I structure my sentences or indeed for the occasional slip in punctuation. After all I am an investigator, not a writer.
A good investigator never overlooks an opportunity to gather information. Tonight I called in at a lap dancing bar and spent a few hours talking to one of the girls who has always been a very reliable source of information. I shall call her Crystal. This is in order to protect her stage name which ironically she uses to protect her real name. Complicated i know but an investigator must at all times protect their sources of information (informants). It is all part of what I call the contract of trust. My sources unlike the infamous 'Huggy Bear' Starsky & Hutch, are real people who for many different reasons have decided to impart gems of information to me. It takes a very long time to build a contract of trust and therefore it is plane and simple common sense to look after your investment of time. mind you the relationship between a PI and his informant can at times be extremely complicated and has led to some very tragic outcomes.
Crystal is a very beautiful, well grounded woman who has a good heart, amazing figure and like so many dancers, an incredible ability to get men to open up and share their most intimate secrets. I am often amazed by some the things that Crystal discovers about her clients. However Crystal has acquired another skill which makes her unique within her field. She is an attuned active listener. By this I mean when you talk to her you are completely aware that she is giving you her total and focused attention. I'm sure that all of you know what it is like when you are talking to someone who is either thinking about the next thing they want to say or has drifted off into their own mind and is missing most of your conversation. Ask yourself this question though. When was the last time that someone gave you their total attention for the entire time you were talking to them? Crystal combines this skill with an intense curiosity and is genuinely interested in what other people have to say. Combine her beauty with these qualities and you have quite a remarkable woman.
There is something else that makes Crystal one of the most productive informants that i have worked with. She doesn't just listen to her clients but will often turn her attention to the other dancers and some of them just cannot keep anything to themselves. Now let me put that in perspective for you. Crystal has and continues to work in the top lap dancing clubs in England. This means that over the period of one month she will speak to over a hundred dancers all of whom have probably spoken to over a two hundred men a month. If you do the math then it gives you some idea on just how much information Crystal can collect each month.
So to get to the point, at last. Crystal and I shared a couple of drinks together. I of course had to take a few lap dances from her (tough life this PI work, although I never get bored of Crystal's attention, especially when she is working through her dance routine)during which she revealed a few golden nuggets of information.
In consequence of our chat I will shortly be contacting a rather successful sports team and revealing to them that one of the star players has been sending some rather personal text messages to a few women he has met. This wouldn't normally be a problem but this particular player is married and there are rather a lot of people who know his wife.
Thank you for your visit to my blog and I will attempt to make all further entries as interesting as possible.
Dan Sharp
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