 By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger Some of the highest skilled investigators in the industry will converge with some of the best technical minds June 21 - 22nd at the 2018 National Association of Legal Investigators (NALI) conference in West Chester, Ohio. See also: Digital forensics for Denver attorneys and private investigators Senior Digital Forensic Engineer, Pete Myers will be walking participants through video forensics/Image processing, vehicle system forensics, household appliance extraction and a social media extraction that includes what you can do if a cellphone has been destroyed or lost. Food and beverages are rolled into the conference fee which means after Kane County Public Defender, Kelli M. Childress' “Seeing is Believing. Or is it? Understanding and Mitigating False Confidence in Witnesses" presentation you'll get to enjoy food and beverages at no additional cost. Toonari CEO, Karhrman Ziegenbein will also give a dark web demo highlighting how criminal defense investigators can conduct safe and effective online research using anonymity tools. Why the tech savvy surplus? Technology is the focus of NALI's 2018 conference and you have until 5/21 to secure the early bird registration for non-members at $299. The membership rate is $245.  Besides the lower conference fee what are the advantages of membership? According to Executive Director, Val Vail-Shirey the daily job opportunities posted on an internal list server is a huge draw for members looking to grow their clientele by collaborating with other members. As an example, Vail-Shirey's says "a member in Phoenix may post for a member in Boston to assist with a court record search." Yes, there are public job postings on Indeed.com and Linkedin however these specific job opportunities are only shared with with NALI's 340 person network and are vetted for relevance and therefore more likely to have a better outcome. Another benefit the organization offers is their relatively new Certified Legal Investigators (CLI) accreditation and license management program. Ohio may seem far but think of it this way: Coloradans flying out of DIA will reach Cincinnati in less than three hours and the Cincinnati Marriott North in West Chester (where the conference rate for a Single/Double is only $119) is just half an hour from the airport. Here's yet another way to think of it: if you're based in Lakewood, Broomfield, Englewood, Fort Collins or somewhere on the Eastern Plains then traveling as the bird flies will get you to the convergence of the best minds in the private investigator industry in about the time it would take you to drive from Denver to Trinidad or Grand Junction and driving to Mesa Verde would take longer than flying to Ohio would take. Because that's how the west rolls. By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger Jessica Jones (which --in case you're not already looped-- just dropped season 2) may run a solo practice The Defenders she need to collaborate in order to save Hell's Kitchen. But what about a place like Colorado with a smaller and more regionally spread out population? Castle Rock investigator, Andrea Orozco's upcoming Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado (PPIAC) training workshop on Wednesday, April 4th at CB & Pott's 6575 Greenwood Plaza Blvd in Greenwood Village, CO will focus on subcontracting for other investigators. It's a great opportunity to learn more about how and when to collaborate with investigators who specialize in areas of expertise that may compliment yours.  A recent article Pursuit Mag article by legal investigator and former Durango police detective, Sam Petitto also discusses the solo versus collaboration dynamic. Many of the questions on Rachele' Davis list of questions to ask before hiring a private investigator are relevant to questions you might ask a prospective sub contractor or collaborator.  Collaborations don't have to be limited to current cases. Earlier this month a New York Post article detailed a Suffolk County cold case and the circumstances behind a grisly crime was finally resolved thanks to DNA forensics. To check out the team of associates our own Denver based firm, Ross Investigators, subcontracts with, check out our about page or call (720) 458-1497 for a free consultation. By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger Near the end of the first act of Hamilton, as anyone familiar with the musical and American military history already knows, the Battle of Yorktown turns the tide for the Continental Army, led by General George Washington and wins the decisive victory against the British Army, led by General Lord Charles Cornwallis. Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette both played critical roles in cinching the Yorktown victory however a New York tailor named Hercules Mulligan also played a prominent role in the victory by obtaining British intelligence that enabled the Continental Army to plan, in advance, for the attack.  When Alexander Hamilton asked Mulligan to help him obtain British intelligence for General Washington, Hercules Mulligan's fashionable tailor shop, which catered to wealthy British businessmen and high ranking British officers, was well positioned to charm proprietary intelligence out of his British customers. Performed by actors Lin-Manuel Miranda and Okieriete Onaodowan in the original broadway musical, Alexander Hamilton and Hercules Mulligan sing in hip-hop infused rhyme explaining, Hamilton How did we know that this plan would work? We had a spy on the inside. That’s right, Hercules Mulligan! Mulligan A tailor spyin’ on the British government! I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it!  To get more context I visited several secondary sources online including the CIA's Hercules Mulligan tribute that explains, "When General Washington mentioned to Alexander Hamilton, now Washington’s aide-de-camp, that he was looking for a spy on the inside within New York City, Hamilton recommended his old friend Hercules Mulligan. Hercules excitedly agreed." The CIA's biography (written by an uncredited author) goes on to explain that "Hercules continued to provide service for British officers, collecting their measurements and secrets alike" as mentioned in the musical. The fashionable tailor, unbeknownst to his customers was also an active member of the Sons of Liberty organization and strategically and deliberately "played to the officer’s vanities, stroking their egos to elicit statements of speculation. When officers requested repairs to their uniforms, he would ask the date they needed them back. When customer after customer gave the same date, he could surmise the day of their next movement. He would then dispatch his African-American slave, Cato, to Washington’s headquarters in New Jersey to share the information on the redeployment of a particular unit." Mulligan's African-American slave, Cato is among many slaves who --with the exception of Sally Hemings-- went unmentioned in the musical, however it is clear from the several secondary accounts I reviewed, Mulligan succeeded because he did not operate in isolation but with a support team of equally courageous individuals. This team consisted also consisted of his wife, Elizabeth Sanders who was the daughter of a Royal Navy admiral and gave him access to officers who would talk about military matters, according to Revolry. Frances Mulraney's Irish Central article claims Mulligan "met his customers at the front door and personally took taking their measurements despite his own social stature. Mulligan often offered a glass of whiskey to keep conversation flowing. With the help of yet another team member --his brother Hugh Mulligan, who supplied him with information on British supplies and shipping schedules through his work with the British commissariat in New York-- Mulligan learned of two separate plots to capture George Washington. Each time he was able to warn Washington before the plots could bear fruit." Gil Troy's Daily Beast article reiterates this, portraying Mulligan as " a discrete but silver-tongued Irish immigrant in New York City, who prospered as a haberdasher, tailoring garments for colonial aristocrats and British officers. He was also a member of the Sons of Liberty, and his passion helped recruit Alexander Hamilton to the Revolutionary cause. His work also happened to make him a great, meaning oft-overlooked, spy." According to Thomas Fleming's Journal of the American Revolution article, Less well known is the story of a working class Irishman, big hearty Hercules Mulligan. He shocked his American friends by welcoming the red coated British regiments when they captured New York in 1776. A skilled tailor, Mulligan was soon making money outfitting British officers and wealthy Americans who had remained loyal to the king. Beyond the city limits, Americans shook their heads. Who could believe Mulligan had become a traitor? He had seemed to be a fervent patriot. Mulligan still was, but only a few people knew it. One of these insiders was General George Washington. Another was Washington’s aide, Colonel Alexander Hamilton, who was a close friend of Mulligan. Throughout the war, the Irishman was one of America’s most valuable spies. Among other things, he warned Washington of a well-organized British plot to kidnap him." After the war, Washington stopped by tailor shop, had breakfast with Mulligan and pronounced him a "true friend of liberty" before commissioning his first civilian wardrobe. Shortly after, the sign to Mulligan's 218 Pearl street (then 23 Queen street) tailor shop read “Clothier to Genl. Washington." When I google mapped the address of the location that once housed Hercules Mulligan's New York tailor shop. This is the image that came up:  When I arrived at the Buell Theater early the mood was giddy with Denverites about to see Hamilton for the first time. Then I opened the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Applause program to discover yet another local overlap. The actor who plays Hercules Mulligan in the traveling show (which performs at the DCPA through April 1st) Mathenee Treco, is a returning Denver local!  If you are a Denver based private investigator heading to the the Denver Center for the Performing Arts complex (located at 1101 13th street in Downtown Denver) to see Hamilton before it closes on April 1st be sure to raise a glass to Hercules Mulligan, performed by Mathenee Treco, along with the rest of history's un or under acknowledged covert military operatives. And I do recommend you go. Seeing Hamilton is kind of like watching the hidden blueprint of our hardwired political, social and emotional identity rolling out onto a folding table. It is also inspiring, humbling and insanely humanizing in a way that leaves you inspired to push to becomes more than what you are. Private investigators, surveillance operatives, background check detectives, personal injury attorneys and fraud investigators alike will identify with this uniquely American but also very universal story about the immigrant founding father who built the legal system that we support in our professional lives. Yes, tickets to see "Hamilton" in Denver are expensive and difficult to obtain. It took me five tries with the box office to get tickets I could afford, however the lottery also enables you to try for $10 orchestra tickets everyday. Additional information on the lottery is available via the DCPA website. |
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Susanna Speier,
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Highly experienced team of Denver private investigators serving attorneys, businesses, and individuals. Our investigation services include, but are not limited to: process of service, responsible party identification, witness locates and interviews, workplace investigations, competitive intelligence, background investigations, surveillance investigations, fidelity investigations (infidelity), cheating spouses, aerial video, & more. Ross Investigators PC, Inc. proudly offers their PI services to: Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Broomfield, Castle Rock, Centennial, Cherry Creek, Colorado Springs, Commerce City, Denver, Englewood, Fort Collins, Glendale, Golden, Greenwood Village, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Longmont, Louisville, Loveland, Morrison, Northglenn, Parker, Pueblo, Superior, Thornton, Washington Park, and all of Colorado.
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