 By Simon Crittle
Of all the genres to have captured the screens of popular imagination, private eyes have dominated the airwaves like few others. The PIs of film and television have allowed us to escape into places where rules and convention mattered as little to the stars as the female characters who doted on them. The formula of gritty male protagonist, with a vice and imperfect past, reluctantly yet righteously on the hunt for the ugly truth, it seems is timeless. It’s as if Magnum, P.I. is in fact the same character as Sherlock Holmes, only with a mustache and an American-sized portion of ego. So reliable is the private investigator to binge-worthy success, HBO has rebooted one of the best-known names of black-and-white. Perry Mason, however, is no longer the criminal defense lawyer of the 1950s. Instead the character invented by author Erle Stanley Gardner is a Depression-era private eye played by Matthew Rhys, the Welsh actor best known for his role in the TV series, The Americans. Set in Los Angeles and beautifully shot, the miniseries begins, as most of its genre do, with a crime. A couple are on the phone with the kidnapper of their baby, a suitcase full of ransom money at the ready. They leave the money and rush to their baby’s location only to find him dead and mutilated. The gruesome murder becomes a media sensation and Mason, a hard-bitten alcoholic and World War I veteran is, of course, the only person brash enough to take case. Perry Mason has garnered positive if mixed reviews. Sean T. Collins of the New York Times says, “corruption, torture, murder, full-frontal nudity, foul mouths, a dead baby: Perry Mason boasts the full complement of HBO’s genre-revisionist techniques. But Rhys is the glue holding it all together. I can’t recall the last time I saw a lead performance this embodied, for lack of a better word; Rhys’s every glance, expression and gesture seems made of weariness the way Abraham Lincoln’s cabin was made out of logs.” Joshua Rivera of the Verge is less flattering when he says the show is a gorgeous exercise in style over substance. “Perry Mason is a detective story that’s strangely reluctant to go all-in on being a mystery,” says Rivera. “While it is concerned with one long case — the ransom and subsequent grotesque murder of an infant — that case’s twists and turns are meandering and muddy, as the effort to trace the ways a horrific murder ripples through every aspect of the community begins to feel more labored than natural or revealing.” Rebecca Nicholson of the Guardian, however, is almost all-in for Perry when she says the show is promising enough to stick with. “As a series, it takes itself desperately seriously. The episodes are called chapters. Men glower from beneath their brimmed hats, and there is a lot of intense smoking, characters furrowing their brows and dragging on cigarettes as if breathing their last breath.” Nicholson concludes she can’t wait to see how Mason cracks the case in coming episodes, yet while Perry Mason “does not yet feel particularly comfortable in its own skin, there is clearly plenty more to come.”  A new law permanently allows Coloradans to have documents notarized remotely, reversing the long-standing practice of requiring people to be in a notary’s physical presence.
The Remote Notaries Protect Privacy law, signed by Governor Jared Polis last week, continues emergency rules put in place amid the coronavirus pandemic which allowed people to have documents notorized remotely using “audio-visual communication.” The new law extends those rules through December 31, 2020. In the meantime, the Secretary of State’s office – which administers notary services in Colorado – will develop, build and certify permanent remote notary systems which will take effect on December 31, 2020. “This legislation provides certainty to Colorado’s people and businesses that remote notary services will continue to be available in the future,” says Jena Griswold, Colorado Secretary of State. The rules for remote notorization say that:
The passage of the new law follows an executive order issued by Governor Polis on March 30 that ordered the temporary suspension of the personal appearance requirement before notarial officers due to the presence of coronavirus in Colorado. To implement the executive order, Secretary Griswold issued emergency rules which outlined the procedures and requirements for remote notarization. The move to allow remote notorization in Colorado came in consultation with the Governor’s office, stakeholders and the legal community.  As the backlash against the killing by police of George Floyd continues, a private investigator has been hired by a group of TV networks to trawl through the social media accounts of famous actors to dig up racist posts.
Los Angeles-based PI Edward Myers is working for CBS, MTV and VH1 to weed out offensive posts made by on-air and production talent, who work for the networks, before anything is made public and embarrass the companies, according to gossip column Page Six of the New York Post. On his Web site, Myers describes himself as an “investigation and risk assessment specialist” and offers services such as “surveillance and counter-surveillance,” as well as “intelligence gathering.” "Edward Myers is an investigation and risk assessment specialist with over 30 years of combined experience in both the public and private sectors," says the Myers Group website. "He has been court certified as an investigation expert and has presented as a guest speaker to corporate security professionals, private attorneys, state and federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents on a range of matters, including complex business and municipal fraud, workplace violence, threat assessment and litigation intelligence. Page Six reported that letters have gone out to stars alerting them that Myers — who has worked as an investigator for LA County’s “hardcore gang division,” which handles the most difficult gang murders, and for Jeff Bezos’ private security chief, Gavin de Becker — will begin his probe soon. The move comes after a spate of celebrities were recently fired over resurfaced racist posts. Last week, Bravo fired “Vanderpump Rules” stars Brett Caprioni and Max Boyens for offensive tweets, and on Wednesday the network canned “Below Deck Mediterranean” star Peter Hunziker for a racist Instagram post. Meanwhile, the CW fired Hartley Sawyer from “The Flash,” and MTV let go “Teen Mom’s” Taylor Selfridge for similar offenses (although Selfridge claims she quit). Among the TV stars Myers may be looking into include those who worked on shows including “Dating Naked,” “Jersey Shore,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Teen Mom,” “Game On,” “Vice” and “Love & Hip Hop.” No word on whether CBS’s “Magnum, PI” is among those being vetted. Myers and network reps have not responded to media inquiries about the use of a private investigator. George Perry Floyd Jr. was an African-American man killed during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After his death, protests against police violence toward black people quickly spread across the United States and internationally.  By Simon Crittle
After clearing both houses of the state legislature, the controversial private investigator (PI) licensing bill was this week sent to the governor for signature. But it’s unclear if Governor Jared Polis will in fact sign or veto the bill, which would renew Colorado’s PI licensing regime for another five years. The governor vetoed three other licensing bills last year and his own agency, the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), is strongly opposed to the PI bill. At the time the governor vetoed the other bills he also called on the General Assembly to remove other “existing outdated or counterproductive licenses,” pointing to the potential for cost savings for consumers. Ross Investigators has ask put a list of questions (see below) to the governor's office about the PI licensing bill. At the time of publication, answers had not been received. HB20-1207 – Sunset Regulation of Private Investigators – this week passed both the General Assembly and the Senate after clearing the House Appropriation Committee unamended. However, the bill was amended in the General Assembly with a “safety clause” added by bill sponsor Democratic Rep. Jovan Melton which said: “The General Assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety." Under the private eye law, since 2015, 77 complaint files were opened and only eight disciplinary actions taken. Of those, six were conditional licenses, issued to individuals because of behaviour prior to being licensed, not after. Of the remaining actions, two were dispensed to one individual who was issued a letter of admonition as well as a practice stipulation for harassment against another private investigator. No private investigator licenses have been revoked under the current law. Private investigators have been regulated by DORA since 2011. Requirements to obtain a private investigator’s license include being at least 21 years old, submitting an application, passing a background check, passing a jurisprudence exam, posting a surety bond and paying fees. The bills Governor Polis vetoed last year were supposed to regulate managers of homeowner associations, genetic counselors and sports agents. In vetoing the bills, Governor Polis last year wrote: “Our hope is that this will allow more people to work, to access various services and to make sure that licenses protect consumers from harm — not industry insiders from competition.” Ross Investigators has put the following questions to the governor's office: 1) Is Governor Polis going to sign or veto the bill? Either way, why is going to do what he is going to do? 2) If he is in fact going to sign it, does he not agree with the findings of DORA’s review of the law and recommendations it be scraped. Or if he is going to veto the bill, does he in fact agree with what DORA says? 3) Last year Governor Polis vetoed several other licensing bills and called on lawmakers to reconsider sponsoring licensing bills. Does the governor still feel the same way about licensing regimes? 4) Does the governor feel that private investigators play an important role in Colorado gathering information, generally on behalf of law firms, for the purpose of preparing legal cases? By Simon Crittle
Changes to Colorado court rules about accepting unsworn affidavits are being met with confusion as some courts are still rejecting affidavits that haven’t been notarized despite a state statute saying they don’t have to be. In May, the Colorado court system began complying with a 3-year-old statute, the 2017 Uniform Unsworn Declarations Act, which says an “unsworn declaration in a court proceeding . . . has the same effect as a sworn declaration.” However, the Process Servers Association of Colorado (PSAC) says some courts, particularly in Arapahoe and Adams counties, continue to reject affidavits which haven’t been notarized, slowing down court proceedings, creating headaches for attorneys and their clients. Ross Investigators has seen documents which corroborate the PSAC’s claims that Arapahoe and Adams county courts were rejecting unsworn affidavits as recently as last month. “It is inconvenient to have an affidavit notarized,” says PSAC president, Steven Glenn. “Maybe not here in Denver but for people who are in rural parts of the state and might have to drive 50 miles to get something notarized, it’s inconvenient.” Glenn added that a notary was merely attesting to the fact a document was signed by a particular person in their presence, when they notarized a document, and not that the document was accurate or truthful. “The notary isn’t attesting to the information in the document because they don’t even read it.” The Colorado Supreme Court was first petitioned about court non-compliance with state law on unsworn affidavits last year. The court’s Rules Committee subsequently discussed the matter during its June, 2019, meeting and changed rules C.R.C.P. 4 and C.C.C.R.P. 304 regarding returns of affidavits. The rules apply to all state-administered courts. Rob McCallum, Colorado Judicial Department spokesman, told Ross Investigators: “We had, before the Supreme Court amended the civil rules to clarify on this issue, advised to not accept anything but notarized returns of service. We reversed that with the Supreme Court rule change on May 17, 2020.” Adding to the confusion, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Supreme Court to send a letter to all Colorado attorneys on April 17 saying affidavits no longer had to be notarized to “avoid unnecessary in-person contact.” It is unclear if some courts will continue rejecting, or resume rejecting unsworn affidavits when social distancing measures are lifted and Colorado courts, which currently aren’t hearing cases, return to normal business. Ross Investigators has asked the Colorado Judicial Department why some judges still aren’t following court rules, and, why it took three years for the court system to comply with state law. At the time of publication, the department had not responded. .  Businesses owned by private investigators have overwhelming slowed down since the coronavirus struck.
However, most PIs have not received stimulus money from the government to help keep them going, according to the results of a national survey conducted by Ross Private Investigators. Some 87 percent of respondents said they had applied for loans and grants offered by the federal government. But of the respondents who applied, 60 percent said they had not received any money from the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) and 76 percent had not received money from the Economic Disaster Injury Loan (EDIL) Advance. Some 84 percent said they had applied for both the PPP and the EDIL Advance but had not received money from both of the grants as of yet. On May 19, Ross Private Investigators sent 10 survey questions to a number of Yahoo Group listservs dedicated to the private investigation industry across the US. In total, 23 PIs responded over two days. Answers were anonymous. Here’s what PIs had to say:
However, not everyone was unhappy as several PIs said the money had been helpful.
Survey respondents gave mixed responses when they reported back on whether or not the pandemic had hurt their businesses and if the stimulus money had helped. Regarding the question of whether the pandemic had hurt their businesses, some 87 percent of respondents said “yes” it had. But another question asked if the stimulus money had been helpful. Some 52 percent said “yes” and 48 per cent said “no.” Several PIs also complained they missed out on loans and grants because they were sole proprietors.
Colorado private investigators are still being asked to renew their licenses despite the fact controversial legislation to renew licensing law is stalled in the State House and might not succeed.
Emails recently went out to investigators asking them renew by the end of May. The fee is $16. If PIs don’t renew in time they are given a 60-day grace period and charged a late fee, before licenses are “deemed expired.” However, the future of licensing remains uncertain as the Department of Regulatory Agencies, which administers the law, is opposed to the licensing regime and the legislature is running short of time to pass the required legislation. HB20-1207 – Sunset Regulation of Private Investigators – is currently stalled before the state’s House Appropriations Committee as the legislature was forced to lock down in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current law will be repealed on Sept. 1 if no action is taken by the legislature. But DORA legislative affairs director Michael Nicoletti told this blog the government has to “proceed based on current law.” “Current law is that PIs are still required to be licensed in Colorado. I can't predict what will happen when the legislature reconvenes as there are many variables beyond our control in that process,” says Nicoletti. DORA has spoken out publicly against the law after releasing a scathing report saying complaints about private investigators in Colorado were “virtually nonexistent.”. Under the private eye law, since 2015, 77 complaint files were opened and only eight disciplinary actions taken. Of those, six were conditional licenses, issued to individuals because of behavior prior to being licensed, not after. Of the remaining actions, two were dispensed to one individual who was issued a letter of admonition as well as a practice stipulation for harassment against another private investigator. No private investigator licenses have been revoked under the current law. Private investigators have been regulated by DORA since 2011. Requirements to obtain a private investigator’s license include being at least 21 years old, submitting an application, passing a background check, passing a jurisprudence exam, posting a surety bond and paying fees.  Three months after its professional development institute was to begin, the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado (PPIAC) will host the institute on Zoom.
The PPIAC will hold its Colorado Investigative Development Institute on June 5 and 6, after the original event was canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak. But instead of being taught how to be a private investigator from the Hilton Inverness in Englewood, where the original event was to take place in early April, the PPIAC now says participants can “learn from the comfort of your home or office!” The online institute is priced at $250 for PPIAC members and $300 for guests. An email blast from PPIAC president Andrea Orozco says the June event will feature “over 13 hours of instruction, networking, resources and valuable tips for your career as a professional investigator.” The PPIAC is a nonprofit organization that provides education, training and legislative advocacy for professional private investigators. 
Boulder-based private investigator Barry Bortnick works for Ross Investigators. Bortnick, a former newspaper reporter and onetime spokesman for the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, explains how he’s surviving the pandemic. Obviously everything has changed. What’s been the biggest upheaval for you as far as work goes? At present I don’t too see much upheaval. Half the work we do can be done online with interviews or background checks etc. Only issue is if you feel worried about interviewing or meeting people in person. But I don’t have much worry about that. I'm healthy, live a healthy lifestyle, keep my distance. How are you managing to do your work if you can‘t even leave the house, let alone travel? Again, a good chunk of my work can be done virtually. If I need to meet clients in person, I ask how they feel about it. Just meet the client and practice social distancing. How strictly do you think PIs are taking the stay at home orders? Do you leave the house for any work-related reason? Good question. I'm staying at home for the most part but also going to locations to photograph accident sites and to speak with witnesses. Do you consider your work “essential” and therefore feel you do actually have to go out in public to do your job? Yes. Legal work is essential so working for lawyers on ongoing cases is essential. Not vital but essential. Are there any work-related tasks you feel would be unethical at this time? Would you serve an elderly person, for example? Serving papers to anyone would seem unwise at this point. Not only would people be very reluctant to answer doors or speak to strangers, it’s also a risk most PIs wouldn’t take. |
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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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