By Susanna Speier
Denver Private Investigator With 8.4 breweries per capita (Colorado is third in the nation) Denver distilleries are no anomaly. Given the mile high city's epic frontier, crime and bootlegger history, however it is surprising that Detective and film noir themed parties are as rare as grizzly bear sightings.
You'll be able to catch one of those rare opportunities on Saturday, July 8th when the Clifford Still Museum hosts DiSTILLed: Noir. The theme draws inspiration from Shade: Clyfford Still/Mark Bradford, an exhibit they are running in collaboration with the Denver Art Museum. The invitation encourages participants to "dress in your noir best" which may actually make this the best private investigator date night event in the city's post-speakeasy history. The party will also include blackout poetry (popularized by the writer Austin Kleon) and a detail detective game to play in the galleries.
Tickets cost $15 in advance and $20 at the door. As well as getting you access to the party and galleries, entry includes two bands (one of them is blues) spinning spiral video projections, a cash bar with a selection of locally brewed gin, beer and vodka. There will also be a selection of Filipino food and Sleuths with a sweet tooth can hover by the candy station!
The Clyfford Still museum is located at: 1250 Bannock Street Denver, CO 80204 tel 720-354-4880 DiSTILLed Noir takes place Saturday, July 8th from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Advanced tickets available on the website. For discounted parking garages near the Museum, guests may use Parking Panda and the promotion code: CLYFFORD15. Metered street parking is also available. Bike racks are located on the south side of the Museum. If you're planning to drive in from Wyoming, Ft Collins, Boulder, Louisville or Westminster click here for directions. If you're coming from Colorado Springs, Monument, Castle Rock, Centennial, Parker, Lone Tree, Englewood other places south of Denver, drive north on I-25 to the Lincoln-Broadway exit (207).
By Susanna Speier
Denver Private Investigator Blogger Want to learn the basics of unmanned aerial vehicle flight? On Tuesday, May 16th at 7:00 p.m. at theDouglas County Library in Parker, you'll have the opportunity to familiarize with all things drone at an event that is both free and open to the public. Whether you're interested in exploring surveillance opportunities and law enforcement, drone racing or scientific research the “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” event will have something to offer but they recommend registering in advance at this library website, here. The event takes place May 16th at 7:00 p.m. at 20105 East Mainstreet, Parker, CO 80138 If, following the Douglas County Library intro, you still haven't gotten your drone fix, you can book a flight from DIA and head east to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum Complex in New York City. They are hosting one of the most comprehensive drone exhibits to date. "Drones: is the sky the limit?" The exhibit opened on May 10th and runs through December 3rd 2017. The museum is located at Pier 86, W 46th St and 12th Ave, New York, NY 10036-4103 If, after the exhibit, you still haven't gotten your drone fix we recommend you jump in and try to fly one!
By Susanna Speier
Denver Private Investigator Blogger Did the Colorado licensing fee just drop from $263 to $63? Colorado Private Investigator annual licensing fees dropped $200 just like that? Seriously? What’s going on? According to Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) Private Investigator Program Director, Mark Browne, the one-year renewal fee for private investigator licenses dropped in response to “recent and significant license population increases and updated adjustments to fund balance projections.” In other words, so many Coloradans are now obtaining private investigator licenses that DORA doesn’t have to charge as much as they used to have to charge so the price dropped. If you anted your $263 anytime after April 1, 2017 you’ve got a $200 refund check to look forward to in the next 30 days. Kind of a tax return and private investigator appreciation day rolled into one!
In inaugural year of the mandatory licensing program brought in 394 licensees and as of April 2017 that figure is expected to double with a project minimum of 817 renewals anticipated for next year.
“This growth in license population and adjustments made to the fund balance projections now allow for immediate fee reductions,” Brown said. Additional DORA related questions or concerns can be brought to the Department of Regulatory Agencies Downtown Denver office at 1560 Broadway, Suite 110, Denver, CO 80202  By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. is one-third theme park, one-third History Channel documentary and one third behemoth shrine to every imaginable type of gadgetry that you may or may not have imagined. On the outside It's a corner building near to the Shakespeare Theater and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery where you enter through the gift shop. Did I mention a lot of gadgetry? Interactive elements make the museum exceptionally kid-friendly. And they seem to have all kinds of educational outreach initiatives going on. But back to the gadgetry, which isn't only hard to take in but difficult to focus on due to the shifting polyphonic soundtracks as you walk through the exhibits. And the video screens and the blinking lights. Wait...where was I? Okay, the blurbs on the plaques are robust with meticulously researched anecdotes. As the experience itself makes it difficult to focus for a long period of time it is also recommended that you plan to spend half a day there and take breaks when you need them because the collection is as extensive and comprehensive as the history of the profession, itself. It will also take you back farther than you expected it to go.  The Cold War era segment --a sizable part of the museum-- provides artifacts from Cold War history and gives detailed insights into how government operatives conceal devices to enable them to pick almost every kind of lock imaginable. Granted, KGB lock picking devices have no relevance to a private investigator who is restricted by the same laws that would restrict any other citizen from picking a lock that doesn't belong to them. But, hey, in the world of international espionage, sky's the limit. More or less...  By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger The series finale of PBS Nature's Spy in the Wild series: meet the spies just concluded on Rocky Mountain PBS and it wasn't really a spy show. For any Colorado private investigator interested in the present and future of the surveillance, however, this will be a fascinating watch. If you're an under cover operative, even better. There is, in fact, so much to be gained from observing the dynamics of the animal world you would probably have a difficult time persuading yourself not to binge watch now that the series itself has aired and is available online in its entirety. See also: Spies in Nature After spending the last few weeks watching and making observations we compiled a list of the top spy skills the show taught us for the Denver private investigator community . We assume no responsibility for you using or misusing the skills and/or strategies you are about to read.
Did we miss anything? Keep in mind you may not have the opportunity to put these things to use if you're a Denver private investigator. Even a Colorado private investigator may question how to put it all to use.
You may have trouble finding a local wolf pack, however, there are myriad prairie dogs to be found along the I25 in Aurora, Centennial, Parker, Castle Pines Castle Rock and Monument as you shuttle between the Denver zoo in Denver and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs to see more of the animals featured in this series. Speaking of which, a giraffe at the Denver zoo just gave birth!! See the Spy in the Wild series in its entirety, now archived, for yourself onPBS Nature.  By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger Looking to head to DC late March to try to check out the cherry blossoms? There's a The National Council of Investigation and Security Services (NCISS) annual meeting at the Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn to justify the trip. Workshop opportunities range from cybersecurity to small businesses and how to run forensic audits using financial software and don't wait too long. Registration deadline is March 1st. Can't make that one? April kicks off with the World Association of Detectives (WAD) mid-term conference happens April 2nd through April 4th in Miami Beach, Florida. Click here to register. If you feel inclined to stay down south, the Florida Association of Licensed Investigators annual conference in Cocoa Beach runs May 4th through the 6th and even includes a pre conference event at no additional cost. If you can clone yourself an mosey up to South Carolina you can also attend the South Carolina Association of Licensed Investigators annual conference, that just so happens to be taking place simultaneously from May 4th to May 6th. Conflict check next time? Finally, while there are no drone training programs for PIs that we know of, the Poynter Institute's drone journalism may be a way to access your missing primer this spring. An interesting thing that the news media and private investigator worlds now share is the fact that both require commercial drone licenses. Sky is still the limit on the ways they can be utilized, once licensed, though.  Private Investigators can bring their stories to the Buntport Theater stage in Denver this month2/2/2017
By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger I've been wanting to figure out to help private investigators bring their stories to the stage for a long time but never had the resources to curate an actual event for the Mile Hi PI community. Just recently, however, my buddy Ron Doyle who runs The Narrators, a monthly storytelling event at Buntport Theater, approached me with an idea. Why not send a private investigator his way this month to tell a story at The Narrators "Red-Handed show"? If you are a Colorado private investigator and would like to be considered for the one remaining slot at The Narrators "Red Handed" show on Wednesday, February 15th at 8:00 p.m. at Buntport Theater, email thenarrators3000@gmail.com to find out more.  “It’s a black box theater that seats about 125-150 so it’s a sizable crowd. The audience is very welcoming. Folks are there to listen and we’ve built up this community to help built empathy and hear experiences from a wide range of voices," Doyle says. "It’s almost all 1st person narrative, memoir style.” There will be a lot of eyes on you which could feel unsettling for a private eye accustomed to hiding in the shadows, however Doyle likens the experience of telling a story on The Buntport stage to the experience of telling a story around a campfire or sharing a story at a dinner party with "not a lot of pretense" involved. "The spotlight and microphone may be intimidating but the audience will be very encouraging." Are you a woman or a minority? If so, you may be given preference. This is because, according to Ron, they get a lot of white males who approach them and would love to come tell stories. "We want a variety of voices and are looking for a variety of folks not visible in the public eye." To find out more about The Narrators you can check out the FAQ section of their website, an article bout them in Confluence Denver or their Facebook page. The show is always free for audience members and participants as the creators consider it a community service. "Facebook is wonderful for what it is. Human interaction is wonderful for what it is," Ron explains. "I think it's important people meet one another face to face as a tool for getting life experience you wouldn't get in your social circle."
By Susanna Speier,
Denver Private Investigator Blogger If you tune into Rocky Mountain PBS on February 1st (tonight) at 7:00 p.m. and Nature's state of the art, animatronic spy cameras will give you access to something that, up until now, only baby crocodiles have had access to.
Nature's five part miniseries, "Spy in the Wild," employs 30 animatronic spy cameras disguised as animals to secretly record the animal's behaviors, revealing strong, complex and very humanlike interactions and emotions. 
Want to know the cam behind the curtain? The final episode, "Meet the Spies," which airs Wednesday, March 1, 2017, explains how the concept of robotic animal spies evolved from the original Bouldercam to the Penguincam and finally to the “spycams” John Downer Productions used to make the series. While the painstaking work that goes into building the lifelike models may be discouraging, it may also inspire professional private investigators to develop the next generation of surveillance techniques.  By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger The long anticipated premiere of Sherlock season 4, BBC's series about the self-proclaimed, high-functioning sociopath, returned last night after a three year hiatus. The episode, "Six Thatchers" was the continuation of Sherlock's season 3 finale. Spoiler Alert: The episode leaves one wondering how close Watson came to committing infidelity before his wife took a bullet for Sherlock at the London Aquarium. Key details of Watson's interactions with the woman-on-the-bus are deliberately blurred. Were other texts exchanged? Was there an off-screen rendezvous? Will she come back in a subsequent episode? Questions linger like they do with an unresolved case. What happens to the lose ends and inconsistencies? It is often the missing digital information that determines the outcome. In other words, we wont know without more digital evidence -ie- a complete transcript of texts Watson exchanged with the woman-on-the-bus. See also: Digital evidence 101 workshops for Denver attorneys and private investigators. The show's signature cinematography --with its floating text message overlays, fade-in Skype chats and word clouds--- bring the data drenched world of a private detective's mind front and center, however, the picture we're being shown is still incomplete. A real life private investigator would need more evidence. Text overlays aren't limited to Holmes and Watson’s tete-a-tetes. Holmes' episode adversary does an online background check after his altercation with Sherlock. He is able to connect the dots back to Mary through a Google search that points him to a photo of Holmes walking Watson's bride down the aisle. Text overlays move the story forward while giving the viewer a simultaneous peak of Holmes' assessment gears churning. It is important to know that any data in public domain can be used by the legal opposition. Backstories and narrative unfold simultaneously. You must chose between skimming or honing in on the thread that you desperately hope is the more substantial. The assessment gears of a private detective's mind are, once again, churning away. Information disseminated into femto blips, though dizzying, did not preclude fans from finding an error in Watson’s digital filing system and tweeting it out immediately. Why on earth would Watson file a blog post as a JPG? Or, as the UK metro put it, "he wasn’t typing on a website at all, but on a picture labeled JOHN BLOG PAGE.jpg" Professional private investigators, like BBC staffers, are only human. In real life, as opposed to on Masterpiece, investigators can get dinged by their bosses for filing errors because the information is private and not available to the twittersphere.  By Susanna Speier Denver Private Investigator Blogger Apparently even the CIA wont carry the 2017 Secret Ops of the CIA calendar that is available through The Spy Museum gift shop. According to The Washington Post this is because the "inaugural “Secret Ops of the CIA” calendar was produced by the nephew of an agency contractor killed in the line of duty and features reproductions of the actual paintings that have hung for years in the hallways of CIA headquarters in Northern Virginia." however, "Toni Hiley, the longtime CIA museum director, said the gift shop can’t sell the calendar because “it’s not an official work of the U.S. government.” The Spy Museum gift shop is, of course, over the moon about the exclusivity as well as the fact it has the actual CIA logo on. So if you plan to order one for your office, we recommend doing it before these calendars sell out!  The 2017 Sherlock calendar is put out by the BBC and comes with photos and quotes from a whole slew of characters, not just the stern faced, deerstalker hat clad Cumberbatch. Although we don't mind the fact they chose to include a couple of those, as well. If you're a fan of BBC's Sherlock this is a calander to be adored and/or coveted.  What would a private investigator's office be, if it didn't include an homage to film noir. The Film Noir 2017 calendar we found on Etsy. It's wire bound, glossy and ships directly from New Zealand. It also provides a colorful and comprehensive sampling a a wide range of noir movies, not just the classics and if you visit the site you can choose from three different noir calendars as well as a Casablanca calendar. Casablanca, btw, will be celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2017!  The Things We've Learned From Nancy Drew calander is the brainchild of the brainy Nancy Drew fan club president, Jennifer Fischer and its Dastardly Villians calendar was also enthusiastically endorsed in our holiday gift article in PursuitMag. Take your pick of illustrations and crimes. |
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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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