Corrections or additions?
This article by Michele Alperin was prepared for the May 16, 2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
In Case of an `Event,’ Gather Information Carefully
A good professional investigator never jumps to conclusions,
says Dana Turner, a Texas-based crime consultant with Security
Education Systems (E-mail: danaturner@email.com, www.secedsys.com).
He recently gave a workshop for the New Jersey Bankers Association
and told his class, “if you are among the folks that turn to the
back of the John Grisham novel, get out of here.”
“Investigations are probably the most serious thing you can do
as a security person,” explains Turner. Because issues of personal
reputation are often involved, investigators must be “extremely
careful, very conscientious, absolutely secretive, and very fair”
in the conduct of investigations.
Yet many security officers do not have sufficient training and tend
to make serious mistakes when conducting investigations. What concerns
Turner is that a poorly run investigation can ruin a person’s life.
“When you begin investigating any event within a business,”
he says, “you change the lives and your relationships with all
the participants forever.”
Readers of detective novels are always intrigued by the “right”
way to do an investigation, but any employee or supervisor should
know the basic principles, “just in case.” Investigations
can involve everyday mishaps, technically termed “events,”
as well as actual crimes. Non-criminal events that demand investigation
and documentation can include accidental injuries, balances that do
not reconcile, new accounts, credit applications, job applicants,
“fender benders” in the parking lot, and locating assets or
people who “skip” town to avoid collections.
The routine for conducting an investigation — no matter how serious
the event — is fairly standardized:
Determine which of the following typical roles people arelikely to play in the investigation:1. The victim, who has suffered a harm or was the victimof a crime.2. A witness, who has personally experienced an eventor crime through one or more of the five senses. Only a witness cantestify in court.3. An informant, who has third party information aboutthe event or crime. Turner claims that many security officers do notknow the difference between a witness and an informant. But this distinctionis critical, since “informants cannot testify in court, becausethey have no personal knowledge.”4. A suspect, who the investigator believes committedthe crime or act.5. Hostile witnesses, whose relationship with the suspectmay cause them to be uncooperative or untruthful.Determine where the event or crime happened. The locationestablishes where a case can be tried.Clarify the mechanical aspects of the event or crime —what was taken, who was hurt, how it was done.Decide the most effective order to question people. Alwaysspeak to the victims, witnesses, and informants first. The investigatorcan use information from cooperative interviewees to uncover any liesfrom hostile witnesses or suspects. “The most inexperienced investigatorsgo right to the suspects and confront them,” says Turner. “Thisis the worst thing you can do.”Interview victims, witnesses, and informants. The purposeof an interview is to gather new information and to validate existinginformation. “Setting is important,” warns Turner. “Youdon’t need to overpower anyone who already wants to talk.”Interrogate suspects and hostile witnesses. When interrogating,orchestrate the setting by controlling lighting, heating, and anythingelse that will elicit information from uncooperative people. Althoughthese people require different tactics, Turner maintains that “mostinvestigators overlook the differences” between cooperative andhostile interviewees.Decide whether to suspend an employee under investigation.Turner recommends that anyone who is the target of an investigationbe suspended immediately, with pay. “Collect the person’s keysand lock him out of the building,” advises Turner. A suspect whocontinues to work may taint other witnesses’ testimony and compromiseevidence. “But this is something that businesses are reluctantto do,” says Turner about suspension. “They think it willlook bad for the employee, and they do not want to hurt feelings.”Turner explains that after the investigation is over, persons wronglyaccused can simply return to work, and “if the person did do it,then he is already gone, and that is one less thing to worry about.”Brief the administration on the investigation’s progress.”The administration needs to make intelligent, informed choicesabout what to do and say if contacted by reporters.” The administrationmust also share information with the legal counsel.Document the event or crime and write reports. Becauseevents and crimes may require civil or criminal trials, the investigatormust keep a chronological log of events that describes what he didduring the investigation, with whom, and when. The investigator mustgather, store, catalog, and secure all evidence, and then record itin written reports. Evidence can include a videotape of the crimescene, handwriting samples, fingerprints, E-mail and other informationstored on personal computers, witness statements, and written admissionsfrom suspects. The problem, says Turner, is that “most peopledon’t know the value of evidence.”Track the case in court. The investigator must respondto subpoenas, produce evidence, testify in court, and work with legalcounsel to recover property. Because statutes of limitations can bequite generous, sometimes an investigator, “must be prepared totestify in six years on something he did today,” says Turner.Turner describes his seminar as “a cop seminar that is adjustedfor civilian world.” Of his family, he says only that many ofits members were “on the other side of the law” and that hewas “genetically predisposed to my line of work — most ofmy role models were negative, and I have been on my own since theage of 13.”He received an associate’s degree in police science in 1972 in SantaMaria, California, and was the financial crimes investigator for theSanta Rosa Police Department. A teaching requirement opened a newworld to him. “They made it mandatory that I had to teach threehours per week in the community, and I loved it,” says Turner.”That grew into what I do now.”Since 1983, he has been self-employed and has offered a variety ofseminars to membership associations, auditors, and examiners throughoutthe United States and Canada. He also does telephone consultationsfor financial institutions seeking to avoid risk in potential casesof embezzlement that might lead to sexual harassment or workplaceviolence. “When you are looking at financial crimes, it requiresfinesse,” he says. His rates range from $1,000 to $2,000 per daydepending on the job and the time frame.Turner maintains that increasing the professionalism of investigators,through formal training, is critical. At present, he says, “theylearn through on-the-job training,” which amounts to very little,and what results is an “extreme lack of professionalism aboutconducting investigations.” Turner warns that a badly handledinvestigation “can ruin a person’s life, even if they didn’t doanything.”About those crime novels: Turner is an avid reader and future authorin this genre. He particularly admires such writers as Michael Connelly,Patricia Cornwall, and Stuart Woods (author of “Chiefs”),but his favorite is “John Grisham, without a doubt. He’s truthful.He portrays the investigators as they are.”— Michele AlperinPrevious StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
