HOW DO INVESTIGATORS FIND WITNESSES

You’ve been hired to investigate an incident that took place 3 months prior.  Let’s say it’s a traffic accident.  It occurred on a specific day at a specific time.  How do you go about finding any witnesses to the accident, particularly if it happened some time ago.  In a case like this, you go back to the tried and true old fashion way, you conduct a canvass of the area.

Time permitting, it’s very important that you conduct your witness canvass on the same day of the week and at the same time that the incident happened.  Let me give an example of what I mean.  An attorney hired me to investigate a traffic accident.  The accident took place on a weekend night shortly after midnight.  It occurred on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood.  I went there on the same day of the week and began my canvass about a half hour before the accident occurred.  There were a few stores still open, and I happened to find an employee at one of the businesses who happened to be looking out the window and saw the accident.  Because he was a night time employee, I never would have found him if I had gone out in the daytime to canvass. 

Another reason you want to go out at the same time as the incident is that you can see what the lighting in the area was like at the time of the incident along with the pedestrian and vehicle traffic.  This gives you a much better feel for the incident scene similar to when it occurred. You also may find a witness on a delivery truck or other work related vehicle that happens to stop by around the time of your incident.  As I’ve stated before on this blog, you only need to find one witness to break a case wide open. 

PURSUING GANG KILLERS

With all these seemingly insurmountable difficulties, how then do gang murders get solved.  My answer, in one word, is HEAT!  You have to be relentless.  You keep constant pressure on the rival gang, both with uniformed police presence, gang units, and good detective work. You make it difficult for them to conduct their criminal activities. I’ll give you an example.  My partner and I handled a gang murder where an OG (Original Gangster, or older member) had been shot down in front of his house shortly after being paroled.  Besides being out in that neighborhood every day, we arrested over the span of the investigation numerous gang members for guns, narcotics, parole violations and various other felonies and assorted misdemeanors.  We even arrested one individual for an outstanding traffic warrant on Christmas Eve. Like I said, the heat was relentless. You interview every arrestee in an attempt to gain intelligence on the gang and especially to turn them as an informant on your murder case.  You go into the jails every day and interview arrestees who have been arrested in the vicinity of the murder.  You’re looking to develop an informant who can give you the information you need to identify the killers. Believe me, not too many people, no matter how hard core they are, want to spend a lot of time incarcerated in prison if they can give out information that can cut their sentence down.  You just have to be patient and skilled on this approach.

The gang unit’s expertise is invaluable in identifying suspect(s) real names from their gang names and monikers. Eventually when an informant’s information is corroborated or a witness comes forward and the suspect(s) have been identified, you begin to close in on the killers.  Believe it or not, some people still refuse to be intimidated and come forward as witnesses and do the right thing.  The detectives then obtain search and arrest warrants and attempt to obtain additional evidence, like the gun(s) used, clothing worn etc.  Gang members don’t always get rid of guns, and they often pass them around to their fellow gang members.  Once the suspect(s) have been apprehended, the detective’s final effort is to attempt to obtain a confession.  Oftentimes it may come down to the suspect(s) walking on the charges unless the detectives are skilled interrogators and can obtain a confession.

MORE ON WALKING SURVEILLANCES

Here are some additional tips on conducting walking surveillances.  You don’t have to be on the same side of the street to follow someone.  I find it’s actually more advantageous to walk on the opposite side of the street when following someone.  Even when they’re ‘hinked up’ and looking for a tail, they usually only look behind and rarely if ever look across the street.  Try putting An object between yourself and the subject.  The best one is a parked car.  You can stand to the rear of a parked car and peer through the rear & front windows of the vehicle and observe an individual for a long distance without exposing yourself.  You can also use mailboxes, telephone poles or any other object that’s handy.  If there’s a bus bench around, sit down and enjoy the rest while you take in the subject.  Use store windows as mirrors and building entrances to mask your profile.  You can also walk pass the Subject and and view him as he walks by.  A great way to do that is to enter a store and then watch him through the window. 

My partner and I once followed two car burglars on foot during the Christmas shopping season for over 3 hours in downtown Los Angeles before they finally hit a car.  It was in the business district and there were numerous pedestrians, parked vehicles and open air parking lots along the streets.  They cased a number of vehicles but for some reason would back off on each one.  They finally went into a parking lot where they quickly punched the trunk lock with a screwdriver, removed the stored gifts and closed the trunk, all within a few seconds. They were surprised to say the least when my partner and I appeared from out of nowhere and hooked them up.  Remember, patience and good tactics are the key to any successful surveillance.

HOW TO DO WALKING SURVEILLANCES

Most PI’s do a lot of vehicle surveillances, but there will usually come a time when you’ll be out of a car and have to follow a subject on foot.  The first thing to keep in mind is to dress according to the neighborhood.  It’s wise to carry an extra set of clothes in your vehicle in case where you’re going doesn’t fit what you’re currently wearing.  Try to wear comfortable walking shoes.  I prefer black ones, because they can also pass for dress shoes if you have to go upscale.  Wear neutral colored clothing.  Don’t wear bright colors like red or orange that will make you stick out.  I also like to wear dark colored baseball hats without a logo.  You can take it off and stick it in your pocket for a different look.  When following someone on foot, the most important thing is to know how the subject looks from behind.  Rarely will you be in front of him/her to see their face.  The next important thing is to pay attention to the subject’s walking gait, because that’s what you’ll be keying on, especially in a crowd.  Don’t be too close to the subject.  Remember that you can only have to see a small portion of the subject and still successfully follow him.  I once followed an individual who was carrying a black gym bag in his hand on a busy downtown street.  At times all I could see was a portion of the bag, yet I was able to follow him successfully. 

VEHICLE SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT YOU NEED

Here are some of the actual surveillance tools you’ll need for your vehicle..  Have a small tape recorder available because you won’t have the time to be writing things down like license numbers, addresses or descriptions. Whether you’re parked or driving, you can dictate right into the recorder.  Keep a pen and paper handy for when you have time to write things down.  You need some type of binoculars for distance viewing.  I like to have both binoculars and a monocular.  I find the latter is great if you’re sitting in the front seat of your vehicle and you don’t want to be obvious by using binoculars. A monocular is small and used with one hand.  Make sure you have a number of coins handy in case you have to use metered parking.   Have a good video and single shot camera that you’re familiar with.  For camera use, I suggest at least a 70-300 lens.  It’s also a good idea to have a tri-pod that you can use for shots focused on one spot.  This stabilizes the camera for better pictures.  Be sure that you have charged the batteries on both your video and single shot camera.  If you do a lot of surveillance work, you might want to think about getting a portable air conditioner that you can run off of the cigarette lighter in the vehicle.  Sitting inside a vehicle with the windows closed, especially during the dog days of summer, can be brutal.  Bring some pillows to prop up against the seat for extra comfort.  Lastly, make sure you have a change of clothes and a baseball hat in case you need to change clothing and/or your appearance.

THE BEST DETERRENT TO COP KILLING

As a brand new officer with the LAPD, I was fortunate to have as a training officer the best street cop I ever worked with, and I worked with a lot of them.  This was the first night I ever worked with him.  As it was getting close to End of Watch, we started the perennial circling pattern near the station so when the on-coming shift came down we’d get in quick.  It was near midnight and we were driving in a residential neighborhood when we both noticed two men peering into the picture window of the corner house.  Even though I had only a few months on the job, I knew something wasn’t right.  My training officer stopped the car, and we both jumped out with our guns drawn.  The two men both started walking away from the house in different directions.  As we yelled for them to freeze, they both reached into their waistbands and tossed guns on us.  After proning them out on the ground and calling for backup, they were taken into custody without further incident.

Once we got them back to the station, my training officer interviewed them separately with me just sitting there.  One of them confessed that they were hit men sent out from the East Coast to kill the people who lived in that house.  He was a parolee and had done a lot of prison time back east.  My training officer asked him, what with his prior record, the fact that he was on parole and had a gun, and knowing he would go back to prison again for this, why didn’t he shoot it out with us.  I will never forget what the suspect said.  He told my partner, “You both came out of the police car with your guns out, and you were ready.  I didn’t want to die!”  My training officer then told him, “Your right.  We’d of shot you down like a dog in the street.”

After we booked them, I talked to my training officer about that conversation.  He told me that every time he got a gun off of a suspect, he would always ask them why they didn’t shoot it out and try to get away.  Invariably they’d say something like you were ready, or it wasn’t worth it, but whatever the reason they’d initially give, they’d usually end by saying they didn’t want to die.  He would give them that signature line about being shot down like a dog in the street to make an imprint on their mind.  He told me, “Someday that guy may have the drop on some cop. I want him to think about the consequences and what’s going to happen to him if he kills a cop.  I figure someday that will save a cop’s life.”

From that day on every time I got a gun off of a suspect, I had the same conversation and told him the same thing.  I’m sure there’s more then one cop walking around alive today because a suspect who had a gun and had the drop on him hesitated when he thought of the consequences.

HOW I BECAME A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

One night while I was still a rookie police officer with the LAPD, my training officer and I made a felony arrest.  In those days, in order to book an arrestee for a felony, you had to get booking approval from the night watch detective.  On this particular night, our division night watch detective was on a day off, so we had to go to another division to get booking approval.  When I handed their night watch detective the booking approval, I noticed he was looking at what appeared to be an identification card that had his photograph on it.  Being naturally inquisitive, I asked him what the card was. He replied that it was his private investigative license.  I was non-pulsed, to say the least.  I asked him how a police officer could also be a private investigator.  He told me that the department allowed you to work as a private investigator off-duty as long as you didn’t work any criminal cases or civil cases involving the City of Los Angeles.  He added that you needed three years on the job before you could apply to the state and take the PI test.  You also needed a work permit from the department after you received the license.  I filed that away in my mind under things to do later, and thirteen years later I took the test and obtained my PI license.  Another chance encounter, but one that would later have a large impact on my life.

PS-Some years after I retired, after a headline grabbing case, the LAPD rescinded their approval of allowing officers work off-duty as PIs.

HOW I BECAME A COP

I’m a big believer in Divine intervention.  What I mean is that oftentimes we try to plan and calculate our important life decisions, but what usually happens it’s the chance encounter or the ‘lucky’ incident that dramatically affect our lives.  Take my life, for instance.  I became a Los Angeles police officer by what I think was divine intervention.  I was still in the Marines and had returned from my first overseas deployment.  I was stationed at a large naval base on the east coast.  I had decided to leave the Marine Corps and go into law enforcement.  I was due to be separated from the Corps in one week.  I was late for chow and took a shortcut to get to the mess hall.  Just by chance I ran into my old battalion Sergeant Major who I had served with overseas.  Neither of us had known the other had been stationed at this base.  After I advised him I was getting out of the Marine Corps, he asked me what I was going to do.  I told him I wanted to go into law enforcement, and I was going to apply to either Philadelphia PD or NYPD.  I also mentioned that they, like most police departments on the East Coast, had a one year residency requirement.  The Sergeant Major then asked me if I had ever thought about the Los Angeles Police Department.  He might as well have asked me if I had thought about a police department on the moon.  When I brought up the fact that not only did I not know anyone in Los Angeles, I thought I might have a tough time finding a job there while I waited for the one year residency to kick in.  He then floored me with the fact that not only did they not have a residency requirement; he had a high ranking contact on the department.  One week later, I was an honorably discharged Marine and flying across the country to Los Angeles.  I spent 22 years working as a police officer and later as a detective, and as they say, the rest is history.