Archive for the ‘Investigation’ Category

AVOIDING SHOOTING PAINS IN THE WORKPLACE

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

We are referring to real shooting pains here…bullet wounds…not backaches or migraines.

This August we had two scary, local examples of workplace gunplay: on August 24, near the Empire State Building, a recently fired employee shot his former supervisor and then himself.  A week later, in New Jersey, an angry supermarket employee shot two customers and then himself. All five died.

What can you do?

Prevention can be assisted by recognizing the signs of impending employee violence [as outlined by Michael Staver, psychologist, cited by Susan Adams at forbes.com]: 1. Excessive complaining. 2. Withdrawal. 3. Variation from typical behavior. 4. Obsessive thought patterns or conversations. 5. Dramatic and unreasonable demands. 6. Personal insults. 7. Threats.

Sometimes, mere non-confrontational one-on-one listening to the employee’s complaints will help defuse the situation. Skilled human relations personnel can be valuable for this. On occasion. the police may need to be called…certain steps can be taken beforehand to keep it from reaching that level.

A private investigation agency can help lower your risk of workplace violence. As noted on our site, pre-screening of the employees, monitoring of their behavior, preparation for lock-down and evacuation if needed,  checking on terminated employees, control of terminated employee returns to company property, added protection of management’s homes…some or all of these should be used, after a professional threat assessment has been made. For further information, contact us.

***** Don’t be nearly sure. Let Gold Shield Elite investigate. Be certain.

CUSTODY MATTERS…A LOT

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

Divorce splits partners, possessions, and most significantly it separates parents from their children. Often, custody agreements end up in court battles. That is when your ability to support your case becomes crucial. To do so, you may need the services of a private investigator.

Lenny Golino of Gold Shield Elite Investigations, LLC, has handled many such cases. He emphasizes the usefulness of getting professional investigative help early if there are issues of fact that need proof.

One of his recent cases involved a father in a custody dispute with his ex-wife, who had sought to discredit him by calling in false complaints against him to the local police. Gold Shield Elite recommended a program of “counter-surveillance,” making a video record of their own client. The ex-wife soon called in another complaint, charging that her ex-husband had violated her Order of Protection by approaching her and pushing her.
Fortunately, Gold Shield Elite had a video record of the incident in question, showing that the woman approached the man, not vice-versa, and that he did not touch her.

The evidence so impressed the court that the Order of Protection was vacated. The whole complexion of the trial changed, in the ex-husband‘s favor. The wife was subsequently charged with filing a false report.

Evidence of drinking and then driving the children or of failing to use the car safety equipment with them or of leaving them unattended inappropriately often helps decide details of custody and visitation in court.

If you are involved in such a child-custody dispute, get investigative assistance earlier rather than later. The outcome may depend on it.

********
Don’t be nearly sure. Let Gold Shield Elite investigate. Be certain.