Lina Maini

A while ago, we first broke the news to  our readers that the NYPD was developing a technique for crime video and picture submission directly to the police. The delivery system is now fully operational. However, these report hotlines and avenues are not for criminal activity alone. Quality of life issues can also be reported (potholes, poor parks conditions….) At the end of the News article, however, we ask questions regarding how this information can then be used in the private sector... Read Full Story

Everyone knows that the first step investigators take in plane crashes is recovering the event data recorder ( EDR ), aka, the “ black box “.    An EDR’s function is to capture data (audio, mechanical, electrical, speed, positioning/crash angles and myriads of other useful information) during the operation of a vehicle, machine or even a program.  An invaluable tool for investigators in determining the exact details of a crash incident. Starting in 2013, the National Highway Traffic Safety... Read Full Story

The date of loss was 5/18/2008. The case has finally come to a serious settlement offer by the insurance company. Your client is nowhere to be found. After exhausting the client’s primary contact numbers, his emergency contacts and Lexis, online White Pages and Spokeo , to no avail, this type of situation can become frustrating. Finally, using the same platform that propelled Google from the same old search engine to the mother of all information aggregators, comes Argali .  A very simple... Read Full Story

Label: The Vanishing Fabric Marker should not be used as a writing instrument for signing checks or any legal documents. Product: W.H. Collins’ Vanishing Fabric Markers (You just know that someone kited a check and in an effort to minimize responsibility,  tried to sue to blame the manufacturer.) Label: Do not use while sleeping. (See above pic.) Product: Vidal Sassoon hair dryer (Look at the people around you; at work and at personal functions.  We all have that one person that... Read Full Story

(Part II of Security and Investigations Predictions for 2012 is delayed this week.  There is a transfer issue occurring as we migrate our 5 years of weekly blogs to our main site.  I apologize for this interruption in bringing the final part of this series to you today.  It should be up within 12 – 18 hours. In the interim, have a good laugh reading the below; the most ridiculous, frivolous and annoying lawsuits of 2011!) The Top Ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2011 are: •Convict sues... Read Full Story

Hoping to give our readers an edge on awareness and combatting security and investigation concerns in 2012, below are our top five predictions in the area of information and data security management. (Next week, in II of this two-part series, we will cover the remaining five predictions, focused on evolving investigation concepts.) 1. Social networking redefining “privacy”. Confidential user information is ending up online, in large part by the users themselves.  We’ve grown into a... Read Full Story

Wishing our loyal readers, faithful clients and friends and family of all, a World of Peace in 2012. Lina Filed under: General Information Read Full Story

The most common form now of interoffice and interpersonal communication is email.  (That technology driven message demon that invites you to  hit the Send button well  before you have reviewed your written missive, removed any potentially incriminating comments or are sober.) Today, we will cover two areas:  1. How long are email addresses (by public email provider; i.e., Yahoo , Hotmail , Gmail  and AOL ) maintained if they are left inactive by their owners?  and 2. Are there anonymous... Read Full Story

Image via Wikipedia The most frequently requested service  we receive is for subject locates, (e.g., a client has moved and neglected to give  his attorney forwarding contact information,  a transient witness needs to be interviewed, an heir to an estate located). Regardless of the seemingly obvious ease of locating someone in our now technologically-enhanced transparent society, if a person wishes to remain unlocatable, they will. (I’ll refer back to this later in this article.) The... Read Full Story

The Automatic License Plate Recognition  (ALPR) scanning systems are one of the newest law enforcement technologies. The system consists of cameras mounted on police cars, hooked up to a computer inside the vehicle .  License plates images are scanned and matched to a real-time centralized database. This database flags vehicles that have been identified as Stolen Vehicles Wanted for an Amber Alerts Expired Registration Expired Insurance Wanted as “Persons of Interest” for any... Read Full Story