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Public
records
The Security and Investigating Professional�s First
Tool
by Jeff Sears
Security companies and private investigators, let�s face it: when you have been contracted to find someone, that person probably does not want to be found. They may use an alias or they may falsify data; there are plenty of ways to hide. That said, if a person wishes to lead a normal life (owning property, getting married, driving a car, paying taxes,
etc.), a paper trail will be laid down behind them. The only question is how closely that trail follows.
Public records, especially those found on the internet, are a source of information with two great qualities: they�re cheap and they�re easy�for a few dollars and ten minutes of your time, you could be a car ride or a phone call away from your target. Think about public records as the first tool you pull from your �toolbox� when starting a project. Let�s just say that�s a tape measure. When starting anything, you need to know what you�re up against, how things measure out. Public records give you an outline, a digitized, quantified representation of who that person is; often, the pieces of information that are
not there can be just as illuminating as those that are.
When public records work, they work wonders. Using a general people search, you can type in a name, click �search,� and most of your work is done for as little as a quarter. An address, phone number and date of birth may be enough. Accounting for the fact that most people you would be looking for are trying to hide, maybe a criminal/civil check would be more useful.
Criminal checks will often include any aliases under which your target may be living; civil records will include the address that they have given the court (which they may be able to hide in any other case).
Looking at property records can give you an idea of how this person lives, and if their profession requires a professional license, that will also appear in public records. Depending on the circumstances, you might be able to catch your target at work if you can�t find their home address. Or, you could find their parents, associates, spouses� there are many ways to find a person, and, as you know, the back door may lead to more interesting places than the front.
Full background checks are also available, and contain all this information and more, saving you time and money.
Online public records could provide all the answers that you need, or they could just be the first step towards finding a person.
With so many different types of records available (address, phone number, criminal, civil, credit, alias/maiden names, property, licenses, marriage/divorce, business, voter, UCC, concealed weapon permits, etc.), you may need to bounce information from one record off of information from another. Not all records are made available online, and availability changes from state to state, so you may need to combine online records searches with physical courthouse investigation. It could be that public records provide nothing more than a clue, the spark that leads to the successful conclusion of your search.
Remember, there are limits to public records. They are created by the person they describe, and they can be used to throw someone off the trail as easily as they can be used to locate someone. Confirming the facts through old-fashioned physical investigation is still a fact of life. You can�t go charging in to someone�s home, or bring someone into court with only the public record to back you up. Public records are a flashlight�s beam into someone�s life, but you still need to find the lights to see where they are.
Using the full range of public records before actually going out to physically investigate will save you time and money. Public records will make your job easier. At Intelius PI (www.pi.intelius.com), we specialize in public records that are specifically designed with the PI in mind. Our services are limited to industry professionals (including law enforcement, attorneys and paralegals, bail bondsmen, as well as PIs and security professionals), with no minimum purchases, no sign-up fee and the substantially discounted bulk rate that high usage warrants. We challenge you to find more easily accessible and comprehensive information for a cheaper rate. Call (877) 974-1500 or go to
www.pi.intelius.com for rates, samples and more information.
Jeff Sears is a native of Seattle. He has been helping to build the Intelius PI website and database for the past year. An avid sports fan, Jeff has this to say to those in the industry and to his beloved Seahawks: �Go get �em, boys and girls!� Before working at Intelius, he worked in radio as a producer.
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