Background Investigations

A background check or background investigation is the process of looking up and compiling criminal records, commercial records and financial records (in certain instances such as employment screening) of an individual.

Background checks are often requested by employers on job candidates, especially on candidates seeking a position that requires high security or a position of trust, such as in a school, hospital, financial institution, airport, and government. These checks are traditionally administered by a government agency for a nominal fee, but can also be administered by private companies. Results of a background check typically include past employment verification, credit score, and criminal history.

These checks are often used by employers as a means of objectively evaluating a job candidate's qualifications, character, fitness, and to identify potential hiring risks for safety and security reasons. Background check is also used to thoroughly investigate potential government employees in order to be given a security clearance. Let Rockford Detective Agency perform your background checks, then you can hire with confidence.

  Witness Statements-Criminal Investigation

Witness Statements - Criminal Investigation

As professional investigators, our primary function is to gather facts. One of our primary forms of fact-gathering is the witness statement. Statements, of course, take many forms. Affidavits, handwritten statements by witnesses, statements written by investigators and signed by witnesses, and tape recorded statements are all widely used in the context of civil and criminal litigation. However, regardless of the form of the statement, statements have three primary purposes.
1. SETTLEMENT -- to develop information and "investigate" a case in the classic sense for purposes of settlement;
2. PRESERVATION -- to serve as a recorded recollection of a witness whose memory might fade legitimately with the passage of time; and
3. IMPEACHMENT -- to document testimony and provide a reliable standard against which a potentially hostile witness might later be held with regard to testimony from the witness stand.

Process Serving

What is Service of Process?

Service of Process is when legal documents such as summonses, complaints, subpoenas, writs and other court documents are delivered to the individual to whom the legal document is directed. Service of Process must be served by an individual who is not a party to the case.

What does a Process Server do?

A legal process server delivers (or serves) legal documents to a defendant or an individual involved in a court case. The process server must serve the documents in accordance with the legislation in the area of service. This may mean handing the documents to the defendant personally or sub-serving to someone in the same household or business. Once the documents are delivered, the process serving agent must provide proof that the papers were served. This is done through a document call an Affidavit of Service, also called a Proof of Service, which must be notarized and given to the party who requested service.

Process servers will also file your papers with the courts, can do document retrieval and may offer various types of investigations: skip trace, people locates, surveillance, etc.

Do I need a Process Server?

Hiring a Legal Process Server is an important step in proceeding with a court case. In some states, someone who performs service of process is required by law to be licensed, so if you are in one of these states, the answer is "Yes!".

Even if a process server does not need to be licensed in the state where you need service, you should keep in mind that a process server is someone who is experienced in serving legal documents efficiently. More importantly, professional process servers are knowledgeable of the legislation surrounding service of process in their state or county. There are several requirements and constraints associated with serving legal documents that vary from state to state, or county to county. If the service is not performed in accordance with the law, this can hinder your case from going forward or result in the dismissal of your case.

Reference Checking

Do you know who you are hiring? 
Don't forget the reference checks!

You?re finished interviewing and are ready to make an offer to a seemingly outstanding applicant.  Should you check references, or will that just slow down the process?  After all, most employers will only verify dates of employment, right?  

Little could be farther from the truth!  Checking references before making an offer can actually save time, money, effort, and a lot of embarrassment.  Consider Notre Dame's hiring of George O'Leary, who resigned after it was discovered that he had lied about having a master's degree in education and playing college football for three years.

If you provide the previous employer with a signed Reference Check Release Form from the applicant, you may be pleasantly surprised how candid past employers may be in providing useful information.  It is important to keep in mind that since all applicants must be treated fairly, you will need to conduct reference checks on all strong external and internal applicants you are considering for the position.

Employment experts estimate that 30 percent of all resumes contain false or exaggerated information.  Most often, dates are expanded to cover gaps in employment, which may be covering up something more serious than just unemployment.  Education is another area that candidates may exaggerate or falsify.  If your position requires a specific educational background, you should verify the applicant's education before you make an offer.

  Skip Trace - People Locator

Skip Trace - People Locator

The term "skip tracing" refers to finding missing persons. The term comes from the debt collection industry and refers to those who "skip out" on their debts by moving and not leaving a forwarding address. Today the term skip tracing has been adapted to mean finding a missing person, regardless of if they have skipped out on a debt. The insurance industry requires skip tracing for a variety of reasons, most often to locate the claimant.
When conducting insurance fraud investigations, we conduct skip tracing on claimants, their family members, witnesses, and others who we need to find to investigate a claim. It is not uncommon to be assigned Subrosa Surveillance surveillance on a claimant who no longer resides at the last known address. We then conduct missing person skip tracing to find the party.