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This web site is designed to help people searching the Internet find a Private Investigator in Maryland. We are a
licensed Private Detective Agency located just north of Annapolis Maryland and just south of Baltimore Maryland. We
are licensed by the Maryland State Police to conduct undercover surveillance. Most of our cases are related to
Adultery, Child Custody and Insurance Fraud.
Once we finish working a surveillance event the Investigators will type up a detailed report and insert photographs of any
important events. The report and photographs are included as part of our pricing. An invoice will be generated showing
you the number of hours worked and any expenses. All of our pricing is available to be viewed online at our main web
site; www.Maryland-PI.com/forms.html
Unlike most agencies, we allow direct contact with the Investigators while your case is being worked. We want you to be
able to work with us and help make decisions in the event that there are any issues as the surveillance event unfolds.
We may lose the subject in traffic and need to know if there is any place in the general area that the subject may
frequent. You also have better control over how your money is being spent. You will have the flexibility to discontinue
surveillance at any time based on the subject's actions. If it doesn't look like any thing productive is going to happen
then you can just let us know to stop for now and we'll look for another opportunity. We want to make sure that there
are no financial surprises.
Our Investigators are hired by the hour and use a video camera to document the activities of the subject being followed.
We always use two Investigators when following a vehicle is part of the surveillance request. This makes us more
successful when following the target vehicle in heavy traffic so it is less likely they will get away. Having two vehicles is
also very helpful on back county roads where there is not a lot of traffic. Having the same vehicle behind the subject
may cause us to get noticed. With two Investigators they can switch places at various times so that the subject does not
see the same car for an extended period of time.
It's important for you to understand that this is not like watching on of those popular television shows. This is real life
and we do not get a second chance. We can't tell people to wait a moment while we turn on the video camera or until
get a better angle. Things happen quickly and we have to be ready. I remember one case where I was watching a
house for four hours, waiting for the subject to leave. There was a school parking lot across the street and was a
perfect surveillance position. Just as the garage door opened and the subject's car began to pull out, buses began to
arrive at the school. My vehicle was totally blocked by the buses and there was no way for me to get out. That's what I
mean about it not being like television. I had no warning that this was going to happen or I would have moved to a
different location. I just had to wait and watch as the subject drove away. I called my client at the time and explained
the situation. The client called their spouse just as they would during the day to see what how things are going.
Through the conversation my client was able to find out where we needed to go to pick back up on the subject to
continue the day. Understand that when following a vehicle is part of your surveillance needs, it may take multiple
attempts to obtain the desired results.
Please make sure to that your time filling out our online form. This form provides us with your case information i.e.
names, addresses, vehicle descriptions, vehicle tag number, friends and relatives addresses and places the subject
likes to frequent. This information is the main document that is provided to our Investigators. Exact addresses are very
helpful since all of the Investigators use navigation systems. The first thing an Investigator will do if the subject is lost in
traffic is take a look at the information you provided to see if they are close to the address of any of the subject's friends
or relatives. If you just put down the name and town of the person, the Investigators won't be able to drive there to take
a look. Or you may put down a favorite restaurant like Ruby Tuesday. An exact address of the one in your area would
be helpful.
We are very careful with the information that you provide. You also need to be careful about how you communicate with
our office or Investigators. Your spouse may be monitoring your activities. Our online form needs an Internet
connection in order to be sent but does NOT require you to send an email (which could be traced). I recommend that
you take all of your case information to the library and fill out and send the form from there. That way if your spouse has
installed a program like eBlaster on your computer to track your activities, we will be safe. Best Buy also has phone
service (unlimited calling) for around $50 per month with no contract. You may want to begin using a different phone
number to communicate with our office/Investigators. The problem is that when one spouse is cheating they are very
paranoid and may be watching to see if you are catching on to their activities. I could easily monitor my wife's cell phone
activity online without her knowing. Your spouse may be watching your cell phone activity. If they search our phone
number on Google then they will know that you are talking to a Private Investigator.
Any documents that we create for your case can be sent to any address you like (regular mail). This is the safe way to
get the reports. We can also email them to you if you like but there is a little more risk that someone could get a hold of
them. Any documents that we email to you will be in PDF format and will be password protected. You would
have to call our office to obtain the password. We also will be careful to choose a file name that doesn't draw too much
attention in the event someone see the attachments.
When you call around for pricing make sure you find out whether that price is for one or two investigators. There are
some situations where just using one investigator will obtain the results you desire just fine. And in those situations we
also will just use one investigator. If you need to have your spouse followed in his/her vehicle, two investigators is highly
recommended. Years of experience has taught me this lesson. With just one investigator you dramatically increase the
risk of getting caught or you will lose the vehicle in traffic sooner. Two investigators has a proven track record of
increasing the success rate of any surveillance event. Make sure that you find out the pricing for two investigators.
We do NOT charge extra for last minute "RUSH" request for surveillance. If we already have your deposit on file and
your paperwork, you can call our office if something is happening. If there is an investigator available we will get right on
it to see if we can help. But with that said, we won't be answering the phone at 3:00 a.m. There have been many times
where a client calls in the afternoon and says that my spouse just called and has to work late today. That's a perfect
time to get down there and see if they really work late OR leave on time but meets up with someone. This is the type of
situation that is impossible to schedule in advance and we understand that. Other Detective Agencies will charge you
extra if you need something taken care of at the last minute. Our goal is to solve your case.
We do NOT charge you anything in the event of a "CANCELLATION". Having things change at the last minute is just a
normal part of this business. We understand that and work with you. As long as you call our office to cancel BEFORE
the investigators have left to begin driving to your case, there is no charge to cancel. If you cancel too late then there is
only a 1-hour charge. As you call around to different Detective Agencies make sure you find out their policy.
People calling our office mainly want to know how this all works; hiring a Private Investigator. The process gets started
by filling out our online form so that we have all of you case information. Then send a deposit (link also online) in the
amount of $500 or higher, depending on the number of hours you may need. If you only expect to have us work your
case the first time out for four or five hours then $500 will be enough. We can settle up any difference after the work
has been performed and we have the final figures. If you know you are going to need two days in a row, about eight
hours each day, then we would need a higher deposit to cover whatever sixteen hours of work would come out to based
on our current hourly rate. Then we are ready to get started. Some customers get all the information into our office but
do not have a specific date or time that we are needed. But at least we are ready to go in the event something comes
up at the last minute. Other customers already know that they need something specific checked out. An example would
be that their wife leaves early in the morning to workout at the gym and then goes to work. The client thinks that his wife
may be skipping the gym and just using that as an excuse to meet someone. Regardless of the situation the process is
the same. You provide us with the date and time you need your case started and we send out the investigators. The
investigators will follow the subject and video tape any activities that they can without drawing any attention. You can
call to get an update at anytime. We decide together on when to discontinue surveillance based on the activities of the
subject.
Save time and money by installing a GPS Tracking Device on the vehicle that needs to be followed. Two of our favorite
devices are listed on our main web site; www.Maryland-PI.com/links.html. The device is very accurate, within feet of the
actual location. View it on a Google map and see if it is parked in a neighborhood or business. Use it in conjunction with
our surveillance so that there is no issue with having the vehicle get lost in heavy traffic. If our investigators lose the
vehicle during surveillance you can just pull up the current location on the Internet and surveillance can continue.
Sometimes situations allow us to only use one investigator if you have the tracking device in use. We do not sell these
devices. The links provided are to the actual companies that provide the device and service.
When estimating how much a surveillance event will cost, don't forget about the travel cost. There is a "Per Mile" travel
charge for each surveillance vehicle used. You also have to remember that we have to pay our Investigators the entire
time that they are working your case. This includes the drive time from their residence to the starting location of the
surveillance. Then when the surveillance event is finished we have to pay them to drive home. Some customers call the
office and only need a couple of hours for their surveillance event (6:00am to 8:00am). They are expecting to be
charged for two hours of work. It's easy to forget that the starting location for surveillance is 45 minutes away which
adds another 1.5 hours to the case. It may be even longer if there are traffic issues. If this location requires the
investigators to travel from Baltimore to Washington DC at that time of the morning then it may take longer then the
estimated 45 minutes. You have to also give the Investigators about 15 minutes to get familiar with the area and find a
good surveillance location. If you expect that something may happen right at 6:00am then we need to plan on arriving at
5:45am in order to get settled into position.
We have to follow all local, state and federal laws while conducting our investigation. We cannot trespass in order to
gain evidence. That means no peeking into bedroom windows, looking over a privacy fence to see into the backyard or
even knocking on front door to see who is inside the house. It can be frustrating at times but we simply have to wait for
things to play out in order to get the evidence in a lawful manner.
When trying to prove Adultery for the court we have to show two things. That your spouse is alone with the other person
where there could be the possibility of sexual activity. We DO NOT have to see or video tape this activity. Just the fact
that they are alone is enough. But that has to be followed up with some type of Public Affection. This would be a kiss,
hug, holding hands, etc. We do not have to get the alone time and public affection on the same day but it would be
nice. We can get half of the evidence one day and the other half later. Most people do not understand that just having
a persons vehicle at the residence does not prove that they are inside. There have been times where my client will call
and say that her husband is over the girlfriend's house right now; can we get an Investigator out there. When the
Investigators arrive everything looks perfect. The husband's car is parked in the driveway and so is the girlfriend's car.
Now we have to wait for them to exit and video tape it; possibly getting a kiss goodbye. After two hours pass my client's
husband comes out alone, gets into his car and drives away. There is no sign of the girlfriend. We remain in place
watching the windows, doors and yard for activity. All we have to do is see that she in there. She doesn't even have to
come outside. The client says for us to just go knock on the front door. Very logical but it is illegal. We could easily
make up a story and pretend we have the wrong address. But there is also the possibility that a female will NOT answer
the front door with a strange man on the other side. The problem that we face is that at some point all of our reports
end up in the hands of lawyers in the event that there is a divorce. At this point the girlfriend could press charges
against the investigator(s) that knocked on her door for Trespassing. This charge, and the outcome, will show up on the
investigators criminal record. This criminal record could keep the investigator from getting his Private Detective license
approved by the Maryland State Police the next time it has to be renewed. Private Detectives are controlled and
licensed by the Maryland State Police. We must reapply every two years and go through a State Police and FBI
background check. So now how does this case get solved if we cannot go onto the girlfriend's property? We continue
surveillance and wait until she comes out of the house. It could take a few more minutes or a few more hours. Just
because her car is parked in the driveway does not prove to the court that she is inside.