El Scott Harrell

Towing versus Salvage- How a Boat Towing Service will Rip You Off

“Towing  vs Salvage”
By C. C. Thorsen

Boaters should not assume anything when it comes to boating. If you are a boater and have not taken a towing/salvage 101 course let me speak from experience and recommend that you do not wait until you need a tow to find out the coverage you have. Trust me there is a big different in the cost. Most of the boaters that I know have some type of towing insurance. However, there are different levels of coverage just as any other types of insurance. You should take the time to read and understand the amount of coverage you have. For example, do you know the difference in a simple tow, a soft grounding, a hard grounding, and salvage? 

On November 14th, 2008 I had a very unpleasant experience in my 72’ houseboat when a very strong wind picked up during the night of an overnight trip and caused my stern anchor to drag and blew me parallel to the beach. The wind also caused the tide to go out very fast leaving me in very shallow water. At 6:00 AM the next morning (11/15/08) when I awoke to find that I had a problem, my boat was still floating but I would need some help to have it pulled into deeper water.

I called my towing service and explained my situation to them and advised them that the tide was still going out and very fast. I was asked if I/we, or my boat was in any danger and I told them that we were not. Even though they were only thirty five to forty minutes away from me they did not arrive until 9:15 AM and by that time I did not have any water under a large portion of my boat.

When the tow boat arrived the Captain determined that this was a “hard grounding” and had me sign the contract. He then attempted to pull my boat straight back parallel with the beach but it would not move. Even though none of the conditions changed other than he was going to pull the stern of the boat out away from the beach the captain advised me that this was going to turn into “salvage” instead of a hard ground tow. I was not sure exactly what he was talking about however he asked me if I had hull insurance and he wanted to see my insurance policy. He stated that my insurance company would not have problem with his charge of $125.00 per foot ($9,000.00). I said but what about my $4,000.00 deductible, he said that he was sorry about that .He then had me initial the original contract showing it as a salvage.  The captain then proceeded to place a large water pump on the back of my boat (though he never started the engine) and stuck oil soaks rags in the engine compartment vents, he said this was to prevent water from coming into the engine compartment which was not necessary because the water level never got high enough for any water to come into the vents. He then pulled the stern of the boat around into deeper water and with the help of my two engines the boat was backed off the sand. In the Captain’s written report he stated that my boat was taking on water which it was not but I assume that was his justification for changing it to a salvage. The moral to this story is that had this been classified as a “hard ground tow” (and that is what it was) instead of a “salvage” the Captain would have earned approximately $1,000.00 which was covered by my unlimited coverage with Boat US instead of the $9,000.00 of which I would have to pay $4,000.00. Had I known the difference in the types of “tows and salvage” I would not have signed the agreement contract until I had a better understanding of why it was being changed from a tow to a salvage.

Ruffin Blaylock Joins Pursuit Magazine as a Bail Enforcement Editor

Ruffin Blaylock has joined Pursuit Magazine as an editor of the online PI magazine's Bail Enforcement featured category.

Mr. Blaylock is the president of Spaniel Investigations, Inc in Decatur, Alabama and backs up his informative articles with almost a decade of active bail fugitive apprehension experience and prior employment in law enforcement. He is also an administrator with the Fugitive Recovery Network.

L. Scott Harrell, Pursuit Magazine's Editor in Chief, said, "We're excited to add Ruffin to our professional lineup of experienced authors and contributors.  He has a unique writing style that I am sure will not only capture the attention of our readers, but will engage them in the type of dialogue we are trying to get started at Pursuit.  It's through that sense of conversation where professionals come together to create communities;  Ruffin Blaylock will certainly be an asset to us all."

Ruffin's first article, Using Shotguns During Bail Enforcement Operations, debuted at Pursuit Magazine on January 9, 2009.

Pursuit Magazine also has a new home on MySpace- the private investigator mag.  Be sure to add us as a friend!

Private Investigator Association Conferences, Classes and Events

We are looking for submissions to add to our Private Investigator Calendar of Events at Pursuit Magazine.  Of course the listing is free; all submissions will be entered into the calendar and a news piece will be written about the event; this is GREAT exposure.

Association conferences, training classes, industry meetings and other important dates are all highly encouraged.

Just send me the basics:  who, what, where and when; we'll take care of the rest.  Contact me here.

BTW- we've just posted several new private investigator articles that I am sure will help you increase business in tough times; check them out- your competitors are probably reading them right now.

Important new Update on Anthony Oliver!

Tony Oliver has a felony arrest warrant out of San Diego County California and is some SERIOUS DEEP SHIT as a result.

Go to the Anthony Oliver Blog to learn more and find out what he is being charged with.

Note:  If you are hiding Anthony Oliver or know of his whereabouts, you must consider him to be both armed and dangerous.  I have several pictures of him with firearms and he has a previous arrest history of domestic violence.  You are probably not safe.  Don't get yourself into trouble or hurt for hiding this liar and thief.

You can email me or leave a comment through this blog with his location and remain completely anonymous.  Better yet get away from him and call the Police right now!
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Private Investigator Magazine Looking for Articles and Authors

I am looking for some good articles for the November issue of our very popular e-zine, Pursuit Magazine.

Would you like to write an article and be published in Pursuit? Currently over 1,200 investigators subscribe to Pursuit and a few thousand more have downloaded the current edition and are reading all of our past articles.  Being published in an industry trade journal is great for marketing, networking, search engine placement and getting your name out there!  Unlike with traditional magazines, when you write an article for Pursuit it will continue to work for you for years to come- as long as our website is operational and people are reading past issues!  Just write us a short article between 250 and 600 words and we’ll review it for a future issue of Pursuit.

Our next issue is all about Internet Research / Data Mining and Legal Research but we are interested in off topic articles as well and need articles for our featured skip tracing, process serving, bail enforcement and litigation spotlight sections.  This will be a great issue to get into because our newly redesigned website will go "live" in late October and we are planning a great deal of publicity around that event.  There are a few additional features that I can not let out of the bag until our new site is posted but rest assured that authors will get greater than average exposure during this short window of time. 

Submit all articles with a by-line (a short introduction of the author and his or her contact information) by October 15, 2008 for the November issue to:

info at compasspointpi.com
Put in subject line: "Pursuit Magazine Article"

Please feel free to repost this request as appropriate.

P.S. Business card submissions from subscribers are encouraged and it's FREE!  Subscribe now (also FREE) and send us a copy of your business card and I will publish the first 12 entries from subscribers in our November issue.

For more Information:

Pursuit Magazine
The Journal of Professional Excellence for Investigators
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Subscribe and read past articles and issues, all for FREE!

Thanks!

New Private Investigator Continuing Education Course

Our Introduction to Skip Tracing CE course has finally been approved by all states for continuing education, the final holdout was Tennessee while the PI board was waiting to hold a meeting.

We are very excited about adding the new course for private investigator CEUs to PIEducation.com and look forward to adding several more courses very shortly.

In the meantime we have added videos to YouTube and Google Video in an effort to show PIs just how easy and convenient taking an online continuing education course can be.

We remain the least expensive option for private investigators in Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Iowa, Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon, Kansas and Kentucky.

Waited until the last minute to complete CLE?  No problem, we offer expedited same business day turn around for most courses at no extra cost.

El Scott Harrell on YouTube
Continuing Education for Private Investigators - Part 1
Private Investigator Continuing Education - Part 2
Online Private Investigator Continuing Education
PI CEUs - Continuing Education for Private Investigators

Experience the difference.  PIEducation.com - Convenient, Affordable and Available Now!

Pursuit Magazine for Investigators has Posted the September Issue!

The September issue of Pursuit Magazine is online now and it's another very important issue!

Pursuit Magazine is a free bi-monthly magazine covering many aspects of the private investigation and private security industries:

•  Private Investigators
•  Bail Enforcement Agents (Bounty Hunters)
•  Bail Bondsmen
•  Skip Tracers
•  Collateral Recovery and Repossession Agents (Repo Men and Women)
•  Judgment Recovery Professionals
•  Process Servers
•  Attorneys
•  Legal Investigators
•  and more

We welcome comments about our articles and look forward to your feedback!

New Private Investigator Association

I've been approached by several people who are interested in forming the Gulf Coast Private Investigators Association.  They envision a regional association made up of voting members, mainly private investigators from the Gulf South, with an interest in the investigations industry primarily located in the coastal areas of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

It looks like a solid organization whose main focus will be promoting sensible legislation, private investigator continuing education and business networking opportunities.

I'm excited by the prospect since the Florida PI Association to which I currently belong and am on the board of directors is headquartered 10 hours from the office and it is not feasible for me to attend most of the events they are promoting.

I look forward to exciting changes on the horizon!

U.S. Recovery Bureau- More Arrests Anticipated?

One of the things I do every so often is to check out what search terms lead people to the El Scott Harrell weblog.  Lately, and not surprisingly, I have been getting an enormous amount of traffic as a result of the owners of the USRB going down in flames for allegedly issuing fraudulent badges.  Most of the search terms have been simply "US Recovery Bureau" but in the last 24 hours I have seen "US Recovery Bureau Lawsuit" dozens of times, which leads me to believe that there is a movement under foot.  Rightfully so, I am sure that former USRB clients are some kind of pissed off.

I would be REALLY pissed off if I was issued a badge that landed me in jail for sure.  It would appear to me that civil litigation, suing the owners of the USRB, would be the obvious remedy if I was in this situation.

With all of the interest, I decided to do some more digging and I found these quotes in an article that seemed to insinuate that more arrests of US Recovery Bureau associates may be pending and even likened this situation to a threat to national security:

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"You have a lot of bad guys running around with [false] badges and credentials," said one source connected to the investigation of Neves. "It's a national security threat."

"What's the difference between that camp and an al-Qaida camp?" asked Al Petrocelli, whose 28-year-old-son, Mark, was killed on 9/11. "Knowing the damage this can do to the community ... it upsets me. We had a handful of people kill 3,000 people. Now we know of 3,000 fake, possibly federal identifications. The ramifications of this could be astronomical."   

Robert Neves -- who came to the door with a gun when agents came knocking yesterday -- was fired from his job as a city police detective in the mid-1990s, after being caught filing false police reports and tampering with records, a source said. Which precinct or unit Neves was assigned to was not immediately known and a police spokesman could not provide further details yesterday.

Authorities said that others, not yet arrested, also were involved in the U.S. Recovery Bureau, based in Union City, N.J., which offered three-day classes in bail enforcement training in Passaic, N.J., as well as Brooklyn and Manhattan. According to court papers, "well over 3,000" graduates who paid $860 left with false police and federal agent badges and credentials. More than 100 have been apprehended, authorities said.

A police source described the school as "totally fraudulent, not even incorporated in New York state."

Many of their students are apparently convicted felons and some foreign nationals who pose a security threat, the source said. There's also a concern about their boarding airplanes around the country, he said."

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Wow.  This is obviously a much larger issue than originally suggested.  Basically, Mr. Petrocelli associated the US Recovery Bureau with the terrorist organization, Al Qaeda.  Ouch.

Perhaps this is a cautionary tale to the rest of us who provide bail enforcement education.  "No," is certainly the best answer I could possibly give when I have a prospective student ask me if I issue badges or credentials upon completion of my bounty hunter class.

I noticed that the USRB's website is down once again "for maintenance."  That's probably best.

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Texas Process Server Continuing Education

US Recovery Bureau (USRB) Owners Arrested for Fraud

US Attorney Reports Men Arrested For Allegedly Distributing Fraudulent Law Enforcement Badges & Credentials

LAWFUEL.com - Legal Announcements / Press Release:

MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JOHN A. ULIANKO, Regional Director for the Federal Protective Service ("FPS"), Region 2, announced that RALPH RIOS and ROBERT NEVES were arrested today by agents of the Federal Protective Service on charges that they distributed hundreds of false law enforcement badges and credentials.

According to the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court:

NEVES and RIOS are the principals of the U.S.Recovery Bureau (USRB) (the “School”), which offers monthly classes in bounty hunting and in how to restrain people.

The classes regularly take place in Brooklyn and Passaic, New Jersey, and in other locations, including one in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York. Despite its name, U.S. Recovery Bureau is not a governmental organization.

The School provides graduates of its course with badges and credentials that give the impression that they were issued by actual government law enforcement agencies because, among other reasons,

(a) the badge is in the same shape as a New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) Detective badge;

(b) the badge bears a seal with a bald eagle that is a facsimile of the great seal of the United States;

(c) the badge reads “U.S. Recovery Bureau” and under the seal is the word “Agent” and a badge serial number;

(d) the badge is in a leather wallet that also holds credentials that are the same shape and size as federal law enforcement credentials and identify the graduate as a “Special Agent” of the “U.S. Recovery Bureau”;

(e) the credentials bear an emblem in the center of the card that is a facsimile of the great seal of the United States; and

(f) the credentials lack any clear indication that they are not issued by a governmental organization.

The United States Recovery Bureau also sells other materials, including clothing that says “Fugitive Task Force,” handcuffs and batons.

Law enforcement authorities have arrested multiple graduates of U.S. Recovery Bureau for using the credentials issued by the School.

On some occasions, students have used their School-issued credentials to try to avoid tickets and other law enforcement actions.

In other cases, students have used the credentials to try to access secure government buildings.

In at least one case, students have used the School-issued credentials to impersonate law enforcement officers in order to effectuate robberies.

Of approximately 943 students who received credentials from USRB, at least 78 were convicted felons at the time they took the U.S. Recovery Bureau course.

NEVES, 49, is from Staten Island, New York, and RIOS, 49, is from Homestead, Florida.

They each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

NEVES was presented this afternoon in Manhattan federal court before United States Magistrate Judge DEBRA FREEMAN; RIOS was presented in the Southern District of Florida.

Mr. GARCIA praised the investigative work of the FPS and the Police Impersonation Unit of the NYPD in this case, and thanked the United States Marshals Service, the New York Office of the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their roles in the arrests.

Assistant United States Attorney WILLIAM J. HARRINGTON is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

For further information, see my post on the US Recovery Bureau here, read the comments and follow the included links in that post too.

http://www.lawfuel.com/show-release.asp?ID=18511

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