El Scott Harrell

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!

Help! I need Christmas gift ideas...

Christmas is quickly approaching and I HATE last minute shopping.  I am usually able to get all of my gift shopping done before Thanksgiving but time is running out on me and I have ZERO ideas right now.

So I need some unique gift ideas and I found a bunch of them at Complete Gift Ideas.

It's a beautiful website and I liked the holiday and event-specific articles they had posted; it wasn't the same old reconstituted and rehashed, "give Dad a tie" and "give Mom some nice soap and shampoo" bits of advice that everyone else is pushing. (Yes, El Scott is guilty of sending his mother some Bath and Body products for Christmas in the past.  Sorry, Mom.)

I read that the webmistress is a mall property manager and senior marketing director for shopping malls of 15 years and that she has seen it all- the good, the bad and the ugly of gift giving!  I figure who better to get ideas for gifts from than someone walking through a mall 5 days a week... kind of saves me the time and hassle.

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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!

Blog Top Sites Link

Pursuit- A Private Investigator Magazine is Online for July

The July issue of Pursuit Magazine for Private Investigators is posted and available for download.

Just click on the "Current Issue" button located on the left side of the page.

This issue is about technology and its application to the investigation industries.  We've lined up a few great authors, like Tom Slovenski of CellularForensics.com and James M. Atkinson of the Granite Island Group & TSCM.com, who provided extremely interesting articles which I am sure you will find enlightening.

I would like to ask you a favor.  Would you please tell a colleague (or two) about Pursuit Magazine? 

If you are in an association or in an online newsgroup, perhaps you could mention it to other members?

We could toot our own horn all day but the power of "word of mouth" advertising cannot possibly be understated and it would be a huge help for us in attracting a diverse group of readers and building a community magazine!

Pursuit is a magazine for bail enforcement agents, fugitive recovery agents, bail fugitive investigators, bounty hunters, bail agents and bondsmen, paralegals, legal investigators, skip tracers, judgement recovery professionals, collateral recovery agents and repo men and other professional investigators.

Thanks!

July Pursuit Issue

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Skip Tracing- An Article from Pursuit Magazine for Private Investigators and Bounty Hunters

“Skip tracing” is a term that refers to the process of finding a person whose whereabouts are unknown. This term is based upon the word “skip,” which is often used to describe a subject who is believed to be “skipping out” on his or her duties and obligations such as a debt or court appearance.  Private sector investigations occur on behalf of a wide variety of client-types:

•  Family members looking for long-lost relatives.
•  Friends looking for persons with whom they lost touch many years ago.
•  Attorneys looking for missing heirs in probate cases.
•  Creditors looking for those who owe them money.
•  A bail bondsman looking for a client who has failed to appear in court.
•  An insurance company looking for a missing witness to an insured loss.
•  A parent looking for their child who has run away or was abducted. 
•  Private Investigators looking for a scam artist or identity thief.

The list goes on and on really. 

Perhaps the most important consideration to take into account when beginning a skip trace assignment is to determine what type of missing person you have.  You must be able to answer the question, “Why is the subject missing?” in order to develop a reasonable plan of action and begin the investigation.   

People are missing for a great number of reasons, but these reasons typically fall into one of two categories, intentionally or unintentionally missing, which I then like to break down in to the following subcategories:

Would you like to read the rest of the article?

Then visit our website at PursuitMag.com and subscribe to the newest newsletter for private investigators, bounty hunters and other professional investigators and get access to this and other excellent articles written by professionals in the legal, private security and investigations professions.

And it's free!

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Catching Up!

Yes, it has been a long while since I have posted here but I heard from an old friend today who called me out of the blue and said how much he had enjoyed my blog when I was actively posting.

I heard the same thing from a competitor (and new friend) a few weeks ago.

So there must be something to this and perhaps I should breathe new life into it and resume being the crazy zealot I was just a few months ago- afterall, calling people out and keeping you all laughing is as much a mission as being a great husband, private investigator, mentor and soon to be father can be.

So much has happened to me in the last few months that it would be impossible to really catch up here but I would say the single greatest thing that has happened to me personally is that I found out that I am going to be a father soon- sometime in May to be exact.  It is a girl and we do have a name picked out.  It is the most beautiful name a woman could ever hope for I think- but of course that will remain private for now.

No, it is not going to be Stella- my wife fought me tooth and nail on that one despite the pleas from several others who also believe it is a beautiful name.  In the end she just couldn't bear the thought that I might be naming my daughter after our favorite beer, Stella Artois, and that I wanted to name a female Yellow Labrador we almost adopted last September Stella as well.

She did give in and agree that if we had another girl that we could name her Stella- sometimes it's about victory in the small battles.

I am excited but scared to death as well.  Ready or not... SHE IS COMING.

Continuing on with personal development, I have been reconnecting with my little sister too.  What a cool chick she has become- and a truly beautiful woman also.  She is really f'n funny, articulate and loves to laugh.  She is raising a really special daughter and dealing with the toughest teenage years with her right now all the while having fun with her friends and maintaining a seriously professional career.  Now she told me that she is pregant and due sometime in the late summer and she sounds really happy with everything going on in her life.  I kick myself in the ass for letting so much time go by without catching up with her and feeling a little love from lil' sista every once in a while.   

Professionally speaking, the greatest thing which has happened since my last post is that I have added the best office manager a man could have ever hoped for.  She is a damn smart, motivated- workaholic with some serious Office Ninja skills.  All of our clients love her and she keeps me and the investigators in line and productive.  I seriously could not ever pay her what she is worth but in time she will become a great private investigator too.

She has pumped up our marketing efforts 3 fold, streamlined many of our continuing education processes, added insight into the legal community (she is a former paralegal) and even screens out the psycho-nut-cases with aplomb.  In recent developments, she created an incredible newsletter for professional investigators, Pursuit Magazine, which is going to speak volumes on behalf of CompassPoint Investigations.  Click the link to check out our first issue posted at PursuitMag.com!

Further showcasing her talents, she has gotten us onto MySpace with a very professional looking site.  CompassPoint Investigations on MySpace  I am pretty excited about that one since, in addition to furthering the recognition of CPI, it has already allowed me to reconnect with some old friends from high school and the military.  I could go on and on about how great Stephanie is, but words just seem trivial.

There you have it- two new ladies in my life, personally and professionally, and reconnecting with my sister. 

How could a guy get so lucky?

Additional professional interests:  Anthony Oliver: I wonder if he ever went to court on his domestic assault charge? The answer was NO as of 4/4/08 but I am working on that personally.

More coming over the next few days, I promise.  (I smell a good 'ol fashioned Voodoo Hex coming on soon too.  Can you say leaky McDonald's cups and the morons who cannot seem to afix the lid to the cup without making an absolute mess of it all?  VERY HEX WORTHY.)

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Anthony Oliver- Fraud, Thefts and Scams

If you have been contacted by Anthony Oliver or any one of his multiple aliases (Jason Snyder, Ron Robbins, etc) or email addresses (bailguy24@aol.com, nascar19777@yahoo.com, etc.) then you need to check out this blog on Anthony Oliver and his scams immediately.

He has been scamming bail recovery agents for a little over a year now and he has recently made the jump to using Craig's List to find other unsuspecting victims.

If you have been swindled by Anthony Oliver please do not hesitate to contact me.

Anthony Oliver

Private Investigator Blog

Thanks for the link love from one of my proteges-turned-private investigator.  He's running a new blog regarding Private Investigator Hints, Tricks, and Tips, my only hope is that he does not give all of our secrets away.

He's already put up a few good question and answer type articles regarding locating email addresses, and another regarding ethics in worker's compensation.

Good stuff- I only hope that he continues to keep the blog updated and relevant... Brian was a great investigator while he worked with me years ago, I am sure that he will continue to succeed! 

Articles that I would like to see in the future should address what private investigation clients should expect while hiring a private detective, what type of information is and is not available in public databases, how the newly enacted federal law affects pretexting, surveillance tips, etc, etc.

By and large, many private investigators are providing less-than-quality products for their clients; on the job training and internships do not appear to be cutting it anymore either.  The problem is that new interns are being turned into PIs with very little instruction or supervision- their investigative product suffers tremendously.  These investigators then go on to open their own investigation agency, still offering a terrible product because they don't know any better, and hire new interns and teach them less than what the mentor knows. 

You see where I am going here:  with every generation of new, poorly trained PI-turned-agency-owner, you have a predictable loss in professionalism and it is beginning to show.

As an industry, how do we stem this tide and save the profession?  The short-sighted will say that the weak investigators will eventually go away and the strong will survive, but those of us who see the big picture understand that these substandard and less than ethical investigators are actually hurting the industry very badly.  We are under constant scrutiny by the privacy watchdogs (which is not necessarily a bad thing) and are losing essential tools, which we once enjoyed, through sweeping legislation precisely because investigators have lost their way and don't know where to draw the line any longer with what is and is not acceptable.

Perhaps Brian can elaborate more on that in his blog as well.  Keep up the good work.