We recently received our Cheyenne, Wyoming Private Investigator license. While the state of Wyoming has no PI licensing requirements, it is required to work within the city limits of Cheyenne. At this time we are one of only a handful of Cheyenne licensed private investigators and therefore when you are in need of a surveillance investigator in Cheyenne or Colorado or elsewhere in Wyoming, you can call us. Cheyenne is only a couple of hours north of our Denver, Colorado office.

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Colorado had been one of only a few states without a mandatory licensing program for private investigators for many years. This meant that anybody and everybody who wanted to hang up a shingle and say they were a private investigator, could do this. Often times this would allow them access to sensitive personal information, including but no limited to a clients credit card information.

This changed on June 1, 2015, when the mandatory private investigator licensing law, was implemented. This was after a time period of over three decades where Colorado had no such law. The last mandatory private investigator licensing law in Colorado was in 1977, when an investigator challenged the law by declaring there was no definition of private investigator in the law, and therefore it was struck down.

During that licensing “drought” many private investigators have come and gone, some who held themselves out to be private investigators have seen the inside of the gray bar hotel, but with no regulation, there was no accurate count on how many private investigators there were in the state of Colorado.

Before this current law was passed, some speculated approximately 100, some speculated 250, and some speculated as high as 700. The number is very significant in Colorado due to the fact that Colorado has a TABOR law, which meant no money from the general fund can be used for this program. Therefore every dollar to operate the program has to come from licensing fees and this program itself. The end result of this type of system is that there is a set budget for the program itself, and that budget is paid through licensing fees, therefore the more licenses that are issued, the lower the cost of each individual license.

DORA, the agency that oversees this program anticipated 400 licenses would be issued, which at the time was only a best guess.

As we sit here in January of 2016, just over half a year into the program, there have been over 500 Colorado private investigator licenses issued.

The bottom line to the consumer is that this gives the person a place to verify that a private investigator has been properly vetted, licensed and with that license they are required to carry a bond. It also gives the consumer a place to file a complaint, when necessary, against a private investigator.

The end result of this program is that it is protection for the general consumer and the program appears to be bigger than most people anticipated.

At Night Moves of Denver, Private Investigations, we supported the legislation and testified numerous times at the State Capitol in favor of passing this into law.

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When requesting surveillance from a private investigator, it is assumed that the private investigator will see everything that happens, all day, every day at every location. This assumption is just not realistic due to a number of variables.

First off many things happen behind closed doors, in private areas or any number of places where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. The law abiding private investigator will respect this. Additionally you might have a subject who resides in an extremely rural area, making it difficult to conduct direct surveillance without standing out. While following a subject several more factors arise such as traffic lights, traffic conditions and the maneuvers made by other drivers on a daily basis. Think of it this way. Consider your daily commute to and from work and how hectic that can be, then add to it, trying to follow an individual during that commute.

While it is possible for one surveillance investigator to follow a person, it is definitely an advantage to have two or more investigators. A few years ago, we worked a surveillance investigation in a rural area, out of town, on one subject, using one investigator and one vehicle for 20 consecutive days. This is not ideal, but can be done with proper planning and the understanding that when utilizing one person, that surveillance investigator has to be very careful to avoid being burned. With this type of extreme conditions, it is imperative to conduct the surveillance from as great a distance as possible. It is also helpful to gather as much intel about the subject as possible, to know where the subject will be or might be going at any given time.

Utilizing two surveillance investigators or more gives the investigators a much greater chance of success with the investigation. We recently worked a different case, again in a rural area, out of town, where the client authorized two investigators. This was a huge asset to be able to cover various choke points (choke points are places where the subject would have to pass by in order to enter or exit the area). This also allows the investigators to change point vehicles (the vehicle directly behind the subject) so the subject observes a change in vehicles behind him/her, therefore diminishing the possibility that they might become aware of the investigation. When coordinating an investigation like this, it is important to have good communications between the investigators, but just as important is that the investigators think alike and can conduct the surveillance at times virtually without communicating.

Many clients will initiate a surveillance investigation and base that investigation on a set budget. While that is understandable, it is important to communicate all mitigating circumstances to the private investigator, before initiating the surveillance so the necessity of a second investigator can be discussed. As we stated here, it is possible to conduct the investigation with one investigator, but your chances of success increase with each additional investigator added to the case.

So when talking to a private investigator about conducting surveillance, be honest and open about the difficulties they might face, this will give your case the greatest chance of success. This might mean conducting a two-person surveillance, but if it is the difference between a successful investigation and an investigation that cost money, with little or nor results, it is a worthwhile investment.

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