Page 28 - NCISS Your Advocate April 2021

Private Investigators Targeted – Access to Records A Thing of the Past?

• Private investigators use license plates to search DMV records to identify the owner of the vehicle during
surveillance to help properly identify a person to ensure we are following the correct individuals.

• In a case we recently had for a very large theft investigation, we were able to run the license plate of a box truck
used to steal furniture from a wholesaler. The identity of the person was unknown, but we were able to use DMV
information on the vehicle’s registered owner to identify the suspect and further the investigation.

• Often in service of process there is no physical identifying information available or photographs of the person to be
served. In order for private investigators to confirm they are speaking with the correct person to be served,
especially should the person be acting evasive or deny who they are, a description of the person can be secured
from their driving record ahead of time.

• Furthermore, in many instances people actively evade service of process and surveillance must be conducted to wait
for them to leave the house to become available to compete the serve. The ability to run a license plate to identify
the owner helps ensure that the person to be served is home and to watch for them to approach a particular vehicle
they own for identification purposes.

• Traffic collisions and disputes of ownership at the time of the accident can be resolved by conducting vehicle
registration research using DMV data. Private investigators use this regularly for civil litigation purposes to help
identify the proper individuals and information related to an insurance claim.

• Civil court records are filed by name only. This poses a huge problem when we need to identify if a particular name-
match record pertains to a specific person. For example, if the question at hand is a personal injury matter, and it is
immediately relevant to see if they have other outside sources of injury, we can compare driving record information
related to an accident to a civil court filing on the same date. This allows us to confirm that a particular record
pertains to the specific subject of the investigation.

The above noted examples are used numerous times on thousands of investigations. It is essential to have DMV data
access for these purposes as the information cannot be gained any other way in most instances. Trained private
investigators are acutely aware of the importance and sensitive nature of the DMV access and guard the information
and access with the utmost security protocol.

The services that private investigators provide in the court system is essential to the fair and open functioning of the
courts and to allow people to have a fair trial by having access to relevant information.

Advertise Your Business Card
or Graphic Here!

Email nciss1976@yahoo.com
for details

28