 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Areas We Serve
We serve all of Northern Virginia to include Woodbridge, Dale City,
Lorton, Dumfries, Triangle, Lake Ridge, Manassas, Manasses Park,
Centreville, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Springfield, Chantilly, Fairfax,
Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Stafford, Fredericksburg, Prince
William County, Stafford County, Spotsylvania County, and Loudoun
County.
We serve all of Northern Virginia to include Woodbridge, Dale City,
Lorton, Dumfries, Triangle, Lake Ridge, Manassas, Manasses Park,
Centreville, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Springfield, Chantilly, Fairfax,
Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Stafford, Fredericksburg, Prince
William County, Stafford County, Spotsylvania County, and Loudoun
County.
| Before You Hire a Private Investigator in Virginia, know if they are licensed to operate in Virginia. Do not hire a National Firm that Sub-contracts the work, that will only cost you more. Below is a link to the Regulatory Agency for the state of Virginia. VA Department of Criminal Justice - PSS |
| Divorce Investigations Infidelity Investigations Civil Investigations Domestic Investigations Insurance Fraud Investigations Surveillance Video Surveillance Nanny Screening Pre-Relationship Background Checks Dating Background Checks |
VersaTek, LLC
4239 Glendale Road
Woodbridge, VA 22193
Prince William County
4239 Glendale Road
Woodbridge, VA 22193
Prince William County
VersaTek, LLC "The Local Northern Virginia Firm"
VA DCJS # 11-4680
Phone: 571-215-4438
1. Is the company that you are hiring licensed in the Commonwealth of
Virginia?
Often times national firms will subcontract to a local firm. When this
happens you will usually pay more for the investigation and gather less
evidence. If you want an investigation in a certain area hire a private
investigation firm located close to the area of operations.
If an investigator has to testify in court opposing counsel will attack the
credentials of the investigator. If an investigator is not licensed and
certified he or she may not show up at court. If there is a contractual
dispute between a local firm and the national firm that has hired the
local investigator, the local investigator may not show up for a court
case. He may need to be served with a subpoena. This will be an
added cost.
If an investigation is not being conducted by a certified investigator
working for a licensed investigation company then the investigation is
illegal.
See Virginia Code Sections 9.1-138, 9.1-139, 9.1-140, and 9.1-149 for
further clarification.
People who are not properly authorized may also be charged with
stalking under Virginia Code Section 18.2-60.3.
2. Does the company employ the latest legal evidence gathering
techniques?
Technology has allowed the cost of investigations to decrease
dramatically. This has actually hurt the bottom lines for many
investigations firms. It has helped as well because investigation have
become much more affordable and are now available to more people.
GPS (global positioning system) locating devices and data loggers
greatly decrease operations expense and improve public safety by
eliminating traditional mobile vehicle surveillance. You may be able to
utilize this technology under Virginia Code Section 46.2-1088.6.
3. Does the firm have the ability to receive information from the Virginia
Department of Motor Vehicles?
Some firms in Virginia have the ability to access DMV records
electronically. This ability can sometimes make or break an
investigation after the object of a surveillance enters an unknown
vehicle and a traditional vehicle follow fails.
4. Does the firm have the ability to deploy unmanned continuous video
recording?
In child custody orders parents are sometimes forbidden to have their
children in the presence of certain parties or individuals. If at all
possible continuous video recording often produces the best and least
expensive evidence of violations. If it is not practical to deploy a vehicle
then you always have the more costly option of having a private
investigator video tape the arrival, visit, and departure of the party or
individual.
In infidelity investigations the unmanned vehicle also often times
produces evidence with less expense than an investigator.
In investigations for alimony or spousal support the unmanned 24 hour
video recorder will often time prove where a person has domiciled and
with whom. These types of cases require a great amount of time
depending on how much evidence a party would like to have.
Workers Compensations Investigations also benefit greatly from
unmanned surveillance vehicles. They allow hours and hours of
surveillance at a less expensive rate that have an investigator
conducting surveillance.
In many cases other uncontrollable variables will prohibit or make the
use of an unmanned surveillance vehicle impracticable. This option
should at least be pondered and explored.
5. My lawyer does not want me to hire a private investigator, should I
anyway?
I'm not sure why a lawyer would suggest that you not hire a private
investigator or why they would not suggest hiring one. I would discuss
this further with your lawyer. Maybe your lawyer is not familiar with
modern investigative techniques and thinks that it will be a financial
burden on you.
This can be said, private investigation can often lead to the
identification of witnesses for litigation. Investigations will sometimes
result in irrefutable evidence as well.
It is truly mind boggling why a lawyer would not exhaust all avenues
that would result in a more positive outcome for their client. I have my
opinions on why lawyers do not insist upon their clients hiring a private
investigator, but I will not go into it here.
6. Why do private investigators require a retainer?
The last thing that a private investigation firm wants to be bothered with
is the collection of funds owed to that firm. Private investigators do not
work for free. Most lawyers also require a retainer. Results can never
be guaranteed and often times a client will be happy to pay if they get
positive results and not so if they do not get the results they want. I
suggest using a firm that requires a small retainer initially. This allows
the firm to possibly produce some results initially, and allows a client
the flexibility of ending the investigation if nothing is found. Small
retainer is between $750.00 and $1500.00 depending on the company
and area it could be more or less. Some companies will not take your
case if they believe you do not have the funds to complete it and will
not accept small retainers. If they come highly recommended they still
may be a suitable company for your needs.
7. What does an investigation cost?
An investigation has no set limit obviously, and no two investigations
are completely the same. I have ended investigations quite quickly in a
matter of hours using a skip trace and social networking sites. That is
not the norm though. In a few cases where a client had great
intelligence we have gained substantial evidence in the course of one
night and brought the investigation to a close. The majority of cases fall
somewhere between the $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 range, and as of
March 2008 I have never had a domestic case exceed $4,000.00.
Smaller retainers are usually welcome for jobs that have a set scope of
operations.
8. What are the benefits having an investigation performed?
This is unique to each client. My advice is that if an investigation does
not have a chance of improving your situation you may not want to
undertake it. If you just want to know and you will not be hurt financially
we will perform an investigation. In numerous consultations I have not
accepted assignments because I did not believe it would benefit my
client.
By:
John Leonard
Investigator
Versatek, LLC
www.versateksecurity.com
September 30, 2007
updated March 29, 2008
Virginia?
Often times national firms will subcontract to a local firm. When this
happens you will usually pay more for the investigation and gather less
evidence. If you want an investigation in a certain area hire a private
investigation firm located close to the area of operations.
If an investigator has to testify in court opposing counsel will attack the
credentials of the investigator. If an investigator is not licensed and
certified he or she may not show up at court. If there is a contractual
dispute between a local firm and the national firm that has hired the
local investigator, the local investigator may not show up for a court
case. He may need to be served with a subpoena. This will be an
added cost.
If an investigation is not being conducted by a certified investigator
working for a licensed investigation company then the investigation is
illegal.
See Virginia Code Sections 9.1-138, 9.1-139, 9.1-140, and 9.1-149 for
further clarification.
People who are not properly authorized may also be charged with
stalking under Virginia Code Section 18.2-60.3.
2. Does the company employ the latest legal evidence gathering
techniques?
Technology has allowed the cost of investigations to decrease
dramatically. This has actually hurt the bottom lines for many
investigations firms. It has helped as well because investigation have
become much more affordable and are now available to more people.
GPS (global positioning system) locating devices and data loggers
greatly decrease operations expense and improve public safety by
eliminating traditional mobile vehicle surveillance. You may be able to
utilize this technology under Virginia Code Section 46.2-1088.6.
3. Does the firm have the ability to receive information from the Virginia
Department of Motor Vehicles?
Some firms in Virginia have the ability to access DMV records
electronically. This ability can sometimes make or break an
investigation after the object of a surveillance enters an unknown
vehicle and a traditional vehicle follow fails.
4. Does the firm have the ability to deploy unmanned continuous video
recording?
In child custody orders parents are sometimes forbidden to have their
children in the presence of certain parties or individuals. If at all
possible continuous video recording often produces the best and least
expensive evidence of violations. If it is not practical to deploy a vehicle
then you always have the more costly option of having a private
investigator video tape the arrival, visit, and departure of the party or
individual.
In infidelity investigations the unmanned vehicle also often times
produces evidence with less expense than an investigator.
In investigations for alimony or spousal support the unmanned 24 hour
video recorder will often time prove where a person has domiciled and
with whom. These types of cases require a great amount of time
depending on how much evidence a party would like to have.
Workers Compensations Investigations also benefit greatly from
unmanned surveillance vehicles. They allow hours and hours of
surveillance at a less expensive rate that have an investigator
conducting surveillance.
In many cases other uncontrollable variables will prohibit or make the
use of an unmanned surveillance vehicle impracticable. This option
should at least be pondered and explored.
5. My lawyer does not want me to hire a private investigator, should I
anyway?
I'm not sure why a lawyer would suggest that you not hire a private
investigator or why they would not suggest hiring one. I would discuss
this further with your lawyer. Maybe your lawyer is not familiar with
modern investigative techniques and thinks that it will be a financial
burden on you.
This can be said, private investigation can often lead to the
identification of witnesses for litigation. Investigations will sometimes
result in irrefutable evidence as well.
It is truly mind boggling why a lawyer would not exhaust all avenues
that would result in a more positive outcome for their client. I have my
opinions on why lawyers do not insist upon their clients hiring a private
investigator, but I will not go into it here.
6. Why do private investigators require a retainer?
The last thing that a private investigation firm wants to be bothered with
is the collection of funds owed to that firm. Private investigators do not
work for free. Most lawyers also require a retainer. Results can never
be guaranteed and often times a client will be happy to pay if they get
positive results and not so if they do not get the results they want. I
suggest using a firm that requires a small retainer initially. This allows
the firm to possibly produce some results initially, and allows a client
the flexibility of ending the investigation if nothing is found. Small
retainer is between $750.00 and $1500.00 depending on the company
and area it could be more or less. Some companies will not take your
case if they believe you do not have the funds to complete it and will
not accept small retainers. If they come highly recommended they still
may be a suitable company for your needs.
7. What does an investigation cost?
An investigation has no set limit obviously, and no two investigations
are completely the same. I have ended investigations quite quickly in a
matter of hours using a skip trace and social networking sites. That is
not the norm though. In a few cases where a client had great
intelligence we have gained substantial evidence in the course of one
night and brought the investigation to a close. The majority of cases fall
somewhere between the $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 range, and as of
March 2008 I have never had a domestic case exceed $4,000.00.
Smaller retainers are usually welcome for jobs that have a set scope of
operations.
8. What are the benefits having an investigation performed?
This is unique to each client. My advice is that if an investigation does
not have a chance of improving your situation you may not want to
undertake it. If you just want to know and you will not be hurt financially
we will perform an investigation. In numerous consultations I have not
accepted assignments because I did not believe it would benefit my
client.
By:
John Leonard
Investigator
Versatek, LLC
www.versateksecurity.com
September 30, 2007
updated March 29, 2008
How to hire a Private Investigator
Starting an Investigation
FAQs (frequently asked questions)
Things to consider!
Starting an Investigation
FAQs (frequently asked questions)
Things to consider!