The times they are a'changing
Great news! Very positive developments for private investigators in NSW. Warren Mallard's success often sticks in the craw of many investigators and even more so-called investigators, but even they will directly benefit from Warren's long term efforts. [ed].
I am often criticized by a select group of industry members as being someone who should just go away or perhaps catch a dreadful disease however I believe strongly in the prospects of the private investigation industry and have worked tirelessly and selflessly over the past 26 or so years in an endeavour to bring about better conditions, better recognition and better training and all because of an unselfish passion for the work I love. I have for many years belonged to industry representative bodies and held the office of President on four occasions and although I am still a financial member of the peak industry body the IMA, I no longer attend these meetings preferring to toil away in the background where I can be of most use.
There are a number of things in common with all of my critics, they don't know me, have never worked for me and if they have most probably were sacked, and most certainly have never contributed to anything other than themselves and their own personal goals. They do however know from information they have received from others that I must be their enemy. This reflects poorly upon them as investigators as the first rule is to investigate, gather evidence and sort the facts from fiction before being lead by those who hold hatred and avarice as their badges of honour.
It is my work in the background that I would like to bring to the notice of all concerned investigators who believe the industry is doomed. The news I have is all good albeit that in NSW we are suffering far more than our colleagues in other states due to changes to insurance laws. Recently I have been working with police and civilians within the police and SIR/CAPI to bring about changes to attitudes held by police regarding private investigators as well as changes to the current legislation that will make the work of investigators more attractive to the consumer, less inviting to those who should not be in the industry and to open up new horizons for investigators and consumers of investigative services.
One of the greatest obstacles we have had to overcome is the public perception of our industry members and that held by police. We have all seen the television shows such as Cheaters, which retard our image beyond belief. Whilst it seems like a good idea at the time to appear in such shows and whilst it might in the very short term promote the business of the participant, in the long term it doesn't further the cause of our industry as a whole. To lift the image of the investigation industry is the single most important problem the investigation industry faces. We all make mistakes and I recall many years ago appearing in a show called Gumshoe, a documentary that appeared on the ABC and was screened in cinemas around the world that really turned out to be a Mocumentary. To me at that time I sincerely believed it would promote my business and also the industry. Little did I suspect there would be participants in this show that did just the opposite and in turn unwittingly brought as all into some discredit. It seems the producer had a hidden agenda. I learned from this experience that we must as individuals be mindful of all others that might be affected and undertake the due diligence before rushing in.
The SIR and CAPI Register have been most helpful of late and after many years of perseverance, on Monday 10th December I and another long term industry member and a former National President of the IMA, Peter Frisch sat with Superintendent John Kerlatec of the Regulated Industries Task Force, Julie Cornwell Manager CAPI Unit and Cameron Smith Acting Registrar of the SIR at Police Headquarters to discuss real and important issues faced by investigators in the field. Matters that involve police, education about our industry and the current legislation. To these men and woman I thank you and encourage you to promote this dialogue for the sake of unity and public safety.
You may already be aware that the current legislation was due for review in 2009, however due to our persistence and written representations this review will be brought forward to early in the new year, 2008. The IMA has been working towards similar goals in parallel with Peter and I and this has had the desired effect of telegraphing to the regulators that we are serious about our industry and the direction it takes. I must say that the current Commissioner Andrew Scipione has an uphill battle to overcome many problems the police currently face, not the least of which is resourcing, however to his credit he is the first Commissioner of Police that has offered to assist and actually facilitated that process.
The issues that were discussed are involved and multifaceted however the main thrust was the continuance of a consultative group and keeping the dialog open and working together in the sharing of information, the changes required to the new legislation, a better understanding and more co operative approach by police in regards to the investigation industry and for us as an industry to understand the protocols that police are bound by, their chains of command and how we might all work together for a common goal, the detection and prevention of crime.
For those of you who may be interested, there are currently only 1,450 licensed Private Inquiry Agents in NSW, a massive decline on previous numbers. This decline is also reflective of what occurred in the Security Industry when competencies and mandatory fingerprinting were introduced. Coupled with the decline in personal injury insurance investigations I believe unless we promote ourselves in a broader sense, we will decline in numbers even further.
Some of the main points are listed below:
- Cross border licensing to allow operatives licensed in one state/territory to work on that licence in another.
- A co-regulatory legislative model that will allow for peak industry representative bodies such as is currently in place in the Security Industry to prevent those who ought not be involved in the industry from entering it or continuing in it.
- A method whereby operatives might easily and discreetly be contacted by police when a resident makes a complaint or observation that might affect the integrity of an investigation.
- A pathway through which investigators and police might work co operatively in the solving of crimes.
- Limited access to locator information.
You should not expect access to locator information to come easily as we will have to deal with the Privacy Commissioner here as well, however I do believe if at first we can open up a one way street where investigators can provide timely intelligence to the Police, the one way street will fast become a busy two way highway.
This is a marvelous start for our industry, a start that I would ask you all to embrace. I would like you to embrace this new open communication by letting me know the difficulties you experience from day to day so that I might bring these to the attention of the panel so that these might be included in submissions that will soon be called for. Don't be frightened to make a suggestion, it may just turn out to be something good for us all.
To those detractors, save your negative comments and energy for hugging someone at Christmas. For those who don't know me or those who think they do but don't, my door is always open. Come, have a coffee with me, and let's discuss positive steps rather than negative backward steps.
Warren Mallard
Managing Director
Lyonswood Investigations & Forensic Group
204 Lyons Road, Drummoyne NSW 2047
www.investigators.net.au
+61 (0) 2 9819-6833 F +61 (0) 2 9819-6300
DX 21007 Drummoyne