FORLETTA: Protecting Confidential Information in the Workplace. The protection of confidential information in the workplace is becoming increasingly important for the success of businesses. Protecting confidential information is a way of building trust with employees and clients, thereby facilitating efficient company operations and improving customer relationships. Having a clear confidentiality policy in place can help [...]
We’re all familiar with the common HR procedure of conducting background checks on our prospective employees. And it makes perfect sense. You wouldn’t want to put your company’s reputation in jeopardy by bringing on someone who doesn’t have the cleanest legal or moral record. So the candidate passed the background check. You’ve hired them. And [...]
According to a 2012 survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly 24 million Americans aged 12 and older had used an illicit drug or abused a psychotherapeutic medication within the past month. The study also found that drug used is highest among 18-20 year old Americans, with approximately 23.9% of this [...]
From the Desk of Larry Forletta: Intellectual Property Investigations. Thoughts and ideas are just as important to the success of an organization as physical items. That’s why intellectual property protection is such an integral part of many organizations’ work. There are four different types of intellectual property—patents, trademarks, designs, and copyrights. Each of these is [...]
With the proliferation of digital technology, cybercrime has been on the rise. Luckily, there are lots of things you can do to protect yourself from online fraud. In general, cybercriminals want to make their money as quickly and easily as possible. By making their job a little harder, you can keep yourself much safer. Some [...]
Counterfeit products are defined as goods, often of inferior quality, made or sold under another brand’s name without the brand owner’s authorization. In part because of the Internet, we have become more and more inundated with counterfeit products. In 2014, US law enforcement agencies had to shut down 29,684 websites that were illegally selling counterfeit [...]
Graphology is the fascinating science of handwriting analysis. It can be used to legally identify people. Even more interesting is that graphology can provide insights into one’s personality. As it turns out, you might be able to learn quite a bit about a person just by looking at their handwriting. Regardless of how one was [...]
Forensic investigation is the application of science to criminal and civil laws. Throughout an investigation, forensic scientists collect, preserve, and analyze scientific evidence. Forensic scientists can take on different roles in an investigation, for example the role of a laboratory analyst, a field investigator, or an expert witness in court. Different types of investigations are [...]
From the Desk of Larry Forletta: Protecting Our Children If you ask most parents, they will tell you that their children are their everything—that everything in their lives revolves around their children first and foremost. This make it even more heartbreaking to hear the statistics about child abuse. According to the organization Childhelp, more than [...]
It is our belief at FORLETTA that if people were better informed, they would make better decisions. This idea applies broadly, generally and I have seen the truth of this ideology over and over again. In my years as a DEA Agent in Washington DC, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, I have witnessed more tragic situations than [...]
From the desk of Larry Forletta: The Realities of Private Investigation. When people think about Private Investigators, they tend to think of dramatic scenes from old movies that they have seen, with witty and dry remarks and somewhat romantic and glorified scenes. A narrative in the background from the investigator. Black and white scenes with [...]
Innovation is the force that drives the American economy. So many companies rely on the protection of their intellectual property, that patent law drives millions and millions of dollars in the United States annually. Small businesses live and die by the security of their intellectual properties, which can mean that your success in protecting your [...]
FORLETTA: The Role of a Private Investigator in Fraud Investigations When you think of a private investigator, what do you think of? Sneaking around in alleyways to get pictures of cheating spouses? Some gumshoe who digs through the garbage of a suspected kidnapper? Thanks to popular depictions in the media, it's likely these images crossed [...]
FORLETTA: The National Threat of Drug Trafficking. For over thirty years, I worked undercover on the streets of Baltimore. My work took me through many different parts of the community, and through my experience I have seen firsthand the tragedies of substance abuse and drug addiction. It seemed, around thirty years ago, that heroin was [...]
Now that the craziness of the holiday season and gift exchanges is behind us, people are probably ready to keep spending to a minimum—at least for the immediate foreseeable future. Perhaps one of your New Year’s resolutions is to save a little bit more. Regardless of how much you’re planning on spending these next few [...]
