Online access to San Rafael, California Building Records

"In San Rafael’s ongoing effort to both become a greener, more paperless operation, and to provide our business community and citizens with easy access to public records, the Community Development Department has digitized over 300,000 historical building permit records dating back to the 1940’s."

Beginning on April 1, these records will be available at cityofsanrafael.org. Simply click on the “ePermits” icon and have your address or APN number ready.  
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Texas police ask AG to block release of information

"Open records advocates questioned decisions by Galveston and Friendswood police departments, which seek to keep birth dates and complainant information private.

Citing increasing identity theft cases, Galveston police asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to restrict from view dates of births, which normally appear on police reports available to the public.

Friendswood police have asked Abbott to keep private the name and other information about a person who reported a case of online harassment.

When The Daily News requested the information, neither department said it would seek an attorney general’s opinion until asked to do so. A governmental body that receives a written request for information that it wishes to withhold from public disclosure must ask for a decision by the attorney general, according to the 2010 Public Information Handbook.

In a response to redacting dates of birth, Galveston police Capt. Thom Karlok told The Daily News in an e-mail that age, rather than birth dates, is a required disclosure. “I made the decision to omit that piece of information as a guard against identity theft,” Karlok stated.

No Evidence Linking ID Theft

The department has no evidence linking the release of birth dates on police reports to any case of identity theft, Karlok said."  
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Washington Attorney General Argues No Right to Privacy for Petition Signers

"Gearing up for the April 28th hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court over the attempt to block the release of names of people who signed petitions to negate an expansion of gay rights, lawyers for Washington state filed briefs arguing that people who sign petitions have no right to privacy."
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Ohio new sex offenders may avoid registry rules

"The Ohio Supreme Court has delivered a major setback to efforts by state lawmakers to apply the tough new sex offender notification requirements laid out in the federal Adam Walsh Act.

In a unanimous decision Thursday, the high court ruled sex offenders notified of their status in the most severe category after Jan. 1, 2008, may avoid the new community reporting requirements under exceptions found in Ohio's old law. That means not all newly convicted sex offenders in the most egregious category will be required to register with authorities every 90 days for the rest of their lives, as lawmakers intended."
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Tennessee Supreme Court says suspects must specifically ask for lawyer

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that suspects being interrogated by police must be explicit in their request for a lawyer, and not just talk about getting one, if they don’t want anything they say to be used against them.

Last week’s unanimous decision involves the statements a Rutherford County murder suspect made to Smyrna police during an interrogation. Thomas L. Turner II repeatedly asked police when his lawyer would be present before being questioned about the murder of Tiana Klimpel.

The suspect went so far as to ask for his cell phone, which had an attorney’s number.
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Louisiania law enforcement not excluded from private investigator licensing

"The executive director of the Louisiana State Board of Private Investigator Examiners says discussions have been held through the years about changing the state laws governing private investigators to exclude law enforcement officers.
“It’s suggested from time to time, but it just hasn’t happened,” said executive director Pat Englade. “There are departments, Baton Rouge and Shreveport, that don’t allow it as part of their own policies, because of the possible conflicts.”
J.A. Oster, a West Monroe private investigator, said he brought the issue up a number of times during his 13-year board tenure. “I could never get the votes on the board that were needed,” Oster said.
The News-Star learned that Sterlington Police Chief Barry Bonner had been issued a private investigator license and formed a limited liability corporation, Rogue Private Investigations. There have been past issues in Ouachita Parish about police officers having a PI license and the possible use of National Crime Information Center and ThinkStream materials, which other PIs would not have access."
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Facebook Announces Changes to Privacy Policy. Again.

"Faceboook has announced "another set of revisions" to its privacy policy. The changes appear to make it easier for Facebook to gather locational data on users and to disclose user data to third-party web sites. It also appears that Facebook will make more use of data set to 'Everyone.'"  
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

New York City process servers must electronically log service attempts

"Process servers, you've been served -- with stricter regulations. New York's City Council passed a bill Thursday toughening rules for entities that hunt down people and serve them with legal papers, including a requirement that they electronically log every attempt.

The legislation also ensures that deceitful process servers who dump papers instead of serving them -- a trick known as "sewer service" -- could be liable if the people they were supposed to serve then turn and sue them.
The City Council approved the legislation largely to crack down on debt collection agencies that are often accused of failing to notify debtors that they have lawsuits pending against them.

Out of some 300,000 consumer credit cases filed in New York civil courts in 2008, about 80 percent resulted in default judgments in favor of the plaintiffs, the city said, meaning most defendants didn't know they were being sued."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Florida journalists examine public access to open records - Mixed reviews in record requests

"Government agencies in most Northeast Florida counties passed their Sunshine Sunday test, promptly handing over public records. But some simple requests were met with confusion — and suspicion.

All five of the local agencies audited by The Times-Union last week provided public records within a day of the request and charged a modest fee or nothing at all, satisfying Florida’s open records law.

A Times-Union reporter made the records requests using her name but did not identify herself as a journalist in order to more accurately gauge how the agencies work with the public.

At two agencies, the reporter was quizzed about who she was and what she was looking for — questions that experts say are inappropriate and potentially intimidating.

Another agency responded quickly to a request, but a review of the records found them to be incomplete.

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Michigan court of appeals rules voting rolls are public record

"The Michigan Secretary of State's Office can't refuse to show individual voting records from the state's 2008 presidential primary to an East Lansing political consultant or anyone else, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.

By a 2-1 vote, the court said in an opinion released Wednesday that Mark Grebner of Practical Political Consulting can see whether individual voters took a Democratic or Republican ballot because they're public records under the state's Freedom of Information Act. The records don't show which candidate a voter supported.

Judges William Whitbeck and Stephen Borrello upheld Grebner's rights to the voting records. Judge Kirsten Frank Kelly dissented. She says the public's interest is outweighed by the voters' right to privacy."  
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Indiana bill allowing fines for violators of access laws dies

"A bill that would have authorized judges to fine willful, intentional violators of Indiana’s open-government laws has died in the state Legislature for the second consecutive year. The reason this time: The law would have carried some costs with it. The Indiana Coalition for Open Government board had endorsed the proposed legislation."
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Washington state forbids release of court employee personal information

"Washington's Legislature has passed a measure that would exempt the personal information of criminal justice employees from general public records requests.

The bill exempts birthdate information and photographs that could be used to locate or identify the employees of criminal justice agencies, including courts and police departments.

The information would still be available to news media organizations."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

States push to exempt 911 calls from public records

"A decade ago, reporters could expect to have access to 911 calls to file accurate stories, gain insight into crimes and monitor emergency response time -- but more and more states are pushing for that to change.

Alabama, Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida are among the states that have proposed legislation to limit the media's access to emergency-call recordings. The specifics of the bills are different but the intentions are the same. Open-government advocates say the trend is a worrying shift away from transparency.

"By examining 911 calls we can see how the public agencies are doing," said David Hudson from the First Amendment Foundation. "If you close those records, the public certainly loses the ability to monitor government agencies."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Private Investigator Research Links - Week of March 12

• FreezePage - Take snapshots of any Web page

• Oregon Department of Justice - Search For Consumer Complaints

  on-line database of complaints submitted to Oregon DOJ Consumer Hotline.

• Ixquick Search Engine

  "When you use the Ixquick or Startpage search engine, results will appear as normal, but underneath each link description will be a Proxy link too. Clicking it will allow you to visit a website, but remain private as it is loaded in an Ixquick privacy window. The downside to this is the page will load more slowly due to Ixquick having to retrieve it first, but if privacy is important then you probably won’t mind the wait."

• Witness Statements: Work Product or Not?

  California: witness statements taken by attorneys or their agents (private investigators) are subject to discovery.

• Foreign Labor Certification Data Center

  H1-B visa applications. From Foreign Labor Certification Data Center.

• Federation of State Medical Boards

• The U.S. Government's Official Web Search

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Subscribe to additional links to research sources and new public records sites, delivered by RSS or viewed through your Twitter application at: http://twitter.com/PIbuzz.

Florida Bill prohibits release of 911 calls

"John Hoblick was out of town when his 16-year-old son died after a night of drinking and illegal prescription drugs. The next day, he heard the 911 call on Orlando-area TV news. ``It caused a lot of anguish,'' he said. ``There's no reason to exploit someone that way.''

"A House committee Wednesday is expected to consider the controversial legislation, which would exempt 911 calls from public record but make transcripts available after a 60-day wait and a charge. And with a narrow vote expected, Cretul has employed a little-used rule adding his top lieutenant to the committee to help guarantee passage."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

California governor stops destruction of sex-crime parolee records

"California's governor ordered state corrections officials on Tuesday to stop destroying parole files for sex offenders, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Prior to the order, the state corrections department routinely destroyed sex offenders' files one year after being discharged from parole."
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Puerto Rico set to invalidate all birth certificates due to fraud

"It turns out that in December, the Puerto Rican government passed an unusual law that will invalidate, as of July 1, all birth certificates in existence for people born in Puerto Rico. The goal was to prevent fraud and identity theft. But neither the law nor the reasons behind it were well-publicized, and many Puerto Ricans learned only last week, from news accounts, that they will have to apply for valid birth certificates.

"I’m going to try to do it as soon as possible," Wilfredo Rodriguez, 63, of Elizabeth, said Wednesday between spoonfuls of chicken soup. "I’m retired, so I need it for medical issues ... But I don’t see the real need for it (the change)."

The reason for the change, according to the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration, is rampant fraud involving stolen Puerto Rican birth certificates. The new ones being issued will use technology designed to prevent forgery, the government says.

Puerto Rican birth certificates have been involved in 40 percent of the 8,000 cases of passport fraud investigated by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, according to a copy of the law passed by the Puerto Rican Senate. Stolen birth certificates, sold on the black market for up to $10,000, have been used to illegally obtain passports and other government documents, according to the government."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Private Investigator Research Links - Week of March 5

• 
  
  Web Search : SeekOutWeb - Search Engine
• 
  
  Surf Canyon Search
  The About.com Web Search Reader’s Choice Award Winner for 2010
• 
  
  CPAdirectory - Directory Of Certified Public Accountants
  Search across all states from a search engine, use the site query: name site:cpadirectory.com A partial listing. Check with the state government for all licensed CPAs.
• 
  
  American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants Directory Search
  A partial listing. Check with the state government for all licensed CPAs.
• 
  
  National Society of Accountants - Directory Search
  A partial listing. Check with the state government for all licensed CPAs.
• 
  
  Certified Public Accountant - PFS Credential Holder Directory
  A partial listing. Check with the state government for all licensed CPAs.
• 
  
  Local Health Safety, Environmental and Crime Information
  Find neighborhood features, including demographics, weather, police stations, meth lab ordered clean-ups, sex offenders.
• 
  
  Companies and Public Employee Salaries
  Salary, name search, public company profiles - Check some public and private employee salaries
• 
  
  Plagium - Track plagiarism
  Track plagiarism on the Internet.
• 
  
  California Real Estate & Financial Services License Status Lookup
  "licensing information for the Department of Corporations, Department of Financial Institutions, Department of Real Estate and the Office of Real Estate Appraisers."
• 
  
  GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program
  "GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software"
• 
  
  Kngine
  Search based on meaning
• 
  
  USCIS - H-1B Approved Petitioners Fiscal Year 2009
  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved H-1B petitioner employers
• 
  
  CataList, the official catalog of LISTSERV lists
  "CataList, the catalog of LISTSERV lists! From this page, you can browse any of the 50,516 public LISTSERV lists on the Internet, search for mailing lists of interest, and get information about LISTSERV host sites. "
• 
  
  Crime Smasher criminal record background check
  ARREST REPORTS | FEDERAL CRIMINAL COURT DOCKETS | WANTS AND WARRANTS

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Government workers in Oklahoma interfere with public records request for salary data | Private Investigator

"State Attorney General Drew Edmondson is looking into whether several state employees violated ethics rules prohibiting using state resources to engage in political activity.

Charlie Price, Edmondson’s spokesman, confirmed the investigation.

At the urging of their union, dozens of state workers on Friday used state phones and e-mail accounts to complain about an open records request by The Oklahoman for basic employee information. The workers e-mailed and called the newspaper and a state administrator to protest the records request after the Oklahoma Public Employees Association sent a "call to action” e-mail to its members."
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

New Mexico government financial information - online by 2011

"Lt. Gov. Diane Denish signed into law today a bill that will create a publicly accessible, online database of financial information from government agencies in New Mexico.

Senate Bill 195, sponsored by Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque, calls for the new Web site to be online by July 1, 2011. The database will include the names of exempt employees but not classified employees.

Rue said the so-called “Sunshine Portal” will be more than a Web site for centralized, convenient and freely accessible information about government finances. He said it will allow citizens the access they need to do their civic duty of overseeing government."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Dallas, Texas officials agree to restore public access to online crime data

"Having trouble finding out about a murder or an aggravated assault on the Dallas Police Department's Web site?

That's not an accident. A document obtained through open records laws indicates the city instructed the software vendor to make it more difficult.

In early January, a new vendor went live with an updated version of the department's online police reports system. The system allows the user to search for details of a crime by the offense from a drop-down sorting menu, or by other criteria, such as date, location, victim name or police report service number.

But the software was tweaked to remove some serious crimes, such as rape and murder, from the easy-to-use drop-down menu."
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Tips on Searching the Social Security Death Index

"The SSDI contains only deaths that were reported to the Social Security Administration or the Railroad Retirement Board. So it is possible that Granny is not included. But before concluding that Granny was not, make sure to search the SSDI in several ways. Here are some tips for your search:

* Search with the surname by which she was known at the time of her death.
* If that does not bring up the record, try other surnames that she may have used at various times.
* If you know the year in which she died, try searching by given name, year of death, and year of birth, without including a surname.
* Try searching with initials (many SSDI records do not include the full given name).
* Try using a middle name instead of the first given name.
* Try variant forms of names – for Sarah also try Sally; for Mary also try Molly and Polly.
* Try switching the month and day (for 5 February also check 2 May)."

Also, the Ancestry.com Social Security Death Index is updated weekly.
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Juror contacts witness via Facebook

"Forget about jurors googling the name of a defendant or an attorney or going online to research the accuracy of state breath test machines, how about a juror contacting a witness via Facebook with a friend request?

Lest you find it unlikely, that's what happened in a civil trial in the Bronx. After deliberating through a day in a criminal case revolving around the death of two firefighters, juror Karen Krell looked up a firefighter who had testified on Facebook and sent a request to be friends. The firefighter did not accept her request."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

New York Historical Photos with Street View

"This website allows you to view historical photographs of New York alongside the current view as seen in Google Maps Street View. Thumbnails of the historical photographs are displayed on the right side of the screen. If you click on a thumbnail the Street View will change to show the modern day view.All the photos on this site come from the New York Public Library."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

California government tells employees how to do social media

"The Internet can be a wild place, with all the damage one can do from an office cubicle on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the like. So the state of California on Friday unveiled a 'Social Media Standard' to ensure that its employees aren't running amok."

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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Identity Theft Tops FTC 2009 List of Consumer Complaints

"More than 278,000 complaints of identity theft were filed with the Federal Trade Commission in 2009, accounting for 21 percent of all the complaints to the FTC that year.

The FTC received 119,500 complaints about debt collection last year, the second-largest category, according to a new FTC report.
Here are the most frequent complaints the FTC received in 2009.

      Identity Theft                                              278,078      21%
     Third Party and Creditor Debt Collection     119,549     9%
     Internet Services                                          83,067     6%
     Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales                74,581      6%
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator

Unlicensed private eyes a problem in California

"When you hire a private investigator in California, you are supposed to get someone with at least three years of training or a background in law enforcement. But as the I-Team discovered, that is not always what you get.

The state's private investigator trade group is cracking down on unlicensed private eyes using undercover stings. Some use fake names; some even have a criminal past."
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Location Oakland, Ca - Private Investigator