Associates in Forensic Investigations
Legal Investigators and Expert Consultants
Personal Injury, Negligence & Death
Civil, Criminal & Probate
Equivocal Death Investigations
Colorado (970) 480-7793 ~ Wyoming (307) 222-0136
Quaero Indicium -'To Find the Evidence'
Please distribute to others that may have an interest
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Greetings Effective June 1, 2015 Colorado requires licensing of private investigators!
If you are a private investigator in Colorado, including computer and phone forensic examiners, you MUST be licensed by June 1st. If you are not in Colorado but do or expect to conduct any investigations in Colorado, you must also be licensed. The Department of Regulatory Agencies has advised that you must have your completed application packet submitted ASAP (May 1st - but don't delay) to assure approval by June 1st. This includes submitting your fingerprints, online jurisprudence exam (2-4 hours recommended) and the online application. You do not need the bond at the time of your application; however it must be effective by June 1st (suggest you specify June 01, 2015 to May 31, 2016 for your bond). This is where to get started - https://www.colorado.gov/dora/licensing/Account/AcctMatching.aspx We take a great amount of pride in being licensed and vetted for professional and consumer protection and assurance. Attorneys using the services of a private investigator in Colorado can only used a licensed private investigator to ensure integrity, as well as work-product and attorney-client confidentiality. Unlicensed activity will be reported, it protects our profession and consumers, and it is required. You can verify licensure, and download a current list of licensees, at https://www.colorado.gov/dora/licensing/Lookup/LicenseLookup.aspx What is required? -- Be 21 years of age or older and a US citizen; -- Passing a jurisprudence exam on the rules, regulations and statutes of being a Colorado Licensed Private Investigator; -- Passing a Colorado and FBI fingerprint criminal background check; -- Securing a $10,000 surety bond for consumer protection; and -- Level I - No experience is required for this entry-level license; or -- Level II - Demonstrating 4,000 hours or greater of experience / education. Learn more about our status, and download the Colorado Rules for Licensed Private Investigators, at http://www.coloradolicensedprivateinvestigators.com Distance Learning
In April we launched 'Basics of Skip Tracing, Backgrounds and Assets & Liabilities Investigations', the second of our investigation distance learning on-demand video seminars at www.InvestigativeCourses.com. Through the month of May we are offering a discount using this link - https://www.udemy.com/skip-tracing-backgrounds-assets-investigations-101/?couponCode=New+Course+Discount. The course for May is in the development stage and will be announced in our next newsletter. Courses will cover a variety of topics from basic to advanced skills, and range from one to four hours (in convenient segments). We have included additional distance learning programs, developed by our beers, on the website. We are excited to present these new learning tools. We also welcome your ideas for future seminars. These will be cost-effective, with reference materials included - and life-time access at no additional charge.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
-- Licensing in Colorado
-- Distance Learning Continuing Education
-- Updated contact information
-- Articles and commentary of interest
-- Associations and News of our Profession
-- From the News
-- The Quint-Essential Qualities of a Professional Investigator
-- AND MORE!
Together We're Better - Together We Make the Difference! Associates in Forensic Investigations LLC is a Rocky Mountain West Agency owned by Dean A. Beers, CLI, CCDI and Karen S. Beers, BSW, CCDI.
We provide Expert Consultations and Legal Investigations of Personal Injury, Negligence & Death in Civil, Criminal and Probate litigation. We are Subject Matter Experts in Equivocal Death Investigation and Analysis, and Injury Causation.
We are based in the Rocky Mountain West and provide expert consultations nationally. Learn details at www.DeathCaseReview.com
Here is a video explaining what we do and why - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgsvtbSk8fg
AFI-LLC - Our agency is called upon for many reasons - from investigations to consultations - and from finding the right investigator to the right expert. We have recently added to our case examples found at http://www.DeathCaseReview.com/sample-cases.html.
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Agency News and Updates
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Another Wrongful Charge Criminal Case Dismissal!
We just learned that another case was dismissed by a prosecutor thanks to our efforts of several months. A person reporting being tied and assaulted by the defendant. The law enforcement investigation was one of the worst we have reviewed. More important, we were able to demonstrate the injuries were self-inflicted and other injuries were aged contusions from previous times of intoxication.
From our client, "I just received a call from the prosecutor that he will be dismissing the case...Thanks for the work that you did. It helped to push the prosecutor over the edge to dismiss."
NCISS Appoints Dean as 1st Vice President At the annual NCISS Hit the Hill in Washington DC in April, Dean was appointed by the Board of Directors as 1st Vice President. Dean's predecessor, Tom Shamshak, stepped down after accepting a consulting position that prohibited his continuing on any association boards. Dean extends his appreciation to Tom for their personal and professional friendship, and the leadership to NCISS, leaving big shoes to fill. Dean will complete the remaining term, through April 2016. Dean has announced his interest in the candidacy for NCISS President for the April 2016 elections. Please see below for additional NCISS Board of Directors appointments.
Dean has been a member since 2008 and board member since 2009, and is honored to be appointed to this senior VP position, which also chairs the State Association Advisory Board / State Legislative Awareness Monitoring (SAAB / SLAM) Committee hosted by the three Vice Presidents. In addition, Dean is on the Membership Committee and is the editor of the NCISS magazine, Your Advocate, and online newsletter The eAdvocate. In being appointed, Dean has said, "I will continue to communicate with NCISS members and those of the investigative and security professions on legislative issues and advocacy, as well as membership engagement, recruitment and retention. It will be a great year as I look to my future with NCISS and representing our profession. My thanks to the members for their support and the Board for this appointment."
NEW COURSE! Basics of Skip Tracing, Backgrounds and Assets & Liabilities We are excited to announce our next course is now live and available! Basics of Skip Tracing, Backgrounds and Assets & Liabilities! We are offering a LIMITED TIME 50% discount! Visit our website to link to the discounted course at
www.InvestigativeCourses.com -- Learn from one of the nation's leading experts on "Finding People, Finding Out About Them" with over 25 years of experience. -- More than two hours of how-to and real examples - like your own one-on-one personal mentorship! -- Better find and use the resources available to investigators and manage their cases more effectively. -- Results of successfully closed cases should improve and increase. -- Private Investigators (interested, new and veteran) -- Understand and apply the basic investigative concepts for skip tracing, background and asset & liabilities investigations. -- Be prepared to improve and hone your skills more than a conference or webinar! View this informational YouTube Video - http://youtu.be/BoDB6zhDE5k Global Investigators Media Group (GIMG.tv) with Facts & Forensics 
The April podcast is available at http://gimg.tv/013-facts-forensics The April show is dedicated to how important forensic investigations can be to civil, criminal and equivocal death investigations. Karen brings the issues of autopsy reports, nursing home abuse and deaths, and prosecutorial misconduct to the show for a very lively discussion. Karen uses actual case investigations and outcomes to demonstrate the importance of forensic investigations and legal investigators to their clients.
Be sure and visit www.GIMG.tv for all of the Global Investigators Media Group hosts and shows!The Grafton Group We are honored to be part of The Grafton Group for our national consultations of death and injury causation, and Colorado and Wyoming regional legal investigations. http://www.thegraftongroup.org/principals The Grafton Group is a Florida based agency founded by Tim O'Rourke and is a Nationally Recognized Investigative Firm focusing on Civil Investigations, Criminal Investigations, Corporate Investigations, Family / Public Investigations, and Insurance / SIU Investigations. DISTANCE LEARNING FOR INVESTIGATORSAFI-LLC is developing distance learning video on demand courses for investigators, and has put together some distance learning courses from other contributors. See complete details at www.InvestigativeCourses.com BOOKS FOR INVESTIGATORS AFI-LLC has put together some of the best fiction and non-fiction books available from Amazon. These range from studying for certifications to best practices, and investigative fiction and non-fiction. Most of these are written by our friends and colleagues, including fellow CLIs and CCDIs. See the complete list of books at
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Our Expert Forensic Affiliations
|  We believe that medicolegal investigation and consultation is a team effort. Stephen Cina MD, Harold Schueler PhD, and our agency are affiliated as experts in our respective fields offering our clients comprehensive medicolegal services.
Dr. Cina is the Chief Medical Examiner of a large metropolitan area in the upper mid-west, and Dr. Schueler's consultation practice is Forensic Toxicology Consulting Services.
Contact our office to consult on medicolegal death and injury causation. The CVs of both Dr. Cina and Dr. Schueler are available by contacting us.
We are proud of our working relationship with Dr. Cina, since 2002 and Dr. Schueler since 2010.
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Tidbits from AFI-LLC
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"The Advantages of Social Media Sites"
Karen's article has been published by our friends at PI Now!
Contributor Karen S. Beers returns to share why social media can lead to the discovery of pertinent information and how it can come from many different sources. The norm might be to head straight for a paid database to find criminal behavior on the other party in a court case, but investigators must keep their eyes and ears open all of the time and learn to think and work outside of that mundane box.
Continued at http://www.pinow.com/articles/2063/the-advantages-of-social-media-sites
"Gunshot Residue (GSR) and Testing"
Our article has been published by our friends at PI Now!
Dean and Karen Beers return with an expert breakdown of gunshot residue, the collection process, how it is tested, and the misconceptions surrounding it. Learn more about what components are tested for, where they come from (you might be surprised), and what you can actually deduce from a GSR test.
"During our combined years at the medical examiner's office (spanning from late 2002 to late 2008), we collected GSR from every decedent with a cause of death due to a gunshot wound; every investigator did. However, the state laboratory had no longer accepted them for testing unless specific circumstances would warrant it. We cannot recall any submissions of GSR to the state lab. Instead it was recommended to collect DNA swabs from the decedent, firearm and other relevant evidence. Dean wrote the procedure that remains in place today."
Continued at http://www.pinow.com/articles/2071/gunshot-residue-gsr-and-testing
A Survivors' Guide to Understanding Death Investigations
"A Survivors' Guide to Understanding Death Investigations" - a book developed to help those who have lost a loved one to understand the maze, complexities and protocols of official death investigations.
We often hear from families, attorneys, investigators and funeral homes representing families, looking for where to turn in understanding how the death of a loved one was (or should have been) investigated. They seek closure through answers. Learn more at www.understandingdeathinvestigations.com
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Associations and News of Our Profession
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The value of networking extends beyond your local clients and colleagues, and should include statewide, nationally and internationally. This should include your state association, NALI, NCISS and WAD, as well as those for your specialized investigations.
Professional Private investigations Association of Colorado (www.PPIAC.org )
Monthly meetings are the first Wednesday of each month, usually in the Denver metro area. PPIAC will begin holding training sessions specific to the new licensing program. National Association of Legal Investigators ( www.NALI.com)
NALI is the premier association for legal investigators for civil plaintiff and criminal defense, and oversees the prestigious Certified Legal Investigator (CLI) program. Experience is required to join and all members are subject to a background check.
The current issue of NALI's official journal - The Legal Investigator - is now available online at www.nalionline.org/publications.htmNALI has changed its conference schedule to have one annual conference. the 2015 Annual Conference will be held in San Antonio, TX on May 28-30 at the historic Menger Hotel. Confirmed speakers include a forensic pathologists and a forensic anthropologist from the area. Details at http://nalionline.org/events-educational-opportunities
National Council of Investigation and Security Services (www.NCISS.org)
At the annual Hit the Hill meeting, the Board of Directors made the following appointments:
1st Vice President - Dean A. Beers
2nd Vice President - Terry Myer, Sr.
3rd Vice President - Brad Duffy
Treasurer - Bill Fletcher
Regional Director (Region 4) - Mark Gillespie
At Large Director - Tim O'Rourke NCISS is the voice of investigators and security personnel at the federal level. The primary mission of NCISS is to watch federal legislation and work with members to take appropriate action to support beneficial, or oppose harmful, legislation in the course of performing their professional services. Dean is the editor of Your Advocate (formerly The Report). Members of NCISS receive a copy of the three times yearly newsletter and is posted online at http://www.nciss.org/news-and-events/nciss-the-report.php. The current bi-monthly issue of Your eAdvocate (formerly The eReport), and all NCISS Legislative Alerts, and key benefits are posted at http://conta.cc/ZoQsTl.
World Association of Detectives (www.WAD.net)
Dean is the Governor of the Americas and works with Ambassadors in North, Central and South America to further the mission of WAD and provide resources to clients needing assistance in these regions. The WAD magazine, Beyond Global, is available online at http://www.wad.net/newsletters-beyond-global.
Additional memberships include FALI, TALI and CALI state associations, as well as specialty specific national associations (see right side-bar).
Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council
CDITC will be holding the next CCDI academy June 15-19. Details at www.CDITCTraining.com
If your association has news, please send it to us for inclusion in our newsletter.
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From the News
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News happens fast, please visit our agency blog for daily and weekly posts on news of interest - www.MedicolegalPI.com or our business Facebook page at www.facebook.com/4N6Associates
FBI Hair Analysis Disputed
Headline - "CSI Is a Lie - America's shameful system of forensic investigation is overdue for sweeping reform."
Our view: CSI is not a lie, but there are many issues, and we see these in our cases. Evidence does not lie, but the application and protocol may create a false conclusion. We have long advocated independent review processes of public agency protocols, investigations and labs.
Continued at http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/csi-is-a-lie/390897
Report Child Abuse in Colorado
A new program makes reporting child abuse and neglect easier throughout Colorado. Call, toll free, (844) CO 4KIDS - (844) 264-5437.
Fentanyl Fatalities on The Rise Nationally
The dangers of all legal drugs are ignored because they are : 1) legal, 2) prescribed by a doctor, and 3) dispensed by a pharmacy. Fact is prescription drugs are: 1) illegally obtained and sold, 2) abused, and 3) deadly. There are no safe, safer or harmless drugs. Lock them all up!
Here is some previous commentary from our agency:
http://www.deathcasereview.com/afi-llc-blog/prescription-medications-the-danger-of-legal-and-illicit-drugs
GIMG.TV - PI Insight with host Tim O'Rourke
Tim's guests in April were Francie Koehler who served as a two-term president for both the National Council of Investigation & Security Services (NCISS) and for the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI). Koehler is currently serving as the Legislative Chair for both NCISS and CALI.
"Dean Beers is currently the 2nd VP of National Council of Investigation & Security Services (NCISS) and I am proud to call him a friend and co-host right here on GIMG.tv as he hosts Facts & Forensics every month from Colorado."
This show is dedicated to Drone legislation which we are seeing around the country and the uses of Drones for Private Investigators. Some interesting websites for you to visit: www.KnowBeforeYouFly.org and DroneLaw.net
NCISS Legislative Alerts
NCISS April Report from Lobbyit
In the month of April, Lobbyit finalized preparations for NCISS' Hit the Hill, secured a room and speaker, counseled participants on effective advocacy in pre-meeting briefings, accompanied NCISS leadership to a meeting arranged with senior Senate Commerce Committee counsel, and hosted an after-action "de-brief" at the conclusion of the day.
See the report at http://t.co/Y7dhOr8KGy
Stay Current with NCISS
The best way to stay current and support the investigative and security professions is by joining NCISS. Visit the NCISS web site for a compendium of key legislation by state at http://www.nciss.org/legislation/latest-legislation.php then go to the link entitled "State Legislation." The white states are states that either have no pending bills of interest or are not in session. You can also page down to your state where it is listed alphabetically.
Check out the recently launched "Advocacy Hub." If you have not heard about the "Advocacy Hub," the Hub allows members to send already drafted letters to key legislators and government officials right from the web site. Currently there are two items pending. Check them out!
This service, usually reserved for members only, is temporarily complimentary from NCISS to make those aware of the strength and value of NCISS and proactive legislative awareness.
Archives of NCISS Legislative Alerts
http://conta.cc/ZoQsTl
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| The Quint-Essential Qualities of a Professional Investigator... | Skills Appropriate for the Assignment
Law firms and medical offices specialize - Professional Investigators also specialize. Their casework and continuing education should also be in your specialized areas.
Experience and Knowledge
Professional Investigators strive to maintain and further these. All professions have requirements of continuing education. The CLI program requires extensive compliance with continuing education.
Responsible and Ethical Conduct
Every component of the investigation has evidentiary considerations. Professional Investigators hold themselves to a higher standard and leaves no question as to the admissibility of their evidence. Information without ethics is not evidence.
Effective Communication
Professional Investigators maintain communication with the attorney, client, witnesses, and other key persons in the investigation. Moreover, reports are the product of an organized investigation and should reflect the work product you expect.
Keyword - 'Professional'
Honesty, Integrity & Intelligence. These define Professional Investigators and gives you the confidence that your case is in competent and skilled hands.
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In Closing...
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The Beers RV Tour of the US has come to an end as we settle to be with our grandkids more. Our Colorado office mailing address has changed; our phone numbers and Cheyenne WY mailing address remain the same.
We are licensed, bonded and insured in Colorado and Cheyenne WY.
Colorado
P.O. Box 200030
Evans, CO. 80620-0030
(970) 480-7793 Office
(970) 480-7794 Fax
Wyoming
P.O. Box 21008
Cheyenne, WY. 82003-7020
(307) 222-0136 Office
(307) 222-0138 Fax
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How can we help you? Together We're Better - We Make the Difference!
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Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC
 | | Dean and Karen Beers |
Specializes in the Expert Consultations and Legal Investigations of Personal Injuries, Negligence and Death in Civil, Criminal and Probate litigation.
We provide investigations and consultations of any death or injury causation case from any location with the conveniences of modern technology and assistance of our local professional friends and colleagues.
In addition, we continue to provide Individual Locates, Backgrounds and Assets & Liabilities for your Civil, Criminal, Probate and Domestic Relations litigation. Additional information at www.deathcasereview.com/general-services.html
Call us today, we're glad to help!
We are the PRIDE of Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC - Professional Reliable Investigators Defining Excellence in every assignment.
Thank You. Please contact us with any questions or for additional information on these topics and our related services.
Sincerely,
Dean A. Beers, CLI, CCDI
Karen S. Beers, BSW, CCDI
Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC
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Newsletter and Press Release Archives from July 2010
< Click Here >
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Featured Articles
Dean and Karen have several articles published, some are available for reprint.
For details email:
Associates@Forensic-Investigators.com
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Find Us at:
 | | Find us and 'Like' us! |
Dean is at:
Karen is at:
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Professional Associations
Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado (PPIAC)
National Association of Legal Investigators (NALI)
National Council of Investigation and Security Services (NCISS)
World Association of Detectives (WAD) Inner Circle of Investigators (ICI) Criminal Defense Investigation Council (CDITC) National Defender Investigator Association (NDIA) Florida Association of Licensed Investigators (FALI) Texas Association of Licensed Investigators (TALI) California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI) National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) International Association for Identification (IAI) and (RMDIAI) |
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