Scientific Investigations

Choose a Service for More Information
Asset Recovery | Attorney Investigation | Business Solutions |Scientific | Family Matters |

Scientific Investigations

ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES - Debug  


TCM- Debug-Sweeps-Electronic Countermeasures
However you know the name, it is the use of electronic equipment and visual investigation to locate electronic devices that have been placed illegally without your knowledge. These can be video, audio, digital, GPS. 

Most bugs placed domestically are usually purchased from places like Radio Shack, spy stores, and the internet. For a long time they were pricey, but as electronics prices have fallen they are now easily affordable and available to the private sector.  We believe this is why we have seen a huge spike of there use in the domestic arena.  In the past they were more commonly used by large corporations, the wealthy, and the government.

Devices such as covert video and sound recorders by themselves they are not illegal and can be used for normal household monitoring, internet conferencing, business, and personal use. 

They become illegal when a person who is not a member of the household or a company owner secretly hides one or more of these devices to monitor another remotely. They can also tap into a phone line from your property all the way to the switch box for the purpose of illegal wiretapping.

About our expert Steve Hernandez
We are proud to have Steve Hernandez as a member of our in-house investigation team at Discovery.  In addition to his investigative skills, Steve has an electronics degree and has worked for the past 18 yrs on projects ranging from the development of cell phone technology to sophisticated spy cameras. He has performed sweeps for the private sector for the past 8 yrs bringing peace of mind to many individuals and companies throughout the southwest. Steve has even designed and built his own equipment to meet his professional specs. 

 I may be compromised by electronics
 Please do not call us from your cell phone, or from your house, vehicle, or business.  Use a pay phone or land line at a secure phone you can trust.  If the person who installed the devices knows you are onto them they will try to have their devices removed, leaving you with no evidence.

I am afraid they will see when your investigator comes
Steve and his team are good at blending in or wearing a disguise if needed. After a consultation with a case director, we can figure out the best time and way to proceed.  We often work in the evenings and on weekends.

No devices found
We have found that even if no devices were found, it is the peace of mind knowing you are secure in your own home, vehicle, boat, RV, or business and do not have to worry that someone is watching or listening to you.

No devices found, but people know private things
 If you still believe someone knows more than they should about you personally or your private business secrets, we can set up a counter surveillance to see if you are being followed, or staked out, check your computers for spy software and hardware, conduct backgrounds on suspects, and even make undercover contact.

Devices found
If we find devices you have the peace of mind knowing you are clear, and have the evidence to prove to others around you that you were correct in your suspicions.  Additionally, if you so choose, you will have the evidence needed for law enforcement to make an arrest and for a court to prosecute.


PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY

 

 

 

 


LAB ANALYSIS

We work with three of the top accredited labs in the country for forensic DNA analysis, paternity testing, and drug screening. 

If you have evidence that may be used for court, we prefer to have one of our trained investigators do the sample collection and documentation.

If you are bringing a sample to us please wear gloves, try not to touch the sample area, put the sample in a dry paper bag, and keep it in a dry place.  Plastic baggies will often degrade or ruin the sample as they sweat creating an environment that allows mold and bacteria to grow.  If it is a wet sample such as blood keep it in a refrigerator or freezer to keep it fresh.  


Defence Video Documentation of Lab Work
We also do defence video documentation of lab work performed for the opposing side when there is not enough material collected to do more than one test.


Expert assessment of the opposing sides lab work
Additionally, if evidence has or is being used against you that you and you do not agree with the results, we can have our lab evaluate their findings as an expert and re-run the lab work to determine if there was contamination from others at the scene that are affecting the results, or if their report is inflating the results by statistics.  It is not uncommon for law enforcement, first responders, or the techs processing the scene to get their DNA contaminated in samples.


COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE
Our investigators have been trained in the collection of evidence so the samples will not get further contaminated.  They all have a written and photographic chain of custody from when we collect it, send it to the lab, receive it back, and give the results back to you. 

If we collect evidence such as a tire tread or shoe imprint casting, we keep it in a locked evidence locker or refrigerator until it is needed for presentation of efvidence or it can be distroyed.


FINGER PRINT LIFTING
Our investigators can dust for prints after any crime.  A stolen car, burglary, robbery, assault, murder... and preserve the evidence for prosecution once a suspect has been identified.  If you want to prosecute this is a good idea, especially if law enforcement will not dust for you.  They often do not.

 However, we will not be able to identify the suspect by the prints alone.  For us to identify them we will need to match the ones we find to a suspect's prints which can be done covertly or voluntarily.  We can not just run the lifted prints in the FBI crime computer, as they will only run those prints if they were collected from a police officer.  The reason is unless they collect them they do not know the chain of custody and that they in fact came from that crime scene. 

You also have to remember, in a dry climate like Arizona prints may stay for years or they may be gone within hours depending on the surface touched and if the suspect had dry to sweaty hands. In the absence of good prints, we may be able to collect viable DNA evidence as skin cells may have been shed.  Even on a low quality print we may be able to get a DNA sample.


COMPUTER & CELLULAR
DATA RECOVERY

We come to you or you can bring your computer, lap top, smart phone, net book, to us to be worked on.

The computer or phone must be yours or jointly yours or have the service in your name.  We will not break the law to get you someone's information. The exception is if the person has runaway or been abducted. If so this is one of the first things we will want to do. Often there are clues from internet searches, or social networking sites visited just prior.

What can be done?
All these devices are computers that store data on a memory source. Even if someone has deliberately tried to delete or reformat the drive, often the information can still be recovered. We have computer experts, computer software programs and equipment to retrieve the data and /or track where they have visited on the internet. 


HANDWRITING
ANALYSIS & AUTHENTICATION