Friday, September 11, 2009

Impersonation



When I first hired private investigator Ed Hodges of Arlington, TX in 2003, he insisted I turn over certain items to him because he said they were important pieces of evidence that he needed to examine and turn over to law enforcement. He was very specific about what items he wanted, so I made this list of the items he asked for while talking with him on the phone. A short time later, a man who said he worked for Hodges and had just driven down from Dallas called and asked me to meet him at the Dairy Queen at the I-10/Comfort exit and bring the items with me, plus the hard drive from our family computer (which had recently crashed). I did as he asked, and as I helped him transfer the items to his vehicle (a red car), he told me he was a security guard hired by Hodges to bring the evidence safely to Dallas. I asked him to sign my list as a receipt for the items he was taking from me, and as you can see, he signed and dated it and even marked the time on it in his own handwriting.
After I confronted Hodges in January of 2005 and subsequently fired him, I discovered this man WASN'T either a licensed private security guard or a licensed private investigator, after I was finally told about the correct TX Department of Public Safety (DPS) website and looked him up. [Hodges had given me incorrect information about this because, as I also later discovered, he wasn't properly licensed either--and had used a phony license number on one document.] I also discovered that this man probably was from Kerrville, not Dallas, even though I had invoices with travel charges for him from Dallas, and that he had worn improper attire for a security guard in this state when I met with him.
I filed formal complaints against both men (and several others also involved in our case) with the DPS's Private Security Bureau (PSB), the agency that licenses private investigators and private security guards in Texas, and I provided them with this document and others containing proof of serious violations. However, despite the signature of this document alone proving this guy impersonated a licensed private security guard, the PSB/DPS absolutely refused to prosecute or discipline this man in any way, even after I made repeated complaints.
So much for protecting the public!--I can only conclude that the licensing process for private investigators and private security guards in Texas is worthless. I'll be glad to provide additional information and documentation to anyone who requests it.

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