News / Press Releases
No trenchcoat for this gumshoe
Pete Barlas
Business Journal Staff Writer
From the November 15, 1996 print edition
Private investigator Gregg Dietz has traveled to distant shores
to find witnesses and worked undercover to bust theft rings.
Still, he said his work during the past 15 years should never
be confused with TV shows such as "Magnum, P.I."
"Nothing I do is ever resolved in an hour," he joked.
Mr. Dietz, 42, is sole owner of Dietz Associates Inc. in San Jose,
one of the oldest investigation firms in the valley.
He offers a wide range of services, including background checks,
executive protection and undercover investigations to see if employees
are stealing.
The bulk of his clients are attorneys and insurance and technology
companies.
It's no secret that business is booming.
Last year, Dietz Associates reported revenues of more than $1
million, making it one of the largest private investigation firms
in the United States, according to the National Association of
Investigative Specialists.
The Austin, Texas-based industry trade group reports that only
1 percent of private investigators in the country produce revenues
of $1 million or more.
Mr. Dietz, a former reserve police officer for the cities of Atherton
and Santa Clara, attributed his success to gumshoe tact and serendipity.
And "persistence and a little bit of luck" haven't hurt,
he said.
Mr. Dietz needed both a few months ago to track down a witness
in a corporate theft case who was hiding out in Central America.
He found the man after searching for him by helicopter.
"You never want to come back from a trip like that unsuccessful,"
said Mr. Dietz. Otherwise, the client might think he or she has
just paid for a free vacation.
Mr. Dietz's firm handles hundreds of investigations a year. Some
take weeks, months, even a year to complete.
Most of his business comes from referrals.
Dietz Associates charges $50 an hour for its investigative services,
and does little advertising.
It has 35 employees.
A few months ago, a local technology company hired Mr. Dietz to
stop employees from producing and cashing counterfeit payroll
checks.
He sent an investigator undercover as an employee to track the
suspects.
The PI infiltrated the ring in a matter of hours. "It usually
doesn't happen that fast," said Mr. Dietz.
Many companies turn to private investigators when they want swift
but discreet action, said Ralph Thomas, president of the National
Association of Investigative Specialists. Local police are often
too busy to investigate thefts of less than $100,000.
"Most cops are too backed up with other cases," he said.
Investigators say technology companies have become frequent clients
because of an increase in thefts of chips and disk drives.
Locally, Sun Microsystems Inc. in Palo Alto, Quantum Corp. in
Milpitas and Apple Computer Inc. in Cupertino have all used private
investigators.
Sun corporate security director John O'Loughlin said he hires
private detectives for workers' compensation fraud and theft cases.
In 1994, Sun hired an investigator who tracked down $200,000 worth
of stolen computers from a company sales office in England.
"It just makes sense to use them in situations where we don't
have the same resources," said Mr. O'Loughlin.
Lawyers are also good customers.
San Jose real estate attorney Ronald Rossi said he hires PIs to
investigate properties, as well as buyers and sellers.
In one case, Mr. Rossi represented the buyer of a 300-unit apartment
complex who sued the seller for falsely inflating the value of
the property.
Mr. Rossi won the case after an investigator found that more than
300 crimes had taken place at the complex in three years, diminishing
its value.
"There are always issues that come up where a private investigator
can find out something that you might not be able to find out
yourself," said Mr. Rossi.
Analysts said most detectives tend to be former cops or attorneys.
The business is certainly on a growth path.
Five years ago, 4,100 investigators held state licenses. Today,
nearly 8,200 possess them.
Sharon Hilke, executive director of the Sacramento-based California
Association of Licensed Investigators, said the rapid rise of
insurance fraud in the late 1980s and early 1990s accounts for
most of the increase.
Still, investigators say business hardly compares to the glamorous
images seen on TV and the big screen.
The work is tough and tedious, involving long hours of waiting.
"It's very stressful," said Kevin Fairchild, owner of
Cyte-M Investigations, a Santa Clara firm specializing in technology
theft cases.
A former Santa Clara police officer, Mr. Fairchild loves chasing
crooks but said he often loses sleep during long investigations.
"Sometimes I'll get up in the middle of the night and paste
the facts of a case on the wall if it's driving me crazy,"
he said.
Mr. Dietz opened his business after freelancing for another investigator.
Business was so good, he never needed financing.
In the early days, Mr. Dietz tracked down bail jumpers for extra
cash, picking up $4,000 for each suspect he caught.
But he stopped the practice six years ago because of the high
insurance costs.
During the 1980s, a suspect attacked Mr. Dietz with a baseball
bat.
Fortunately, he was wearing a ceramic chest protector.
"The guy was on drugs," he said.
Mr. Dietz didn't consider becoming a private investigator until
he was in his mid-20s.
A former international champion kickboxer, Mr. Dietz wanted to
become a writer but lost interest in his studies while in college.
He said one of the reasons he loves his work is that it allows
him to see what truly motivates people.
"Usually, it's either money, power or sex," he said.