Investigations
Internal Investigations
In today’s litigious society, you really can’t afford to botch an investigation, there is simply too much at stake. Hiring a firm that is impartial—and free from conflicts of interest—shows that you take workplace conduct and security seriously. An investigation that is conducted fairly and without the influence of office politics can greatly improve employee morale, performance, and turnover. Additionally, having an outside firm that specializes in investigations can also help limit your liability.
The STIRM Group will meet with you to help establish company policies that outline the steps that are necessary to take when a complaint is received, a policy is violated, or a criminal offense is suspected to have occurred. These initial steps are just as important as conducting the actual investigation. Once it is determined that an investigation is necessary, we encourage you to let the people who have conducted thousands of investigations do what they do best!
The resulting report provided by The STIRM Group is beyond reproach and fact-based, and will position you to successfully pursue prosecution if necessary. Our reports can also help limit your liability if you find yourself a defendant in a civil lawsuit.
Public and Private Sector Employee Investigations
Whether your company or agency is private or public, in a right-to-work state versus a will-to-work state or employs union labor, we have the experience and training to handle any of the personnel investigative matters that may arise.
Our investigators attended the FBI-sponsored Internal Affairs Investigation course and are well versed in handling complex staff inspections. We stay up to date on current case law and, as former union members, possess the knowledge and practical experience to navigate the union protections that the U.S. Supreme Court granted with their decisions in Garrity, Loudermill, and Weingarten.
Fraud and Financial Investigations
We didn’t think it could happen to us are the eight words that follow every fraud case. Fraud comes in many forms and often requires the help of a team of trained professionals to discover the truth. How was the crime perpetrated? How was it concealed? Who was involved? When did it happened? Where were the failures: In immediate supervision? In management? Or in governance? Once the causal factors have been identified, we are proactive in identifying what steps should be taken, now and in the near future – to close the windows of vulnerability.
Our team members have decades of experience, backed by professional certifications and education, that allow us to specialize in every stage of a case. From receiving a tip, researching questionable behavior, conducting interviews and interrogations of key parties, evidence gathering, chain of custody, and authoring reports that are fact-based, unbiased, and ready for prosecution if necessary.
The STIRM Group has the connections and the knowledge necessary to be your law-enforcement liaison. We understand the inner workings of the state and federal judicial systems through our decades of experience.
Child Social Media Vulnerability Assessments
Today’s teenagers have a level of social media sophistication that typically surpasses that of most parents. Factor in the hectic schedule that most families deal with and you’re left with a scenario where parents don’t have the time, patience, or knowledge that allows them to monitor their children’s online activities. Fake accounts to hidden chat rooms are an example of a practice parents need to be concerned about. Factor in Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and the “dark web” and you have the perfect environment to exploit children.
New technologies are facilitating the online sexual exploitation of children, including the live streaming of sexual abuse of children using web cameras or cellphones, often for profit. Mobile devices also provide new and evolving means by which offenders sexually abuse children as apps are being used to target, recruit, and coerce children to engage in sexual activity. Experts believe tens of thousands of children globally are sexually exploited online, and the number appears to be growing. The victims may be boys or girls, ranging from very young children to adolescents, and hailing from all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
Social Media Monitoring and Analysis
The STIRM Group team has a certified Social Media Intelligence Expert (SMIE), who is up to date on open-source intelligence monitoring and gathering. We collect information from public sources and social media sites, which allows you to consider actionable intelligence when determining what course of action to take. We help identify issues of concern early and monitor known threats for significant changes, allowing you to scale security up or down as deemed appropriate.
Computer Forensics
We provide our clients with advanced technological services that include digital forensics of digital devices, Cell Site Location Information (CSLI), video enhancement, acquisition, preservation, analysis and documentation of electronic evidence stemming from theft, fraud or misconduct for use in investigations and criminal or civil litigation.
Additionally, we provide expertise in computer hardware, peripherals, operating systems, and applications along with specialization in uncovering and recovering hidden or deleted data, capturing time and date stamps, identifying Internet sites visited, preserving the evidentiary chain of custody and delivering expert witness testimony.
Background Checks
What do Yahoo, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Walmart, Notre Dame, and the now-defunct Radio Shack have in common? They all failed to conduct proper background checks on senior-level positions, which ended up costing millions in revenue and inflicted significant reputational damage.
ASIS, ACFE, and ACAMS are the gold-star standard of their respective fields. All three advocate for conducting some form of due diligence on prospective employees and clients. In fact, proper due diligence has become an industry best practice. Failure to adhere to these standards can lead to a bad hire, a poor investment, or a nightmare tenant. Each has the potential to cost you or your company hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost productivity, errors, additional supervision, and legal costs.
If done improperly, a background check has the potential to be just as costly as not doing one to begin with. Let our professionally trained staff conduct the appropriate due diligence that will help keep you out of court and potentially limit your liability.
Social Media Investigations
Our social media investigators monitor open sources to mitigate risk, uncover potential threats, and gather intelligence from social media and other public sources. By identifying a threat early, we can track the danger if it escalates.