Wainscott, P.I., balances the scales

Published:  Thursday, July 2, 2009 (8 months, 2 weeks ago)
Print

By STACY TAFF
The Delphos Herald

The words “private investigator,” or “detective” often conjure up images of a cigar-smoking man holding binoculars or looming over a polygraph barking questions at someone in a poorly-lit room. These images, while entertaining, are far from reality.
Patrick Wainscott, private investigator and owner of A1 Investigations in Lima, runs a smoke-free operation with all the latest technology in surveillance and lie-detection.
“We have a state-of-the-art computer that we use exclusively for editing surveillance video. We use the latest software and we’ve tried about 3 or 4 different types to find the best one, Final Cut, which we use now. It does a fantastic job. It allows us to give a better product to our clients. And we use voice stress analysis instead of a polygraph,” Wainscott said. “Same with the Police Department.
“I was with the Lima Police Department for 26 years and for the last 11 years of that I supervised the detective division. When I retired from the police force, I’d already gotten my license to set up A1 Investigations and it was a natural transition. With all of my prior experience as an investigator, I had a leg up when it came to starting my own agency. There are definitely some differences between what I was doing before and what I’m doing now but also a lot of similarities.”
Wainscott is also the vice president of investigation for OASIS (Ohio Association of Security and Investigation Services) and executive director of the International Association of Voice Stress Analysts. He was also the founder of the Midwest Association of Certified Voice Stress Analysts, Inc. To keep up with the changing technology and techniques in investigation, Wainscott attends classes and seminars throughout the year.
“I attend about 5-6 seminars a year that are about voice stress and interview and interrogation techniques,” he said. “These seminars also cover things like the use of a computer for locating people or assets and a variety of other things.”
While most of the investigating is business-related, Wainscott says there are domestic cases as well.
“Being in a smaller geographical location, a more rural atmosphere, we cover a wider range of cases and areas,” he said. “In a bigger city it’s easier to settle into a nich,e and specialize in a certain area. We cover about 13 different counties, all the way from Indiana to Columbus, and even almost to Toledo and Dayton. Primarily we investigate workers compensation, business fraud, internal or employee theft, we work with attorneys to assist with cases and do locates for them to find witnesses and interview them. There are also a lot of insurance cases. But we also get a lot of child custody, infidelity and many other domestic cases.”
“We’ve worked with the Ohio Parole Authority where we interviewed and administered tests to sex offenders that had been released,” added Wainscott. “These exams were used as treatment for the offenders. It’s a very successful program. Obviously you want to make sure sex offenders are abiding by the terms of their probation.”
While a lot of businesses are going under in the current economic situation, crime investigation will always have a place.
“Our business is doing well, even with the poor economic state, because crime will always be there,” Wainscott said. “If anything, crime has risen as a result of that economic state. And you still have a lot of people disputing child custody.”
In his line of work, Wainscott has encountered some interesting cases. But in his opinion, the most interesting and rewarding are those where he gets the chance to help someone who has been genuinely wronged.
“The most compelling case I’ve had was a worker’s compensation case,” he said. “We worked with an attorney that was representing a person who had been tragically hit with a high-lift on the job. The person was a very active, sports-oriented person and because of that incident, they were reduced to being pushed around in a wheelchair. Worker’s Comp was denied but through extensive investigation we were able to get it so he received it. That’s the point of worker’s compensation, to help someone who was genuinely hurt.
“When someone abuses worker’s compensation, they’re costing me and everyone else. It’s those who fake or abuse Worker’s Comp to stay home with an alleged disability that I have a problem with. And when we’re called to locate people, we often get the chance to put two people together again.
“We work a lot with the courts and attorneys to locate people they can’t find. I love my work. It’s often very gratifying.”