Investigations and emails continue

Happy New Year! Okay, it’s February so maybe I should say Happy Valentine’s Day. I’ve been on sabbatical and it’s been refreshing. Still writing, of course, just not focusing on the locksmith industry.

It’s been an interesting year (11 months actually) writing a blog. But it’s been tough because blogs demand frequency and consistency. Investigative journalism doesn’t work that way. It requires research, documentation, fact-checking, multiple interviews, re-interviews, writing, re-writing several times, then sending it to your editor. By the way, my editor, Carol Leff, is pretty good at not letting anything get by her.

Investigative reports cannot be scheduled for weekly postings as much as I’d like it to happen that way. I usually work on two or more investigations at the same time. If another important story breaks, I’ll mention the publication/reporter and provide a link to it instead of jumping into another investigation. In that way, I can focus on what I feel are the issues of the locksmith industry instead of concerns about a weekly post.

Favorite emails

My favorite emails by far are from locksmiths and consumers who thank me for the work I do. It’s gratifying.

Second on my list of favorite emails are fellow reporters who are working on their own stories about locksmith scammers. TV reporters generally don’t have the time or budget to invest in lengthy investigations. Last fall one news reporter asked how I came up with the figures for my phone directory story. I detailed the interviews and steps taken to get accurate numbers. Since I haven’t seen his story yet, I’m assuming he couldn’t invest the time to investigate in his area. News organizations, both print and TV, are short-staffed and it’s a growing problem in the industry. Many of the posts on news forums deal with the lack of funds for investigations.

Finally, I don’t usually receive emails from an editor of a national locksmith publication complimenting my “solid investigative skills and writing.” (Thanks, Carol, for making me look good!) She asked that I contact her about writing a monthly column for them. About a week later I attempted to get back to her and she was no longer listed on the website for the publication. Yet another staff cutback. C’est la vie!

Bogus locksmith emails

There were several attempts by locksmith scammers to get listed as legitimate locksmiths on my www.find-a-legit-locksmith.com when it was up. I also get comments from scammers trying to post comments to my blog posts. I guess they think I’ll list them or post their comments with a link to their business without checking them out first. Not likely. One Miami locksmith scammer wanted to get listed so I asked for his locksmith license (required in Dade County). Never heard from him again.

Anonymous emails

An anonymous email from my www.find-a-legit-locksmith.com site showed up in my inbox last year. Some one sure was mad at a Spring Hill locksmith. They passed on his name, business name, address and phone number along with information that he was a convicted felon, drug addict and had protection orders out on him. Ouch! That sounds personal.

So was it true? I don’t know. I did some initial checking but the locksmith had a fairly common name and no birth date was given. He was not legally registered in Hernando County with a business license and there was no response to my email to the sender. I did find two criminal cases for someone with his name – one case did not end in a conviction and the other was really bizarre. A 2006 drug possession case was suddenly closed and a death certificate was entered into the court records. So I’m thinking that wasn’t him. Sometimes investigations just dead end.

I had just about decided not to waste my time investigating any more anonymous email writers when I got one from a former employee of David Peer of Dependable Locks, Inc. Peer owned the Florida locksmith call center that sent out phony locksmiths. After several email interviews, my editor and I decided the timing wasn’t right to release the story. We needed more than one source to verify the story, plus we couldn’t risk the informant (or myself) becoming a target of these criminal enterprises types who use lawsuits, death threats and other intimidation practices to silence those who attempt to expose them. Some of what this informant, (who later revealed part of his identity), told me was uncovered in court documents during Peer’s arrest last November. The rest, I’ll leave for another post.

Write me if you have a particular topic you want to see covered.

In the meantime, Happy St. Patty’s Day!