It can get a bit tedious, sitting in an idling car, pulled off to the side of a country road in the pre-dawn hours.

But for Robert Wojtylak, owner of Checkmate Investigation Agency, boredom is just part of the job.

Wojtylak, a licensed private investigator, deals mainly with insurance fraud, doing shifts of surveillance to weed out those who are abusing the worker’s compensation system.

The woman he was tailing on an early morning last week has claimed to have trouble walking. She’s been on workers’ compensation for years, collecting payments while on disability.

About halfway through the four-hour surveillance, Wojtylak got what he was looking for.

Preventing Elder Abuse Is a Question of Ethics and Morality

People are living longer and longer lives; many requiring ongoing, long-term care. Current events show that more elder abuse cases are being reported than in years past, and many experts believe that the actual number of cases will increase in the years ahead as older Americans constitute a larger proportion of the U.S. population than ever before. One of the pressing social issues of our time is elder abuse, which can include physical harm, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, financial or material exploitation, and intentional or unintentional neglect.

Many baby boomers, currently the age group ranging from 40 to 60 years old, can expect to live well into their 80s and 90s. Elder care often falls to the grown children of seniors, who now are baby boomers and busy with their own children and careers. Getting caught in this care-giving sandwich can be an emotional as well as a financial burden.

States are taking a more proactive approach to fighting insurance fraud, with a 6.4 percent overall rise in fraud convictions between 2004 and 2005, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.

In its recent study of 47 state agencies, CAIF said state fraud bureaus are delivering record results in combating swindles, but the positive figures may mask deeper weaknesses in some areas.

“For the most part, fraud fighters are priming the pipelines with fresh cases that could create a new generation of convictions in the years ahead,” the report indicated. “Still, the lack of growth in convictions and cases opened is cause for concern.”

Missing People Podcasts Highlight Individual Stories, Helpful Resources and Important Related Legislative Issues

Project Jason, a non-profit organization, announced today that it has created a partnership with the Missing People Podcast (MPP) to develop audio programming for missing people and the families who are urgently searching for them. The podcasts will feature a variety of subjects, including vital information regarding the circumstances surrounding a person’s disappearance and significant legislative efforts throughout the country that may impact the families.

Very few people would think of the number of missing persons in America as a crisis. The statistics, however, are sobering. In the United States alone, there are as many as 105,000 active missing person’s cases. Every year, tens of thousands of people vanish under suspicious circumstances. The number of missing persons can be estimated in the hundreds of thousands if viewed over a 20-year period.

A new law will attempt to fight elder abuse by closing legal loopholes and hiring four people to train those who investigate such crimes.

Experts say that while the law will be helpful after it takes effect July 1, it also will highlight the need for even more people to investigate elder abuse.

That’s because elder abuse tends to be documented more in places where there’s a social worker to investigate. For example, Wyoming’s only designated adult protective services worker lives in Casper, where there were 255 recorded cases of senior abuse last year. Cheyenne, slightly larger than Casper, had just 98 such documented cases.

‘Tis the season of fly balls, strikeouts and grand slams. And as parents suit up their little sluggers, the question has to arise as to who will be supervising the players on the field.

Nationally, the National Recreation and Park Association is providing background screening and photo identification for volunteer coaches.

Here in Brookhaven, though, the recreation department has teamed up with the Brookhaven Police Department to make the screening process more affordable, since the NRPA charges $90 per screening. It also helps to have local hands on the job.

Wal-Mart’s disclosure that an employee was tapping phone conversations and text messages is drawing attention to a growth industry within corporate America — the business of keeping things secret.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. fired the employee, Bruce Gabbard, maintaining he acted alone and didn’t receive authorization to eavesdrop. Federal authorities are investigating.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Gabbard said he worked in an amply staffed unit whose mission was to shore up the walls around Wal-Mart’s internal data and communications, protecting them not just from Internet hackers but from leaks to company critics. He declined further comment when contacted this week by The Associated Press.

A cable television network this weekend will feature the work of a Duluth police officer whose investigation helped determine who was driving a vehicle that crashed and killed a 28-year-old woman.

Duluth traffic investigator Tom Stolee will portray himself, with actors playing other roles in an episode titled “Mystery Driver” on the Discovery Health Channel’s (cable Ch. 110 in Duluth) “Accident Investigator” series.

Two caseworkers entrusted with checking on the safety of children in state custody have been accused of faking reports saying they kept tabs on them.

The two Tampa workers hadn’t seen some of the children in months, state investigators found. When supervisors realized this, they followed up on the neglected cases and learned one boy had been passed on to a relative before he ultimately landed in a juvenile detention facility.

A Department of Children and Families investigative report revealed the allegations.

Seminar audience advised to trust less, check more

The anti-drug phrase “Just Say No” is the best weapon for seniors trying to avoid being fraud victims, according to an investigator with the California Contractors State License Board.

That phrase is a great defense against unsolicited contractors, said Carl Vega, speaking to about 300 people at the sixth Safe Banking Seminar in Modesto.

“If someone comes to your door and you didn’t invite them, just say no,” he said.

• Group for Private Investigators
• Group for Process Servers