The business of private investigations in Grand Forks is an ever-changing field.

Advancements in technology during the past 25 years has taken investigations from tedious leafing through paperwork to the ease of pushing buttons in order to gain needed information.

But face-to-face conversations remain one of the best ways to gather information, according to investigations veteran Ross Rolshoven. Interviewing witnesses to accidents or workplace incidents was once and still is a main staple in private investigation, he says.

Investigators talk to those under investigation, their neighbors, their friends and families, their employers, their co-workers and anyone else who may have information.

And that’s only for background checks.

Surveillance equipment marks the investigator’s territory. Infrared cameras, night-vision goggles and video cameras less than an inch in diameter are among the newer pieces that complement 35 mm cameras, recording instruments and good old pens and paper.

“In 25 years, technology has made things different,” said Rolshoven, who with his brother, Reid, took over Great Plains Claims in 1983. “It’s changed the nature of things. Back when I started, they had these ledger books you would have to go through, year by year. Each of these books was dusty, dank they were like the ancient scrolls. Go in there now, punch in some stuff and there (the information) is.”

The two operating investigations offices in Grand Forks Great Plains Claims and Hons Investigations, which is run by Russell Hons do a bit of everything, from tracing the cause of an accident to reuniting families, from product liability investigation to setting up surveillance in insurance fraud investigations. There’s minor work in divorce cases and an overwhelming load of work to be done in background checks.

Background check obstacles

In recent years, accessing the information necessary to do a background check has become more complicated, according to Hons.

Government regulations prohibiting access to personal records, such as cell phone records and birth dates, are creating a problem for the investigations industry, Hons said.

“As licensed professionals, we need to have access to that (information),” he said. “If we don’t have ways to track that person down, that person won’t get a proper defense.”

Restrictions on cell phone records and on personal identifiers, such as birth dates, have been imposed because of issues with identity theft.

It’s important to keep those limitations in place to protect people, but it can skew the results of a background check if it goes too far, according to Hons.

“If we don’t have access to personal identifiers, how do we know the background check is accurate?” he said.

Limited access doesn’t mean a background check is prohibitive, but it means a higher cost to clients because there’s more footwork to be done, Hons said. “You can still do the case; you just have to do it another way.”

Another concerning limitation has been talk about making Social Security numbers inaccessible to private investigators, Hons said.

“I can’t even imagine the fallout that would have on the investigations industry,” he said.

It’s a matter of safety, Hons said. “What if it’s somebody who’s applying for a job at a school? We find one Joe Blow who’s a pedophile and another Joe Blow who’s got no criminal record. Without personal identifiers, how do we determine we’ve got the right one?”

There are ways to do it, according to Rolshoven, though none that he would share, he added with a laugh.

Physical demands

Technological advances have not eliminated all the physical challenges private investigating work sometimes requires.

Rolshoven described standing dozens of feet in the air on a catwalk in the Fargodome, balancing himself and 40 pounds of camera equipment. He recalled working long hours for days on end while performing background checks on potential jurors.

Then, there are the cases that take five years from start to finish, working odd hours and in hazardous conditions.

“A semi accident at 4 a.m. in 20 degrees below with 30 mph winds those are difficult conditions to work in,” Rolshoven said.

But “each case is so different,” he added. “Each case brings its own set of circumstances you have to deal with.” Still, helping people, whether by revealing evidence that clears a person of murder or helping a parent find a child given up in adoption, has its rewards, no matter how challenging the job can be, private investigators say.

“We do get to help people,” Rolshoven said. “That’s a satisfying aspect of the business.”