LSBPIE EXPOSED- A close review of the Louisiana State Board of Private Investigator Examiners Operations

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LEGISLATIVE GUIDE

We need legislators to know about the problems at the LSBPIE. Coming soon, you will be able to click here and get a punch list as to what we need you to do!

WHY WAS THIS SITE MADE?

When Representative Mert Smiley first suggested in his legislative hearing last April that he might want to combine the services of the LSBPIE under another board as a cost savings measure, many of us opposed that concept. We recognized that there were problems but incoming Chairman John Mowell promised change and an open forum like we had never seen before. We fell for it hook, line and sinker and the changes that were promised actually created less open communication.

CHANGE MUST COME and upon reflection, it would appear that the LSBPIE believes that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, regardless of the rules or the law.

COMPLAINTS WERE FILED, but we believe that the best chance for change is with the legislative session and will propose two bills, one to change the make up of this board and the other to abolish it and place its duties under the scope and authority of another governmental entity.

KNOWLEDGE IS THE KEY

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Because the volume of information that has been uncovered is so much, this site is an ever changing project and will be updated often. Our initial focus was to just get live, but you will find that documentation will be added soon. Please check back!

IS THIS SITE A BULLY SITE?

What is cyber stalking and is what you read on this site considered stalking?

READ THE LAW

Cyber stalking laws do not apply to any peaceable, nonviolent, or non threatening activity intended to express political views or to provide lawful information to others.

While this site may be colorful, and is intended to express outrage, nothing contained herein threatens harm to anyone. The authors feel as if we have been taken advantage of and we want a change in the law!

ITS ABOUT FREE SPEECH

THIS SITE IS A POLITICAL COMMENTARY SITE
NO THREATS OR HARM TO ANYONE IS BEING MADE
IT IS INTENDED TO EDUCATE LEGISLATORS AS TO THE PROBLEMS THAT
WE SEE WITH THE WAY THE LSBPIE IS BEING OPERATED!

Englade was head of the Baton Rouge
Task Force charged to find
the Serial Killer

There is a lot of information regarding
his management style in this book
Click the Book to read an excerpt.

"Many people in the Baton Rouge area felt that Englade was not the right person to head this up..." page 112

I COULD NOT AGREE MORE!
GOOD BOOK

THE
MOST POPULAR WEBSITE
AT THE BOARD OFFICE

READ EVERY MORNING
NO WONDER

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SERVE ON
THE LOUISIANA STATE BOARD OF PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR
EXAMINERS?

The Governor is looking for a few good
people to fix this mess that we have now. New Board members are coming!

Send your Resume to
Change@lspbie.info

WE NEED HELP FROM THE LEGISLATORS!

THE LSBPIE IS DENYING THE RIGHTS OF INVESTIGATORS & PRIVATE CITIZENS

$375,645.21
IS BEING KEPT FROM THE STATE'S FUND

A THIRD LAWSUIT HAS JUST BEEN FILED FEB 6, 2012

change is in the works

R.S. 37:3501 declared that it is in the best interest of the citizens of Louisiana to require the licensure of private investigators and with this law, The Louisiana State Board of Private Investigator Examiners came into existence. It was a noble undertaking, brought on by a group of investigators who had the vision to realize that sooner or later the public would be harmed if the industry was left to its own devices. Read more history on how and why this board was formed in the HISTORY SECTION of this site.

Almost from the beginning egos played a part in the way decisions were made. Earlier legislative audits revealed instances of Board Members enjoying trips out of State, $900.00 steak dinners and much more at the expense of the tax payer and many of the earlier board members were forced to pay back money that had been wrongly spent.

TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AND YOU TOO WILL BE SHOCKED!

THIS SITE IS SHOCKING

Some people will look upon the design of this site and the message that it carries and find offense, and for that, I apologize. I'm sorry but I am simply tired and angry at the arrogance that the Board and the Executive Director displays toward those that try to effect change in the system. One only has to look at the ongoing scandals to realize that there is a problem at the LSBPIE and it is our hope that if anything, this site will bring that to the attention of the Legislators this next session. I'm tired of being taken advantage of and you should be too when you look at what is happening!

WE HAVE JUST LEARNED OF AN INCIDENT THAT COULD BE A NEW SCANDAL COMING UP.
This board has denied the license application of an applicant merely because of a report from the State Inspectors Office that states the applicant was accused of various wrongs, but never convicted on any level. Stay tuned and watch closely as this proceeds. Could this be the next lawsuit to be filed?

There is a lot of history, not much of it pretty about the Board itself, but this site brings to your attention that the situation now is worst than what has happened in the past. I believe that it is time to take a serious look to see if there is a better way to license private investigators. Last year, Representative Mert Smiley attempted to explore the concept of disbanding this board, but later agreed to back off after promises were made to improve their performance. There were no improvements. If anything, it went from bad to worst. This year Representative Steve Pugh has taken the ball and change is about to happen. At minimum, we can expect the stronghold that the micro association, LPIA has on the member at large position to be gone! House Bill 997 will address that issue.

NOW, IT'S CLEAR THAT IT'S TIME TO MAKE SERIOUS CHANGES!

BOTTOM LINE, INVESTIGATORS PAY TOO MUCH TO BE LICENSED IN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA! If the board is able to stockpile over a 1/4 million dollars above what they need to operate, then by gosh investigators pay too much!

When the LSBPIE raised the cost of license fees, they told the investigators this was necessary because they needed the money to operate. But with over $375 Thousand in their bank, do you believe them? Why are your license fees so high when they have excess money? And more, why has the State Auditor allowed this to happen for so long! YOU WILL FIND DOCUMENTS IN A SEARCHABLE DATABASE ON THE HISTORY PAGE!

THEY THINK THEY CAN DO WHAT EVER THEY WANT!

	WHERE'S THE MONEY? The money is not where it's supposed to be! $ 375.645.21 of our money is not in the State's fund where is supposed to be. There has always been a question about the way the MONEY has been handled. From the beginning, the money has been kept by the Board in their own accounts when in fact it was supposed to be placed in the Louisiana General Fund.. RS 37:3523 requires that any money collected by the LSBPIE from any source should be deposited into the General Funds with the Treasurer of the State of Louisiana and they then operate from a budget. Currently, the LSBPIE is stockpiling money to the tune of over $375,000 of our money into their own account. READ THE COMPLAINT DOCUMENT THE LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR'S OFFICE RESPONDED HERE Perhaps this is a standard public response and the matter is under investigation, but it would appear that nothing is going to be done right now and the information will simply be considered in future audits. There is the question as to why the Legislative Auditor has not caught this mistake prior to now.

	VIOLATION OF GOVERNORS PAY FREEZE Governor Jindal issued an executive order to all State Agencies that there is a FREEZE on all merit raise increases in June 2011. But the LSBPIE ignored that order and gave their staff a 5% raise anyway. READ THE COMPLAINT DOCUMENT UPDATED 11-15-2011 The board presented information at the November 15, 2011 board meeting that they do not believe they are in violation. Apparently there is a belief that unclassified employees are exempt from the order. The board has two clerical worker workers; one classified and one non-classified. Why does the Board have an unclassified clerical worker in a two person office? READ THE ACTUAL ORDER AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF

	VIOLATED THE RULE MAKING PROCESS ON A WHIM In September 2011 the Board decided that since Continuing Education has been causing so many problems for the Board and it's staff, they would immediately suspend the requirement of Rule 518 that requires investigators to obtain 8 hours CE to renew their license. The statue requires that all major decisions or policies be promulgated into a rule or changed as such; which requires a particular procedure that the Board ignored. READ THE MINUTES, SEE THE SCREENSHOT! SEE THE SCANDAL PAGE UPDATE 3-20-2012 It would seem that the LSBPIE has now admitted that there is a Continuing Education "mess" and at the LSBPIE Board meeting today, AG Attorney Freel is said to have advised the board about a new rule promulgation that she is working on to be filed that will fix the problem. PLEASE READ THE EDUCATION PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION!

	COLLUSION WITH BOARD MEMBERS Board members want special privileges. Not only did they pass a motion to exempt themselves from the requirement that they have 8 hours CE training in order to renew their licenses, at least three of the Board Members do not currently meet the requirements to renew their own licenses, yet they renewed their own license anyway. Regular Private Investigators have to meet the rules & requirements, but board members don't always have to follow the rules. READ AND SEE EVIDENCE THAT BRUCE CHILDERS DID NOT SUBMIT PROPER PAPERWORK Bruce Childers is licensed as Investigations Unlimited, but that's not the paperwork he filed with the board READ AND SEE EVIDENCE THAT ANNETTE KOVAC IS NOT IN GOOD STANDING WITH THE STATE Ms Kovac's corporation was revoked by the State, but the Board still licensed her anyway. READ WHERE MARIA DUGAS SEEKS TO JUSTIFY THE BOARDS VOTE TO EXEMPT THEMSELVES FROM CE This board voted to exempt themselves from CE at the January hearing, we complained, so she tried to justify it Read this screen shot from the March 16, 2010- at a time when the chairman was not even in compliance, the Board holds others accountable. Kovac isn't the only one!

	FAILURE TO ADMINISTER THE RULES AND GUIDELINES Rules and procedures have been passed that have required CE Providers to follow certain guidelines, but several public records requests uncovered that the Board Staff routinely looked the other way when reports were filed incorrectly or not at all. In one such case, a provider that was required to submit a monthly report as to who participated in their class only provided a sheet of paper with two names on it, failing to list the providers name, or any of the other information that the rules required, and the Board staff accepted that report. READ JUST ONE EXAMPLE - MORE TO FOLLOW

	FALSE TESTIMONY IN A LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE In recorded testimony before the Legislative Committee this year, the Board provided false information to the committee, and misrepresented the facts. LISTEN AND WATCH THE RECORDING OF THE LSBPIE PORTION OF THE SESSION We have uploaded only the LSBPIE portion of the full hearing to You tube so that you don't have to watch the entire day's hearings. Click the link to go to the You Tube Channel and watch the video. Watch closely and you will hear then Chairman Annette Kovac explain the purpose of the board. One purpose is to keep up with the current laws and make sure that everyone is in compliance. Based upon what we are reporting on this site, we question if they do that job very well. But you be the judge. SEE THE SCANDAL PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION READ AN EMAIL FROM A BOARD MEMBER INVESTIGATING THE COMMITTEE The legislative committee was investigating the LSBPIE so one board member suggested the committee be investigated.

	SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW & RULES Rule violations and complaints first go to Pat Englade, the Executive Director of the LSBPIE who then decides if the board will pursue an investigation. Historical evidence has been developed that in some cases, the complaint process is ignored and complaints are dismissed without legitimate investigation into the allegation, whereas in other cases, complaints are taken by email in violation of the rules of procedure. Our opinion, based upon a historical review is that not everyone is required to follow the same rules. As example, Persons attempting to become licensed as Agency owners in Louisiana must be in good standing with the Secretary of State, but as we've already mentioned there are 3 board members that fail to maintain a good standing and nothing happens to them. One educational provider who is located out of state providing online continuing education training, yet approved by the Board operates under an assumed business name that is not registered with the State of Louisiana. Another provider posted a blank, signed compliance form on the open internet so that it could be downloaded at will. That provider was suspended for two months, then reinstated with a free advertisement of his services on the Board's course site. Yet the author of this site was suspended without notice, and with not one complaint having ever been filed against his online organization. THIS IS ONE COMPLAINT

	EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MISUSED HIS POSITION OF AUTHORITY When the LPIA attempted to engage former Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James "Jim" Brown as a keynote speaker at their annual event, Pat Englade wrote complaints in his capacity of the Executive Director to say that it was a slap in the face of retired law enforcement for the LPIA to engage a convicted felon as a speaker. More so, Pat Englade has continuously used his position of authority to undermine those that do not have the same opinions as him and who he considers to be a political enemy. READ JUST ONE OF MANY DOCUMENTS THAT WILL COME "If Divine wants to get ugly we can do that" Statement from Englade READ HOW ENGLADE ATTEMPTS TO AVOID COMPLYING WITH PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS "The Law is clear...if the record exists, you provide it, but in this case, Englade went the extra mile to try to avoid giving the records to us. PI-TALK PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST

	WHERE ARE THE JOURNEYMEN? A DATABASE FAILURE! When law enforcement asked for a way to verify who was licensed and who wasn't, the LSBPIE placed a searchable form on their website that would allow anyone to enter the name of a licensed investigator and determine the license status. That's worked great, but when the Journeyman license was passed into law, the Board staff rallied that the current database design would not allow them to add this into their database. After discussing options and taking bids, the board office chose to use a "friend" of the Executive Director who has a full time job elsewhere and moonlights at night to build a completely separate database for the implication of the Journeyman license. Problem is, after 2 years, that database is still not on the website and law enforcement have no way of verification of license status unless they call the board office...which is open only during limited business hours.

	FAILURE TO DEFINE INVESTIGATIVE EXPERIENCE! Although you might find it unbelievable, this board has yet to define what is and what isn't investigative experience for use in issuing a private investigator license. John Mowell attempted to do that recently by writing a white paper, but the full board has not approved that and the issue has come up from day one...what is investigative experience relative to the requirement that an Agency Applicant must have 3 years "investigative experience" within the last 10 years to qualify for an agency license. THIS CAME UP AGAIN AT THE JANUARY 19, 2010 BOARD MEETING Good grief, please tell me the job function of this board again?

	THE BOARD WANTS TO SEEK AN INJUNCTION! At the conclusion of the September 20, 2011 board meeting, Bruce Childers also made a motion to allow the attorney for the board the authority to research and seek an injunction against anyone who might try to inhibit the board and their operation. No doubt, this is probably at the request of the Executive Director who has openly complained about Public Records requests. We think that this board seeks to hide the facts and baffle the legislators rather than respond to the public. Don't be fooled. READ THE MINUTES

BEFORE TO CHECK OUT THE SCANDALS & THEN LOOK AT THE BOARD MEMBERS PAGE

OUR INTENT IS FOR THIS SITE TO BE BASED UPON FACTS
EXCEPT WHERE WE STATE IT IS OUR OPINION. IF YOU FIND SOMETHING THAT
IS REPORTED HERE TO BE IN ERROR, PLEASE BRING THAT TO OUR ATTENTION AND WE WILL IMMEDIATELY REVIEW AND MAKE CHANGES AS NECESSARY.

CHANGE BEGINS WITH ME

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