Wired's Technique Critique & Tradecraft Videos Are Really, Really Good

Wired’s Technique Critique & Tradecraft Videos Are Really, Really Good

Hollywood PI's vs. Real PI's, Private Investigation

A few weeks ago, I was sent a couple videos from Wired’s YouTube Channel that I really enjoyed, and I wanted to share them here.

In the first series of videos, Technique Critique, experts from various professional disciplines break down Hollywood movies and TV shows, and explain what they got right and wrong.

I was so impressed with this series, I reached out to Wired and volunteered to do one on private investigation should they do a second season.

Thoughts on 'Hannibal', Hollywood investigations, serial killers & intuition

Thoughts on Hollywood investigations, serial killers, intuition & ‘Hannibal’

Background Checks, Hollywood PI's vs. Real PI's, Private Investigation, Private Investigators, Surveillance

As a professional private investigator and a former Federal agent, it can be very hard for me to watch television. With rare exception, nearly every Hollywood depiction of private investigation and criminal investigation consistently gets it wrong.  (I’ve written a few posts about the Hollywood vs. reality aspect of private investigation: here, here and here.)…

The Martin PI TV show that never was, plus a review of “Cry Wolfe”

Hollywood PI's vs. Real PI's, Private Investigation, Private Investigators

I’ve taken part in more than a few television shows as an interview subject. In recent years, I was approached by two of the major studios, as they wanted me to help create and star in a reality-based television show about private investigators. I have ended up turning down many interviews and all of the reality shows – because I insisted upon keeping the reality aspect intact.

Here’s how these things typically go.

Derek Seehausen, before his disappearance in 2014.

Private Investigator Offers $25,000 Reward for Locating Derek Seehausen (2019)

Locate People, Missing persons, Press Releases, Private Investigation

August 5, 2019 will mark the fifth anniversary year that Derek Seehausen disappeared into the Los Angeles night. He has not been heard from or seen since that day. The case has haunted me personally and is one of the most perplexing of my 50 year investigative career.

I am offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to finding Derek or physical evidence supporting his death.

Ask A PI: Thomas Martin answers questions people have about private investigation

If a background check was run on you, here’s what would be in it

Ask a PI, Asset Search, Background Checks, Private Investigation

You’ve probably wondered at some point: If someone ran a background check on me, what would be in it?

Believe me when I say you would be shocked at what’s actually in these reports: I’m a private investigator whose agency performs hundreds of these background checks and asset searches every year.

The sheer amount of data in these reports is staggering: Many of them are a hundred pages or more.

Madeleine McCann, pictured here at 3-years-old in 2007, has been missing since then.

12 years later: The Madeleine McCann case may be one of the most poorly investigated

Kidnapping, Missing persons, Private Investigation, Travel

Over the past twelve years, I have given a handful of interviews about this case and written on particulars of the investigation. At one point, the family’s representatives considered us as an agency to investigate the case. I do wish we had been selected as the lead agency, and I often wonder what difference we could have made in this investigation.

Here’s what I would recommend for the case now.