There are never many dull moments around the office at CPA International Investigations Inc., a Langley-based investigation and security services company.
“I can’t say anyone is ever bored here,” said John Pisarski.
Pisarski has had a gun pulled on him, been poisoned and had someone try to run him over.
“It is definitely not a Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 job,” added Heather Giuriato. “You have to be ready to go 24/7.”
While these examples may not be ideal working conditions, they are just some of the challenges they face working at CPA International Investigations.
Pisarski is CPA Investigations’ president and managing director, while Giuriato is the company’s director of operations.
“Everyone here likes that; you can be doing one thing one minute and then all of a sudden doing something else,” she said.
The business partners both live in Langley and met through their kids, who attended the same school.
Both had previous ties to the security and private investigative industry.
“I got into this because I enjoy working with people and I enjoy helping people,” Pisarski said.
“I was always a problem solver and I turned that into an industry.”
Pisarski has been in the investigative industry since 1988. He started in the hospitality industry, mainly with hotel chains, and his typical assignments involved helping employers deal with issues such as internal theft.
“From there, I expanded it into tracking people, doing collections and turned it into an investigation company,” he explained.
His first agency opened in 1989 and the Langley branch, which is the company’s head office, opened in 2007. They also have offices in Vancouver and Surrey, with satellite office locations in Kamloops, Nelson, Nanaimo, Victoria and Duncan.
Giuriato joined CPA Investigations when they opened their Langley office.
Her dad was a certified protection professional (CPP), so she was well aware of the industry.
Giuriato’s role in the family business was more on the administrative side of things, as well as training people on how to handle guard dogs.
“Although I hadn’t done any of the private investigative side, I had a strong security background,” she said about what intrigued her when Pisarski approached her.
The Langley office opening also marked a shift in how Pisarski wanted to conduct the business, focusing less on insurance work and more on security, security systems, undercover investigations and both residential and commercial surveillance work.
Their work can range from locating missing people to doing background checks and everything in between.
One of the areas they are focusing on is educating people about their security vulnerabilities and how they can protect themselves.
If a thief wants to break into something, not much will stop them from trying.
“You might as well make it more challenging for them,” Pisarski said. “At the end of the day, if they are going to want to steal things and break in, let’s make them work for it, raise the bar for them.”
Computer forensics is another area they are seeing more growth.
“The objective for (computer experts) is to show people where their weaknesses are so they can protect their personal information.” Pisarski said.
“Cyber crime is huge and so many people don’t realize their computers are accessed by these criminals to commit other acts in their name or through their computer.”
The job is not without its challenges.
The work day often stretches well past the typical eight hours and the unpredictability of the job can wreak havoc on the personal life.
“You need to be willing to drop everything,” Giuriato admits. “Your personal life does suffer in this industry, that is for sure.”
There is also the hazard of getting emotionally attached to someone during undercover work.
Giuriato recalled one female target she had befriended for an operation and how by the end the lady was giving her hugs.
“I felt like the scum of the earth because I was deceiving her, but I was just doing my job,” she said.
But as Pisarski pointed out, in that situation, you could potentially be clearing someone’s name, if it is proven they are not doing anything wrong.
“If she is doing something wrong, then she deserves to be punished,” Giuriato said. “When you put it into that perspective, I am helping people and if they have done something wrong, they have to pay for their crimes.”
The company is also pitching a TV show, Truth Hunters, to Canadian and American networks.
There is a trailer on Youtube.
It would be a documentary-style show focusing on their investigations.
“We want to show real life,” Pisarski said.
“We want to show there is no magical computer (to solve crimes); we want to paint a real picture.”
The company’s motto is “May the best prepared win.”
“The truth of the matter is if you don’t document and collect the evidence and think you are going to go after somebody and win, you are not,” he said.
“The best prepared will win the case, right or wrong.”
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The Langley office has six full-time employees, as well as another dozen who are part-time or specialized in certain areas, such as computer forensics.
CPA Investigations is holding an open house on Saturday (June 25) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at their Langley office at 20330 Fraser Highway.
For more information, visit www.cpaiii.com.
