This month’s VM Recommends brings us selections from Senior Attorney Investigator and Adjudicator, Christina Petricca.What is a book you would recommend? I read Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale a while ago and it is still one of my favorite books.  The Nightingale is a historical fiction that describes the difficulties faced by two sisters during World War II. The book moves between present day and the past and each chapter leaves you hanging to find out what happens next. I’ve read several of Kristin Hannah’s books and I really enjoy her writing style. What is your favorite place to visit…
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At Van Dermyden Makus, many of our attorney investigators have experience conducting investigations into allegations of misconduct made by employees against elected officials.  These investigations present unique challenges and require special skills to navigate.  Elected officials are not employees of a public agency.  Therefore, they cannot be compelled by an employer to participate in an investigation into complaints made against them.  Nor can they be disciplined by the public agency.  Nevertheless, California employers have a legal obligation to take steps to prevent harassment, discrimination, and retaliation against employees.  An employer can be held liable for not promptly and thoroughly investigating…
Continue Reading Investigating Alleged Misconduct by Elected Officials

Getting More Out Of This Common Response In Public Safety InterviewsPart 1 of this series provided some context and perspective about why “I don’t recall” responses seem more common in public safety investigations—and why investigators should not rush to attribute a high volume of such responses to bad faith. In Part 2, we explore some practical tips and techniques to facilitate recall, elicit more accurate information, and better distinguish between a bona fide lack of recall and selective memory. While most of these tips can be used in any investigation, this blog post centers on some of the unique features…
Continue Reading “I Don’t Recall” – Part 2

This is the first in a two-part series discussing our Firm’s experience with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). This two-part series will not cover how GenAI works, what tools are available on the market, or what regulating bodies, like the State Bar of California, or state legislatures are doing with respect to GenAI. Rather, the focus is our philosophical approach to exploring and effectively implementing GenAI. We know that all of you will do the research to use GenAI responsibly and with caution.Workplace investigators have a complicated relationship with report writing. It is often the most difficult to master, the most…
Continue Reading AI in Workplace Investigations: Cautiously Optimistic

A Perspective On Interviews With Public Safety Employees

There is no published data on how frequently interviewees in workplace investigations respond to questions with, “I don’t recall,” or, “I don’t remember.”  However, most seasoned investigators would likely agree those phrases are far and away the words they hear most in interviews.  Amongst investigators who specialize in public sector investigations, there is a sense that one type of interview tends to elicit more “I don’t recall” responses than any other – interviews of public safety employees.  A cynical outsider to the world of public safety might rush to conclude this phenomenon…
Continue Reading “I Don’t Recall” – Part 1

Part Two[1]: Part One of this blog highlighted the two most impactful aspects of SB 2.  Specifically, SB 2 (1) provided substantial, new power to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST); and (2) significantly increased law enforcement agencies’ reporting obligations when faced with “serious misconduct” allegations.  In case you missed it, find it here.Part Two of this blog focuses on key, practical takeaways for investigators, internal and external alike.  Law enforcement agencies, and external investigators working with them, need to understand how key provisions of SB 2 will impact their investigations.  Do not get…
Continue Reading What Is Senate Bill 2 And Why Should Investigators And Law Enforcement Agencies Who Conduct Investigations Into Alleged Police Misconduct Be Paying Close Attention To Its Provisions?  

Recent statistics from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) 2024 Report to the Nations highlight that organizations lose an estimated 5% of revenue annually to fraud. While internal controls and monitoring are essential first steps, engaging independent investigators can be crucial when potential fraud is detected. A recent investigation conducted by our firm helps illustrate why.The InvestigationAn organization retained our firm to investigate concerns that a director-level employee had made potentially fraudulent charges to the organization’s corporate Uber account. These concerns were first brought to the organization’s attention by a member of the finance team, who noticed unusually high…
Continue Reading The Need for Outside Investigators in Occupational Fraud: A Case Study on Misuse of the Corporate Uber Account

Part One[1]: Although Senate Bill 2 (SB 2) took effect January 1, 2022 (some of its provisions took effect at later dates, as outlined below), many law enforcement agencies (and outside investigators) are still becoming acquainted with its many new, impactful provisions.  Here, I highlight noteworthy provisions of SB 2 while also highly recommending giving SB 2 a close read before embarking on any Peace Officer misconduct investigations.  Do not sleep on SB 2!     The two most significant takeaways from the enaction of SB 2 lie in (1) the substantial, new power SB 2 conferred on the Commission…
Continue Reading What Is Senate Bill 2 And Why Should Investigators And Law Enforcement Agencies Who Conduct Investigations Into Alleged Police Misconduct Be Paying Close Attention To Its Provisions?

Occupational fraud remains among the most damaging threats to organizational assets and reputation. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE)’s latest Report to the Nations, organizations lose an estimated 5 percent of their annual revenue to fraud, with the median loss exceeding $8.3 million in cases involving senior employees. Investigating these frauds is particularly challenging because the perpetrators are trusted insiders who understand control systems and can influence evidence and witnesses. The Dixon municipal fraud, where a trusted employee embezzled $53.7 million over two decades, exemplifies how traditional controls can fail against sophisticated insider schemes.The critical first phase…
Continue Reading The Art of Investigating Occupational Fraud

This month’s VM Recommends brings us selections from Attorney Investigator, Devin Mikulka. What are your current book and podcast recommendations? I recently finished reading Supercommunicators, a book by Charles Duhigg, and have been recommending it to everyone I meet. The book is about how some people are gifted communicators— easy to talk to, able to connect with others, and the ones we turn to for advice. Duhigg suggests “supercommunicators” can recognize different types of conversation (practical, emotional, and social), and then subtly match their communication to the type of conversation occurring at that moment. Though we might think some people…
Continue Reading VM Recommends – Los Angeles Edition

In our prior blog post, “Build Bridges, Not Barriers,” we discussed how to make the most of an interviewee’s representative during an interview and ways to head off any potential friction in advance.  This blog post discusses some suggestions and options investigators have when a representative’s conduct crosses the line into disruptive behavior.  While the vast majority of representatives do not cross this line, these tips will help you if you ever encounter the rare exception.  #1 Offer To Treat Excessive Objections As “Standing Objections”Our previous blog post noted the importance of verbally defining the role of the representative…
Continue Reading A Bridge Too Far: Five Tips For Occasions When A Representative’s Conduct Becomes Disruptive

This month’s VM Recommends brings us selections from Partner, Erich Knorr, who leads the Tempe, Arizona office.  What is your favorite place to visit in Phoenix?One of my favorite things to do in Phoenix is wandering through the Desert Botanical Garden, marveling at the diversity of plants and succulents.  From the towering saguaros to the blooms of the agave plant and prickly pear cactus, every corner of this garden tells a story of resilience and adaptation to the arid desert climate.  The Desert Botanical Garden also offers a variety of events, such as concerts, art exhibitions, and educational programs.  My…
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In the world of investigations, whether it be workplace, campus or Title IX, we often run into situations where two people interpret the same events in wildly different ways.  As human beings, our memories can be subjective, and we are constantly interpreting events through the lens of our own backgrounds and experiences.  In the legal world, everyone is held to the standard of behaving like a “reasonable person.”  Can someone who always makes the best choices and always perceives the world in an accurate way really exist?  The short answer is no.  Everyone perceives the world in a different way…
Continue Reading Am I Being Reasonable? Fifth Scenario