Texas Association of Licensed Investigators

The Founding and History

The Early Years

[http://www.tali.org The Texas Association of Licensed Investigators (TALI)] was founded in 1971 and later resuscitated on its death bed in 1975 to become the thriving association it is today. There was a tremendous amount of groundwork accomplished by a handful of private investigators prior to the revivification and subsequent maturing of TALI.

Prior to State of Texas licensing, a governing board and a specific state law, the licensing and regulation of the profession was a mixed bag of local licensing by a few municipal and county governments. Because of the lack of consistent regulation from county to county and city to city a group of five investigators met to discuss their ideas, needs, desires and hopes for their future. Their teamwork led to growth in the membership and resulted in the Texas Legislature passing Article 4413(29bb) V.A.C.S. in 1969. This Act established the Texas Board of Private Investigators, Private Security Agencies and the accompanying state regulatory agency.

Unfortunately, all of the members were not dedicated to the good of the whole. One, in particular, basically decided to highjack the association for his purposes and started doing things his way instead of working with the others towards a common goal. The effect was to sew dissent instead of camaraderie and to stall the forward momentum of the group. In fact, the budding association wound up going to court to preserve its name. That person’s influence withered and he left the association and dropped out of sight.

In 1973, David Sallee, Ernest Humberson, Don Redding, and Ron Kelly decided to try to revive the nearly lifeless association. These men knew that a statewide organization working for the good of all investigators could help all Texas investigators improve their professional image with the public. They knew that, as an organization, they could begin to make changes that none of them could make alone. They looked for members who would work as a team to keep the goals of the association in view and put them above their own personal desires. The wisdom, loyalty, dedication, and teamwork of this small group of professional investigators led to the formation of the beginnings of the Association as it has become to be known today.

These professional investigators turned the goals of the young statewide to the promotion and professionalization of the investigative profession in Texas. The founding members set forth the following declaration:

THE TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF LICENSED INVESTIGATORS is hereby formed in 1971 to promote and maintain the highest ethical practices in the profession of private investigation industry and to select for membership only those individuals whose personal and professional background and business affiliations have strictly observed the precepts of truth, accuracy, and prudence and to endeavor to eliminate unreliable, incompetent and irresponsible persons from the investigation profession.

The founding investigators developed the first Code of Ethics and a set of By-Laws for the association. The By-Laws established a board of directors consisting of five positions: Chairman, President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer.

In the early 1970’s TALI. held its first annual meeting in Longview, Texas. By then, there were twenty-five members but only six attended the meeting and each paid his share of the meeting expenses. From this meeting of six dedicated investigators, [http://www.2008swsc.com/ TALI.’s annual conventions] have grown in attendance to 650 investigators and other legal professionals. These meetings now offer investigative education, training, vendor product displays and an excellent opportunity for Texas to network with each other. In recent years, investigators from other states have begun to travel to the Texas conventions in order to take advantage of the training and networking opportunities.

The Eighties to the Present

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, TALI’s membership began to rapidly grow in numbers. The association became more active in education, legislation, training and working with the State Legislature and regulatory agency. By 1991, TALI began developing more astute political strategies to better serve the profession and its needs. These strategies are still in play within TALI today.

Also in 1991, the members lobbied the [http://house.state.tx.us/ Texas Legislature] and testified before House and Senate Committees to defeat two Bills that would have eliminated access to drivers’ license and vehicle registration information. TALI leadership appointed a magazine editor and produced an improved quarterly publication for Texas investigators.

In 1993 Bills were again introduced in the legislature to deny investigators access to drivers license and vehicle registration. TALI members appeared before House and Senate Committees to testify against these Bills with success. This same year, an anti-stalking Bill was introduced that would have eliminated Texas investigators abilities to perform routine surveillances. TALI met with sponsors of the Bill and were able to get it changed so that investigators could continue to perform surveillance.

1995 was a banner year for TALI’S legislative efforts. TALI joined with a state representative in sponsoring an extensive overhaul of Article 4413 (29bb) V.A.C.S. TALI held its first legislative walk through day with approximately 100 members present. The legislative efforts resulted in the mandating of Continuing Education, increase in penalties for unlicensed company from a Class “A’ Misdemeanor to a 3rd Degree felony for a second offense and established a definition of a full time peace officer in Texas. TALI representatives helped in writing the present Texas law governing the use of tracking devices and getting it passed into law. TALI hired its first paid magazine editor and published the first edition of the [http://thetexasinvestigator.com/ The Texas Investigator.]

1996 TALI became involved in Federal Legislation along with the [http://www.nciss.org/ National Council of Investigation and Security Services (NCISS)] . The joint venture resulted in the first Federal Law recognizing the Private Investigative profession with the passing of the Drivers Privacy Protection Act. The act also allowed State Licensed Private Investigators access to vehicle registration information. [http://www.sunset.state.tx.us/ The Texas Sunset Commission] began hearings to review the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agency. TALI worked with the Commission and testified before hearings regarding the restructure and naming of the agency.

In 1997 TALI was again fighting in the Texas Legislature to keep public records open to the public. TALI was successful in getting the [http://www.uscode.house.gov/download/pis/18C123.txt Drivers Privacy Protection Act] passed that allowed State of Texas Private Investigators access to drivers license and vehicle registration information.

In the years 1998 and 1999 TALI was again at the forefront in fighting for open records on both the National and State levels. In the 1999 session the Texas Legislature renamed the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies to the Texas Commission on Private Security. In 2001, TALI and its members were once again appearing before Texas Legislative Committees fighting for [http://oag.state.tx.us/AG_Publications/pdfs/openmeeting_hb2008.pdf Texas Open Records] and the continuing survival of the regulatory agency. In this session the legislature moved the Private Security Board employees and budget under the control of the Texas Department of Public Safety for oversight. The number of employees were reduced to eight including the Executive Director. The Private Security Board remained a freestanding and separate from The Department of Public Safety.

By 2003, TALI initiatives with leading members of the Texas legislature resulted in the establishment of the Private Security Bureau within the Texas Department of Public Safety. Approximately 28 State Troopers and Supervisors were assigned to the Private Security Bureau under the direction of a DPS Captain. Their primary function was to enforce Article 1702 of the Occupations Code and the rules established by the Private Security Board.

In 2005, TALI was instrumental in assisting with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s request for additional funding for the Private Security Bureau. By a vote of the membership the [http://tali.org/board_of_directors.htm TALI Board of Directors] was increased to include the formerly appointed Regional Directors. There was a major re-write of the BY-Laws that resulted in new leadership coming onto the Board of Directors.

In 2006, TALI joined with representatives of [http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb/ DPS, Private Security Board] , security, alarm and locksmith associations in preparing for the 2007 Legislative Session. In a joint effort HB 2833 was developed, introduced and eventually passed by the legislature. Many TALI members were instrumental in the development and passage of this legislative initiative. This legislative act covered many areas including strengthening [http://www.tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/oc.toc.htm Article 1702 of the Occupations Code] and set the groundwork for future joint efforts of the professions regulated by the Private Security Board and The Texas Department of Public Safety, Private Security Bureau.

In 2006, the magazine became a full color glossy professional journal entitled the The Texas Investigator. The journal immediately became the foremost investigators’ state association publication in the United States and remains so today. 2006 also saw TALI produce the first Southwest Super Conference (SWSC) which was successful far beyond the expectations of the presenters. The Conference was attended by investigators from as far away as New England, Colorado, Louisiana, and other states.

In 2008, the TALI Board completely redesigned the organization by creating local chapters in each city and major rural area of the state. The local chapters reported to five regional directors. This infrastructure allowed the individual members in each area to have a local representative who was familiar with local issues to represent them at the regional level. The regional directors, who previously had been mere figureheads, became involved managers in their districts. For the first time, the regional directors could relay the grassroots concerns to the Board at quarterly meetings thereby acting as liaisons between the working investigator and the working Board member. Immediately, the Association was transformed into a living organism.

For the past 37 years TALI has matured as an organization and as an organization has worked diligently to counter the closing of the doors of state and national government. For the past 13 years TALI has co-operated with national investigative groups in preventing the weakening of open records laws on the national front as well as at the state level. There have been many bills introduced into the US Congress attempting to close public access to formerly open records. To date this combined effort by the many state and national licensed investigators’ associations have served the investigative profession and the public well in fighting a growing tendency towards secrecy in government machinations.

TALI continues to be vigilant and continues to expose and fight against secrecy in democratic government. TALI has gained the admiration of other state investigators’ organizations for its successful work in improving the image of private investigators as professionals.