New Business Provides Private Investigator Services

Private detectives were once referred to as gumshoes, a reference to gum rubber shoes that allowed investigators to sneak around quietly. It’s not confirmed which type of shoes Brandon Schuh wears or if he likes being called a gumshoe, but he is indeed a private detective and owner of Paper Trace Investigations in Minnetonka. Schuh has a criminal justice degree from the University of Minnesota. After college, he moved away from a career path in law enforcement to take a job investigating product liability claims for a ladder manufacturer. That experience propelled Schuh into the world of investigation. “I conducted hundreds of witness interviews during my time in the risk and insurance side of things,” he says. “I developed a specialty for interviewing witnesses and getting to the bottom of an investigation through tailored questions.” Many people desire to become entrepreneurs; Schuh is no different. But it was his particular interest in law enforcement, combined with experience in claims investigations and many connections he’s made along the way, that opened Schuh’s eyes to a business opportunity. He also noticed that attorneys and investigative clients seemed unhappy with witness interviewing and detective services they had been using. To fill this void, Schuh opened Paper Trace Investigations in January 2012. Paper Trace conducts background searches and locates missing people through access to detailed databases. Attorneys and insurance companies are typical clients for Paper Trace. Schuh also handles the occasional infidelity case, though he’s more interested in dealing with criminal defense, family law or litigation. For example, a criminal defense attorney might want information about what other people saw at the scene of an alleged crime. Schuh provides services specific to identifying and interviewing witnesses. With family law, Schuh might be brought in to help during a child custody case. “If one side or the other isn’t completely confident their children are being cared for in appropriate living conditions,” he says, “I can perform the necessary surveillance to uncover whether someone is spending their days at a bar or if too many questionable characters are coming and going from the home.” In order to conduct such surveillance, Schuh has accumulated monitoring equipment similar to the kind seen on TV and in the movies. “I have cameras with zoom lenses, lapel cameras and even a pair of sunglasses with a camera built into the bridge,” he says. This type of equipment is also useful in personal injury cases. If a client suspects no actual injury, Schuh is sent to investigate. “If somebody with an injury claim is out waterskiing, golfing, mowing the lawn or shoveling, I’ll find out about it,” he says. Jonathan Strauss, an attorney at Sapientia Law Group in Minneapolis, says, “Brandon has done asset searches, background checks and stakeouts for us. He’s efficient and excellent. Anyone in need of a P.I. can benefit from his work.” As you might think, life as a private investigator has its moments of drama. Occasionally, non-violent confrontation can occur if Schuh’s cover is blown—such as the time when Schuh was camped out in his parked car with tinted windows, recording someone mowing the lawn. A suspicious neighbor confronted Schuh, who explained himself and left the scene with the necessary video. “Other than times like that, my job involves a lot of sitting around, doughnuts and coffee, that sort of thing,” he quips. Although the work of a detective may sound dangerous, Schuh doesn’t carry a firearm and tries not to put himself in situations where one would be necessary. He does, however, have more than 6,000 hours of investigative work experience, a requirement to become a licensed private detective in Minnesota. “There are only 350 licensed private investigators in Minnesota,” says Schuh, “and there are over 40,000 attorneys. I’m hopeful that ratio is in favor of Paper Trace being a successful business venture.”