SMARTDRAW IN LAW ENFORCEMENT:

Creating Forms for Private Investigations with
SmartDraw Legal Edition

As a private investigator, Paul Curtis focuses on complex cases involving huge amounts of information. These cases often take weeks or even months to complete, and tend to get large very quickly.

"Trying to remember everything, especially when you are working on several cases at the same time is difficult at best, and often not very accurate," said Paul. "But because of the cases we work on, we prepare each case as though it is being readied for trial. To do that we have to make sure our information is accurate and confirmed."

Paul knew that he needed an easy way to record the important elements of each case, without taking too much time. In addition, he had to ensure that the information was to be easy to retrieve, or it wouldn't do much good.

"One of the challenges for a private investigator is tracking important information about people, places, things, events, and organizations," said Paul. "Forms help you do that because you look in exactly the same place on the form each time—for the same piece of information. If it's not there, the fact that it is missing becomes obvious. Forms also improve the accuracy of reporting because of the consistency in use and storage of information."

Paul found the SmartDraw Legal Edition and decided to give it a try. He quickly realized that SmartDraw helped him automate the creation of forms, offering up dozens of ready-made templates that he could customize and print, as well as the ability to create forms from scratch.

"I have created a total of 64 forms so far that cover just about everything a private investigator would want to know about a case," said Paul. "Each form deals with one set of facts as they relate to such things as vehicles, aircraft, vessels, real property, events, and organizations and so on."

According to Paul, one of the biggest benefits of using the SmartDraw Legal Edition to create forms is time-savings.

"The entire process of creating 64 forms took about three weeks," said Curtis. "Had it not been for the ease of use and speed with which SmartDraw operates, we simply never would have created them. They would have been too costly."

Using SmartDraw forms translates into even bigger time-savings when it comes to retrieving information.

"These forms have made a huge difference for me in terms of the use of my time," said Paul. "While it seems like it would take longer to fill out a form than it would to just stuff a piece of paper into a file folder, when it comes time to retrieve the information because the client is on the phone and wants it now, you can do so quickly."

Paul admits he's just scratching the surface when it comes to using SmartDraw for his business. He has also begun using the graphics features to prepare large statistical presentations.

"We find that when things really look professional they seem to be much more believable, and they have a higher degree of credibility to the viewer," said Paul. "This can make a big difference when decisions are being made based upon what is being presented—whether it is in the courtroom or the boardroom."

The verdict?

"SmartDraw makes a huge difference for us in terms of costs in both time and money…and it helps make you look like a hero to your client!"