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June 7 – 20, 2014
Business
360 Private Investigations helps find needed answers BY ALISON STANTON
During his 10-plus years working in law enforcement in Colorado and Washington, Roger Baldwin became interested in private investigations. About a year and a half ago, Baldwin turned his interest into a business when he opened 360 Private Investigations in Chandler. Although he and his two employees are able to handle a wide variety of services—including background checks, mystery shopper services, infidelity investigations and more—Baldwin says his bread and butter is locating missing persons. “Usually we have about a 98 percent find rate,” says Baldwin, who also worked as a security contractor for DynCorp during Operation Iraqi Freedom. When people learn that Baldwin, who also owns Murphy’s Law Irish Pub and Ale House in Chandler, works as a private investigator, they typically assume that his days are filled full of excitement and involve using a lot of state-of-the-art technology. This is definitely not the case, he notes. “A lot of my work is sitting at a desk and doing research,” he says. When clients walk into his office, Baldwin says he will not only advise them about the type of investigative
services he can offer, he will also take the time to listen. “I work with people from every walk of life. When they come in, I do not pigeonhole them, and I’m not some salty detective. In many cases, it might be the first time that my client is speaking with a professional about the problem.” For example, while a friend or relative might offer emotional advice like “Oh forget that guy” in the case of a possible cheating spouse, Baldwin says he is there to “not just stalk the person, but to find out if the client might be entitled to compensation of some sort.” Baldwin says he also works with business owners who have noticed inventory and/or income go missing. “While they might want a secret shopper to come in and see what’s going on, I often ask them, ‘Well, did you ever run a background check on some of your employees?’” he says, adding that most theft that takes place at businesses is employee-related. In one instance, Baldwin notes, an audit that he performed on a restaurant found that there was more than 300 pounds of beef that had gone missing. “A lot of secret shoppers are not at the level that we want. The bartender SEE 360 PAGE 26
VON HANSON’S FROM PAGE 19
She and her husband had been customers of the Apple Valley, Minnesota, store for years before they decided to retire to Arizona. “At first, we were snowbirds, traveling back and forth. After we bought a brand new barbecue for our home here, we cooked a steak on it and threw it away.” Neese says she and her husband began buying 50 pounds of meat at the Apple Valley Von Hanson’s store and packing it in their suitcase before returning to Arizona. “The closer we got to spending more time here, we started talking to the Von Hanson’s owners back in Minnesota, and we talked them into partnering with us so we could open a store here in Chandler,” Neese says. “We knew that there were other snowbirds here from the Midwest who couldn’t handle unflavored meats and wanted to find great meat.” In 2004, Neese and her husband opened Von Hanson’s in Chandler. In addition to being popular with local residents, she says the store has gotten a lot of attention from people from the Midwest, who tell her how it reminds them of home. As for which items are the most popular, Neese says it varies from customer to customer—both two-legged and four-legged. “Our brats and sausages are extremely popular; we have 80 different kinds and the quality and consistency are really good. We also have our own smokehouse,
www.SanTanSun.com and people rave about our jerky,” she says. Angus beef is always a hit with customers, as are the all-natural chickens and the all-natural turkeys that are available at Thanksgiving. “Still others come in for our dog treats, including our smoked bones, raw bones and bacon balls, which we buy from a local company. I think we’ve become a destination place for both people and dogs.” Neese says she is looking forward to the next 10 years in Chandler. “The local community is wonderful, and the people of Chandler are just great.” Von Hanson’s Meats and Spirits is located at 2390 N. Alma School Rd. in Chandler. For more information, call (480) 917-2525 or visit http:// vonhansonsmeats.net Alison Stanton is a freelance writer who lives in the East Valley. She can be reached at alison@santansun.com.
WIDE SELECTION: For the past 10 years, Von Hanson’s Meats and Spirits in Chandler has prided itself on offering the highest quality meats. Submitted photo