By Carol Coultas,Business Writer

Say the phrase “private investigator” and immediately images of scruffy men in trench coats toting cameras come to mind.

The classic gumshoe. Mickey Spillane. The guy you pay to spy on a cheating wife or a philandering husband.

But that image is about as outdated as the stereotypical fedora worn by generations of fictional PIs. Today’s private investigator is well-educated, technically savvy and schooled in ethics and law.

So it was no surprise to Kevin Surette of Litchfield, president of the Maine Licensed Private Investigators Association, to learn that two, new private investigation agencies recently joined the Androscoggin Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber memberships are just an indication of the growing wave of professionalism that Surette says is sweeping the industry. And they are a response to the growing demand for investigation services from businesses that want background checks and security services in the post 9/11 world.

“Overall, there’s an upgrade in professionalism within the industry,” said Surette. “It’s no longer a job, but a career.”

One of the Chamber newcomers is Pine Tree Investigations in Lisbon, operated by Nelson Gagnon and Scott Martel. Gagnon, a former law enforcement officer, had previously run his own investigation agency on a part-time basis, but gave it up when the liability, bond and equipment costs got to be too much. Now he’s back, reopening his business with Martel, an apprentice who also has law enforcement experience.

The firm offers services in child custody and workers compensation cases, criminal and civil court cases, background checks and finding missing persons.

“We’re honest and hardworking,” said Gagnon of his company.

The pair joined the Chamber in January to network. The month before, Joe Laliberte of Corporate Intelligence-Backgrounds Plus, joined the Chamber as well. Laliberte retired from government intelligence work recently and opened his own private investigation agency. He declined to be interviewed because his work involves undercover and surveillance activities. Surette says the number of licensed PIs in Maine has remained relatively stable at around 300, many of whom specialize.

“There’s a lot of niche work,” said Surette, such as accident reconstruction, polygraph testing, handwriting analysis, witness location for attorneys and fact-finding for insurance companies. Broader work includes surveillance and investigating child custody cases, disability fraud and, of course, the cheating spouse.

Work increasingly is performed on the Web, said Surette, through special databases that are available only to PIs and law enforcement officials. The databases allow investigators to track missing relatives or find the deadbeat parent who hasn’t paid child support for months.

“We’re not assuming the worst about anybody, but simply finding out the facts,” he said.

Technology is helping. Most of the Maine PI association’s 75 members take continuing education classes because spy ware and privacy laws change often. For instance, digital time-lapse recording equipment is a big improvement because it can record hundreds more images. But the technology is vulnerable to manipulation, so investigators have had to devise a watermark to validate the digital images.

And the association is getting into the political arena by advocating for things like a state insurance-fraud bureau. Surette said often insurance companies will simply write a check even though a claim seems suspicious. The association would prefer that insurance companies perform an investigation into all suspicious claims rather than write them off.

“Consumers are paying that bill,” he said.

Continuing education also keeps investigators on top of changes in the law and gives them an opportunity to discuss ethics. Their obligation is not to take sides when performing an investigation, but simply to gather relevant facts.

Objectivity can be difficult said Gagnon, recounting one custody case he investigated where children were living among drug dealers and prostitutes. He said his report helped the judge award custody to the father.

“Some cases get to you,” said Gagnon. “Now the kids are living on a farm. That makes me feel good.”