E98: Behind the Badge with Pittsburgh's Private Investigator: Integrity, Myths, And High-Stakes Cases

What makes Larry Forletta with Forletta Investigative Security Consultant a good neighbor?

Looking for the truth behind private investigations without the TV gloss? We sit down with former DEA agent turned PI, Larry Forletta, to unpack how real cases unfold, why integrity is non-negotiable, and what clients should expect when the goal is facts that stand up in court. Larry traces his path from Maryland State Police to undercover narcotics and the DEA, then into building a Pittsburgh-based firm that blends disciplined surveillance, meticulous interviews, and targeted research with a clear-eyed approach to timelines and outcomes.

We get into the misconceptions that haunt the industry- no, responsible investigators don’t promise results- and the practical realities of domestic cases in a no-fault divorce state, where asset discovery and documentation often matter more than theatrics. Larry shares how most of his clients come through attorneys and word of mouth, and why he invests time in teaching: safety talks for the public and CLE sessions for lawyers on working effectively with investigators, scoping cases, and maintaining evidentiary quality. If you’ve wondered how to hire the right PI, Larry’s checklist is blunt and useful: verify background, check for complaints, confirm licensing, and choose the professional who invites scrutiny.

We also explore licensing nuances that clients overlook. Pennsylvania issues PI licenses by county, with statewide authority once approved, while Ohio centralizes oversight at the state level. That difference shapes how firms operate and how you should vet credentials. Larry recounts notable work on the Smiley Face Killers docuseries tied to the disappearance of Dakota James, illustrating both the teamwork involved and the sobering reality that some cases resist neat endings. Through it all, one theme holds steady: integrity. It protects clients, builds courtroom credibility, and guides tough calls when evidence is scarce or timelines stretch.

If you value truth over drama and outcomes built on verifiable facts, this conversation offers a grounded guide to PI work, from hidden assets to headline investigations. Subscribe for more local stories with real takeaways, share this episode with someone considering a PI, and leave a review with your biggest question about hiring an investigator.

To learn more about Forletta Investigative Security Consultant go to: 

https://fcisllc.com/

Forletta Investigative Security Consultant

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lila Carter.

SPEAKER_02 (00:13):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a privateinvestigator?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Larry Forletta, with ForlettaInvestigative Security
Consultant.
Larry, how's it going?

SPEAKER_00 (00:31):
Hey, Layla, good morning, and uh great to be with
you.

SPEAKER_02 (00:35):
Great to be here with you as well.
We're excited to learn all aboutyou and your business.
So please share more about yourcompany.

SPEAKER_00 (00:44):
Sure, Layla.
Well, thank you for having ustoday.
Um, I'll give you a little bitof background of myself.
Uh uh my career started in lawenforcement.
Uh I started out with theMaryland State Police.
Uh, after I left there, I workedundercover narcotics, and from
there I went to the uh DrugEnforcement Administration as a

(01:05):
DEA agent.
Uh I retired some 19 years ago,and I just started, I uh decided
to uh start my own privateinvestigation business.
So we've been around thePittsburgh region for quite a
while now, and uh we've donesome very uh interesting cases,
uh so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 (01:28):
So you semi-retired us hardworking people, we don't
ever really retire, do we?

SPEAKER_00 (01:33):
That's right, we don't.

SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
So, how did you specifically get into the
business of privateinvestigation?

SPEAKER_00 (01:42):
Well, it it's kind of a fluke, I guess, in one
sense, because um, although Iretired relatively young, I was
looking for something else todo, and I started looking into
other options, and uh I thoughtthat I could fit well in a
private investigation in theprivate sector, and uh then it

(02:03):
became a challenge and learningmore about business than being
an investigator, and uh sothat's why I started a process,
and besides that, I was uh Iwanted to just work for myself
and no one else after you knowdoing things that I did for you
know quite a long time.

SPEAKER_02 (02:22):
Certainly, yeah.
Being your own boss is probablythe best job that there is,
right?
You wake up motivated to makesomething for yourself, so
that's great.
Are there any myths or maybemisconceptions in your industry
that you'd like to talk abouttoday?

SPEAKER_00 (02:41):
Well, there's there's several of them, and uh
I think what uh people don'trealize that private
investigators you know do realdo real life investigations.
It's not like on TV where you'llsee a PI solve a problem, you
know, within a commercial break.
Um, it takes a considerable timeand effort and persistence to

(03:05):
really reach the goal thatyou're trying to obtain, you
know, in your investigation.
And it doesn't matter what typeof investigation it is, it does
take time.
And again, we we try to explainthat to their clients, and we
tell our clients just right upfront, you know, this is the
real world, and it's not TV, andwe can't guarantee you how the

(03:27):
outcome is going to be until weactually start the
investigation.
Some are positive outcomes andsome are not.
Um, so there's just a lot offactors involved and a lot of
misconceptions that privateinvestigators only spy on uh
husbands and wives, which is nottrue.
I mean, we do a lot of varietyof different cases.

(03:48):
Uh domestic cases are one ofthem, but there's many other
investigations that we getinvolved in.

SPEAKER_02 (03:55):
So domestic cases would be like if someone is
getting divorced, for example,and they're trying to prove that
someone's cheating, or whatwould that typically look like?

SPEAKER_00 (04:06):
Yeah, so that's kind of that in a nutshell.
I mean, you know, watching oneof the persons that that's uh in
the marriage and saying whothey're meeting and and so on.
Uh but uh as you may know,Pennsylvania is a no fault
divorce state, and we explainthat to the clients.

(04:26):
So a lot of times, uh based onit's you know, I really need to
know what is actually going on,and uh you can file what we call
a fault divorce, which is morethe person that files the
divorce, and then you know theissue is always of assets that
are involved, and sometimes youknow, there's hidden assets that

(04:50):
we have to try to locate withour you know expertise and and
our uh associates uh that workwith us.

SPEAKER_02 (04:59):
Sure.
Okay, so as we know thatmarketing is the heart of any
business, right?
Who are your target customersfor your service and how are you
currently attracting them to thefirm?

SPEAKER_00 (05:11):
Well, I would say the majority of our customers
are from lawyers and law firms,and we've been dealing with this
for a long time.
The marketing aspect has beenword of mouth, um, although we
have a website presence uh andwe've learned you know through
different uh vendors andtechniques about marketing.
Um, we also have uh we havegiven public uh talks to a

(05:37):
variety of different groups,like a women's group talking
about safety and security on youknow when you leave and you're
in your car and you you get outand you walk to a location, um,
from that to uh professionals,uh to you know, uh, for example,
uh giving uh CLE classes to uhlawyers, and we've done quite a

(06:02):
few of those.
And it a lot of the subjectsdeal with how to work with a
private investigator, make sureyou're getting the right one,
you know, is there any issues,the integrity, licensing?
Uh, and there's there's avariety of things that you know
you should always look for in aprivate investigator.

SPEAKER_02 (06:21):
Absolutely.
So, what are some of thosethings?

SPEAKER_00 (06:26):
Well, first of all, you have to look uh to see the
background of that investigator.
You know, do they come from alaw enforcement background or
they just you know have donemost of this in the private
sector?
Um are there any issues orcomplaints on that private
investigator or their company?

(06:46):
Um and are they licensed?
And in Pennsylvania, it's kindof unique because each county
has their own licensingregulations.
So, for example, AlleghenyCounty may do a little different
from another county, and uh youknow you have to go through this
process, and uh and that'sbasically the way it works.

(07:07):
And you're once you're licensedin any particular county in
Pennsylvania, you're licensedthroughout the whole state.
And I also have a license inOhio.
Now, Ohio is a little differentbecause it's regulated by the
state, so there's thedifference, each state has
different uh priorities in termsof regulating uh the private

(07:29):
investigative industry.
And and I can tell you there'sprobably around 60,000 private
investigators throughout thecountry, so it's it's it's
pretty big.

SPEAKER_02 (07:40):
Wow.
That's that's very interesting.
I've never heard that anindustry could be regulated by
county in one state and then umstatewide in another.
So that's a really interestingnugget of information there.
And I feel like the informationthat you have to share regarding

(08:01):
how this job works and some ofthe things that you could help
people with is very valuableinformation that people are
probably intrigued by.
Have you ever thought aboutmaybe starting your own podcast
to discuss what you do?

SPEAKER_00 (08:16):
Yeah, funny that you should mention that.
I did have my own podcast, andit was called Folletta
Investigates, and it just becameuh too time consuming uh and
trying to run a PI business atthe same time.
Uh, but yeah, I had a very goodpodcast.
Uh it lasted for a while, andmost of our guests were some of

(08:40):
my colleagues uh discussing whatyou know we did for a living and
the dangers of working as anundercover DEA agent and you
know things of that nature.
So yeah, I did have one and itwas uh it was enjoyable, but uh
sometimes business has toproceed, and you can't do
sometimes you can't do a couple,you know, two things that take

(09:02):
most of your time.

SPEAKER_02 (09:04):
Sure, sure.
Well, that's so cool that you'rea former podcaster.
So, what else outside of work doyou do for fun, Larry?

SPEAKER_00 (09:13):
Well, I I think uh that's pretty much it, is my
private investigation business.
Um, it's it's become uh abusiness and a hobby at the same
time because it I you know Iwake up every day looking or
doing something different, whichwe do.
Um, you know, we dosurveillances, we do interviews,

(09:35):
uh, we work a variety of uhcases.
Some have become very uhnotoriety, especially in
Pittsburgh.
Uh the one investigation I wasinvolved in it was called the
Smiley Face Killers.
Uh young man by the name ofDakota James went missing in
January of 2017.

(09:56):
And we got involved in theinvestigation, and eventually uh
the smiley face killers became adocuseries on the uh oxygen
network.
So, yeah, I've been involved insome really significant uh type
investigations.

SPEAKER_02 (10:12):
You said killers plural, so this is multiple
people that were engaging.

SPEAKER_00 (10:19):
So the the the behind uh the smiley face
killers uh were a group ofretired uh New York City police
detectives that started aprofile uh on these missing
young men uh some years ago.
And actually they worked with meon this particular case, and

(10:41):
that's how I got to meet them.
And uh so they aired thePittsburgh one as the first
episode, and there was five,five or six other episodes that
was aired through the OxygenNetwork, you know, discussing uh
what happened and the missing,you know, mostly uh I would say
the majority of the victims werewhite male, some of them were

(11:04):
gay, um, educated, athletic, andso they put this profile
together.
Um, the unfortunate part aboutit, none of the individuals have
ever been brought to justice orum found out who who the actual
killer was.

SPEAKER_02 (11:22):
Oh, interesting.
Wow, and every case, every dayis you know something different,
I'm sure.
In this uh in this field, itmust be thrilling to have every
day be kind of an exploration ofa different case or a different
scenario, or you know, we wakeup, what am I gonna find out

(11:43):
today?
You know, so that's reallyinteresting.
Now, Larry, please tell ourlisteners one thing that they
should remember or should stickwith them about Forletta
Investigative SecurityConsultant.

SPEAKER_00 (11:57):
Um I would say one word that best describes it
would be integrity.
Um because without that, uh aninvestigator is usually, you
know, is basically useless, andthey have no credibility either
with the clients or the courtsor whoever.

(12:18):
So I think that's uh veryimportant in my my line of work
and as has been in my career inlaw enforcement.

SPEAKER_02 (12:25):
Absolutely.
And how can our listeners learnmore about Forletta
Investigative SecurityConsultant?

SPEAKER_00 (12:33):
Well, we have a website and it's www.fcislc.com,
or they can call us at412-7192112.

SPEAKER_02 (12:48):
Excellent.
Well, Larry, I very muchappreciate your time today and
having you as a guest on ourshow.
We wish you and the privateinvestigation firm the best
moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 (13:02):
Thank you so much, Lella, and I appreciate uh you
having us on.

SPEAKER_01 (13:07):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnppittsburgh.com.
That's gmppittsburgh.com or call412 561 9956.