The History of the
Louisiana Private Investigator's
Association
 

On April 5, 1987, Gary Hyatt, Randy Hyatt, Martin Powell and Cecil Paris held the first meeting of the Louisiana Private Investigators Association in Moss Bluff, Louisiana. Officers for the association were elected as follows:

Gary A. Hyatt, President
Cecil Paris, Vice-President
Martin Powell, Secretary
Randy Hyatt, Treasurer.

Having held that first mandatory meeting, the Articles of Incorporation were filed and recorded in the Secretary of State's office on April 8, 1987 as a non-profit corporation. The LPIA was then authorized to transact business in the State of Louisiana as a corporation.

The Louisiana Private Investigators Association was formed for two very specific reasons. First, the state of Louisiana had no professional organizations for the private investigative industry. The benefits of networking and educational seminars that private investigators in other states had were lost here without such an organization. Secondly, and most importantly, a bill had been filed in the 1987 Legislature, backed by the security industry of this state, proposing to incorporate the private investigators under their state board. Fees under the bill were outrageous and insurance requirements were so high that most investigators would have been put out of business.

LPIA, with only 17 members, defeated the bill and decided to fight fire with fire. In the fall of 1988, Gary Hyatt, Julius "Buddy" Bombet and John Becton met in Lafayette, Louisiana and wrote a proposed bill creating the Louisiana State Board of Private Investigator Examiners.

In the 1988 Legislature, the bill was filed by Representative Chris John of Crowley, Louisiana. It was later killed by heavy lobbying from the security industry.

In 1989, LPIA continued to build contacts in both the House and Senate. The bill was introduced again and made it out of committee, but was later killed on the floor by the security industry. Ex-Governor Edwin Edwards, who was running for this fourth term, was contacted and his support was obtained in assisting LPIA in 1990. The bill moved along well, but fell short because of continued heavy lobbying by the security industry. However in 1992 with hard work from over 100 LPIA members, the bill passed and became law.

Governor Edwin Edwards appointed the following LPIA members to the first Board: Julius "Buddy" Bombet as Chairman, Calvin "Pete" Trahan as Vice-Chairman, Gary A. Hyatt, Joseph A. Oster, Robert Eubanks and Penny Mire.

Since its inception, LPIA has promoted honesty, professionalism, and ethics in the private investigative industry in the State of Louisiana.

We have made education and networking a way of life for the Louisiana investigator. Our seminars have been recognized  on a national level with hundreds of out of state investigators attending. Our speakers have been of national caliber and quality. Our 1996 annual convention attracted over 300 investigators from throughout the United States.

LPIA started the first certification program in Louisiana called the Louisiana Certified Investigator (LCI) and has owns the trademark. A comprehensive written and oral examination along with a white paper must be successfully completed in order to become an LCI.

The LPIA has not been immune to problems; but we have attempted to face them and are currently rebuilding, after we experienced a downward trend comparative of other national volunteer membership organizations.  Any organization that depends upon volunteers to be involved as the core group to operate an association will suffer when members don't step up and take the positions.

For a period of time, the LPIA suffered from the lack of volunteers to take on the duties of the association and our membership dropped significantly during this time and there were some questions as to if the future of the Association was in jeopardy.  However, we prevailed, and the association is on the road to returning to a strong, membership organization with a goal of high standards and ethics.

In Late 2008, a group of investigators took control of the failing association and started the rebuild process.  Members were sent renewal notices and several investigators submitted their dues payment to keep the LPIA strong.  Immediately the core group started making plans to hold a seminar, and completed 3 in 2009.

We successfully fought legislature efforts to pass a bill that we believe was detrimental to the profession and in doing so, we returned to the primary purpose of the LPIA.  We continue to monitor legislation effecting the investigative industry and propose our own legislation as well.

It was decided that the best way to move the LPIA forward was to engage the services of a contract membership administrator and Steve Divine was contracted to take over the day to day functions of membership services in November 2009.

Our membership directory was placed online with an interactive members database and our website was redesigned to provide a member's only section to help the networking efforts of our Members.

We are continuing to provide educational programs of the highest caliber and networking tools for investigators worldwide, and making plans for even more progress in 2010.  In February 2010, we held a CEU Conference in Alexandria, Louisiana in which 47 people attended.  The LPIA is certainly on it's way to rebirth! 

If you are not a member of this organization, then you are missing a tremendous opportunity to meet friends and associates that bring out the best in our membership.