WELCOME

CPIO Professional Development Day 2025

Thursday, November 20, 2025 – Virtual Via Zoom 

EARN 6 CPE CREDITS

CPIO MEMBERS $75 ** NON-MEMBERS $95 ** STUDENTS $35

REGISTER ONLINE AT WWW.CPIONTARIO.CA

Elicitation

Shawn Stevenson-Private Investigator, Project Manager, Business Analyst and Security Consultant

Private investigators need to be able to get people to talk. Strategically using conversation and setting to put a subject at ease rather than making them feel interrogated can be a very effective means to gather reliable information. This talk will focus on the purpose of elicitation as well as how to plan, develop and execute an elicitation effort. Focus will be placed on choosing an elicitation technique, conducting pre-research on a subject, tailoring your approach and best practices to get the best elicitation results. Participation and questions are welcome.  

Shawn Stevenson is an experienced and affable private investigator, project manager, business analyst and security consultant. Most recently, he was contracted to support projects in the Privy Council Office. He also works in security for the multi-year rehabilitation project of The Parliament Of Canada. He designed and teaches a course on Elicitation at the University of Regina that has been used as curriculum at other institutions.

Recognized as a current and future leader, Shawn has been awarded a CBC Future 40 for being identified as a future change maker within his professional and larger community. He has been asked to present at international conferences (Building Business Capability, BA World) and has travelled to Kenya and Nigeria in a consulting role.  

Originally from rural New Brunswick, he now calls Ottawa home with his partner Jennifer and their dog Cora. 

Threat Levels in Canada and The Means That Some Foreign Players Use to Obtain Information, What Can Be Done About It and How PI’s Can Help

Canadian Security Services

This session with the Canadian security service is informative, instructional and could save lives.

Intelligence Tradecraft: Principles for Advanced Investigations

Garrett McGinn, Partner at Digistream Investigations and Upstream Intelligence and Megan Kohls, Partners at Digistream’s sister company Upstream Intelligence

The breadth of modern investigations has grown rapidly over the past decade. Traditional social media and background checks, one-crew surveillance and interviews are no longer the only tools at a professional’s disposal. More information than ever before is available to the end-users of intelligence and yet traditional investigative patterns have persisted. This has wasted client money, lead to unimaginative investigations with unimpactful results, and has fostered a divide between what clients need and what investigator deliver. Understand how the private intelligence community has evolved via an examination of geospatial and geosocial investigations, device forensics, video and imagery upscaling, international investigations, multi-crew and unmanned surveillance operations and how to leverage these capabilities to maximum effect. Many investigative solutions which are considered “advanced” are far more accessible and affordable than many believe. This session will provide clarity to professionals and improve their understanding of a variety of modern techniques for uncovering and leveraging information. Specifically, the session seeks to educate the attendee on the four main disciplines of private intelligence gathering: Open Source Intelligence, Geospatial Intelligence, Signals Intelligence and Human Intelligence. By utilizing a more diverse set of tools, the end-user of intelligence enables themselves and their organization to deliver a compelling defense against high-value litigation and threats.

Garrett McGinn is a Partner with DigiStream Investigations’ R&D Department and its complex investigations company UpStream Intelligence. He has over 17 years of investigative experience and is a Certified Fraud Examiner, a licensed Private Investigator and holds a master’s degree in Transatlantic Relations from Jagiellonian University in Krakow Poland, and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of California, Davis. Mr. McGinn trained in advanced surveillance tactics in the United Kingdom, achieving a Level III Advanced Award in Foot & Mobile Surveillance. Prior to his employment with DigiStream in 2006, Mr. McGinn was a Research Analyst for Glass, Lewis & Co., an institutional investment advisory firm.

Megan Kohls is a Partner at DigiStream’s sister-company, UpStream Intelligence, and currently provides oversight and guidance to a carefully selected team of analysts working advanced cases related to complex pre-employment investigations, insurance fraud, civil liability, murder, harassment, and stalking. Prior to her position at UpStream Intelligence, Megan managed the Research & Development department at DigiStream Investigations from 2017-2021.  In 2020 Megan obtained her California Private Investigators License, no. PI189089. In 2017, she completed her Fraud Claims Law Specialist designation through the American Educational Institute. She holds a Master of Science in Library Science from Simmons University and obtained a B.A. in History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Addressing AI Hallucinations in Digital Forensics: Challenges and Solutions

David McKay- President Blackstone Forensics

This presentation explores the impact of artificial intelligence on digital forensics, with a particular focus on the challenges of evaluating and authenticating multimedia evidence. Attendees will learn how AI technologies can manipulate or generate video content, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between genuine and AI-created material. The session will also cover practical techniques and emerging tools for detecting AI-generated videos, providing forensic professionals with strategies to identify signs of synthetic media and maintain the integrity of digital evidence.

David has a Bachelor of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology, an Advanced Certificate in Forensic Science, and a Certificate of Technical Studies in Security Systems Technology.

David has provided the forensic examination and analysis of recorded evidence through his company, Blackstone Forensics, since 2008 and prior to that he was a forensic video analyst with the RCMP Civilian Police Services.  In addition, David holds a license(s) in security consulting and CCTV installation for the Province of BC and has extensive experience in the installation, programming, and development of video recording systems.

Since 2002, David has worked on hundreds of cases and testified as an expert in both Canadian Provincial and Supreme court for both criminal and civil cases, and provided evidence in US courts through depositions.  He has been qualified as an expert in forensic video analysis, forensic data recovery, digital recording authentication, CCTV systems, and video and digital image analysis.

In addition, David is the Program Head of the Forensic Science & Technology Department at BCIT and the instructor of the “CCTV & Forensic Examination” course.  He presented and guest lectured on many occasions regarding the forensic examination and authentication of video and digital evidence to many different investigative organizations & police agencies throughout Canada.  David is also a former Coroner for the Province of BC.

How Forensics Play an Important Role in the Workplace Investigations

Dwayne Strocen-President of Docufraud Canada

Dwayne Strocen is a former member of the RCMP and President of Docufraud Canada. Docufraud was first established in 2017 to provide document related forensic services across Canada. Our examiners are certified forensic experts and court qualified. We have even testified before the

Supreme Court of Bahamas and Barbados.

Docufraud Canada is this country’s sole provider of forensic laboratory services for the examination

of physical evidence. Our services are sought after by Criminal defence and Immigration Lawyers,

Private Investigators and Workplace Investigators. We’ve taken part in high profile investigations

widely covered by CBC, CTV and Global News

Dwayne will discuss how forensics play an important role in Workplace Investigations. Document

and handwriting examinations related to threatening letters and offensive writing on notes or property.

We’ll also cover the need for forensics to augment an investigation in a workplace injury or death.

We’ll review employers liability concerns and insurance investigations.

Virtual Workplace Interviews: Challenges, Opportunities & Other Timely Tech Issues

Michael Arntfield, PhD-Corporate Investigation Services, Association of Workplace Investigators, &Professor: Western University. Author: Workplace Violence & Harassment: A Forensic Investigation Handbook, 2022.

Since March of 2020 when the world pivoted to and then normalized virtual meetings,

the question over whether to conduct workplace investigations in-person or to instead

defer to this still ongoing trend, often at the request of the client as a cost-saving measure, is one faced by investigators in nearly every new investigation. This seminar discusses the pros and cons as well as the dos and don’ts of virtual interviews in the context of the Best Evidence Rule while also ensuring procedural fairness and parity for interviewees amid this ongoing new reality. Additional technological best practices and emerging trends will also be discussed, including the digital recording of interviews in either virtual or in-person investigations, as well the role increasingly played by generative AI; specifically, its use by employees when drafting their workplace complaints in order to ultimately compel full investigations.

DISCLAIMER

The educational material presented at all Council of Professional Investigators Ontario (CPIO) seminars is for general educational information purposes only and is solely the opinion of the presenter, based on their proficiency, experience and cumulative knowledge of the topic(s) addressed. No seminar is intended to provide personalized advice. It is left to the discretion and judgment, and it is the sole responsibility of each attendee to determine what is appropriate for their own circumstances and to comply with any applicable laws regarding the use of the material presented. In implementing or utilizing any part or portion of the information contained in this presentation, participants agree to do so at their own discretion and their own risk, and to not hold, nor attempt to hold the presenter or host liable for any loss, liability, claim, demand, damage and all legal cost or other expenses arising whatsoever in connection with the use, misuse or inability to use the materials or learnings.