Relentless Pursuit PI investigates cheating spouses, business employees, criminal cases

It’s an old joke that those in the police business never get out of it, even after retiring, said former police officer and now private investigator Bob Garner, owner of Relentless Pursuit Private Investigations.

“It’s like, ‘Hey, you’re a PI. So’s everybody else,’” he said.

Garner retired as a police officer from the Fresno City Police Department in December 2004. He was a teacher before he became a police officer, and after retiring taught again at Willow International, now Clovis Community College Center, and San Joaquin Valley College for about seven years until he started Relentless Pursuit in February 2012.

Having his own business means he gets to avoid the politics of working for someone else, and instead be in charge of himself and his employees. Relentless Pursuit has eight other investigators who have past experience in law enforcement or security, he said.

Relentless Pursuit had signs for a while that advertised the business, Garner said. The signs didn’t bring in as much business as he expected, although they were directed at a market Garner wanted to cultivate: those who suspected their spouses of cheating.

Most of the time, when someone suspects their partner of cheating, they’re right, Garner said. It comes down mainly to a change in normal behavior that their partner picks up on, such as suddenly working odd hours, he said.

Garner said he sometimes acts as a counselor for his clients, which he takes as a sign of their trust in him. He doesn’t try to make one person in the situation look bad or take his client’s side, but aims to get to the truth.

“The best outcome would be if every one of my clients were misperceiving what was happening,” he said. “That would be a nice resolution to any case.”

Cheating-spouse cases aren’t the majority of Garner’s cases. He also investigates potential marital partners, business partners and employees, and conducts criminal law and family law investigations for attorneys. He has found that his best way of getting business is by walking into attorney offices and asking if they need anything investigated, rather than his former sign advertisement, he said.

Relentless Pursuit charges an hourly rate of $92.

He rarely works cases on a flat fee, as he said he finds it much fairer to charge hourly — with a flat fee, he risks either overcharging or undercharging his clients.

It costs less time-wise and money-wise to pay an expert to do something than do it yourself, whether it’s fixing a car or investigating a spouse, he said. Garner noted he would never do heart surgery on himself because he doesn’t know anything about it.

“You let the people do what they do best,” he said.

This story was originally published August 1, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Relentless Pursuit PI investigates cheating spouses, business employees, criminal cases."