They don’t wear two-way wrist radios like Dick Tracy, they don’t drive Austin Martin cars like James Bond. They don’t even wear the brims of their hats turned down over their left eye like Phillip Marlowe. Yet Elite Investigations, LTD, the private detectives who set up satellite offices in Secaucus this month, say they cover every aspect of the security business from unarmed security guards to personal protection, with a national staff of more than 1,000 each trained in their particular field of expertise. Although they might never get a long-legged beauty as a walk-in client asking them to find the Maltese Falcon, the staff of the brick building located at the extreme north end of Paterson Plank Road expects to get a lot of business, as malls and other retail operations open up in the area and new hotels rise from the meadows. “This is one of our satellite offices,” said John Galassi, assistant director for New Jersey, who, with about 10 staff members, is expected to work out of the Secaucus office, covering businesses throughout Hudson County and Northern New Jersey. He noted that Elite picked the town because of its close proximity to many customers on this side of the Hudson River. Galassi, like many of the men who work for Elite, has a law enforcement background, though even the unarmed security officers that are typically hired to watch over stores or hotels will undergo training to make sure they know what they are supposed to do in any given situation. “All our people get CPR training and meet New York State Requirements,” Galassi said. All superiors have backgrounds in police work and the military and many are active police officers who frequently meet with the staff. “We talk with our people to keep them abreast of what they can do, and more importantly, what they should not do in a given situation,” Galassi said. Working with law enforcement Elite has a long history that goes back to the early 1970s when Joseph Saponaro, one of the founding members, was laid off from the New York City Police Department because of budgetary cutbacks under Mayor Abe Beam. Saponaro met with a friend of his, Gary Weskler, who owned a Manhattan toy store and specialized in the emerging field of technology surveillance. In the back of the store, they founded an security firm with the unique philosophy that private security could work together with the police in various communities to provide for an additional layer of safety for the public. Over the years, the agency has managed to work with New York City police and build an impressive client base, opening additional offices in Connecticut, Florida, Suffern, NY, Trenton, Newark and now Secaucus. “We’re now expanding business into Pennsylvania,” Galassi said, noting that there is nearly no aspect of security or investigative work the agency won’t handle. Elite currently protects business buildings, construction projects, stores and hotels. The agency also does the kind of detective work often seen in the movies, including electronic surveillance, debugging and providing bodyguards. Elite’s staff guards Grant’s Tomb on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and patrols the campus and various buildings associated with Columbia University and other locations in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan – including Riverside Church. Clients include all of the Anne Tyler stores and Bloomindales, Saks and other high quality department stores. The firm has contacts with numerous Sheraton and Hilton hotels in the area, and has provided security for movie premiers and other events such as Spike Lee’s wedding. The agency also provides personal protection to stars like Sharon Stone. “But mostly we provide quality security,” Galassi said. “No job is too small, and though we might not be the largest firm in the world, we see ourselves as the best.” Most of the agency’s business comes through word of mouth. The cost depends on the level of service needed. When they are asked to do a job, they do a survey of the situation, then give the potential client a written report of the required services. Various firms hire Elite because it is easier than supplying their own internal security. “Most people like us because we do all the small things, we have the insurance, we supply the benefits, we pay the social security. We even absorb the overtime if we can’t get another guard out there in time. We’re fully insured, bonded and licensed.” The security officers have rescued people from burning buildings, delivered children and have helped in uncovering a major drug operation. “A lot of people still think of security people as security guards,” Galassi said. “There is not such thing any more. That concept died about 40 years ago. You no longer have some retired man sitting inside a fence with a uniform to make sure kids don’t climb over. A security officer is an expert and management is often part of a law enforcement package, another tool to help make a place as secure as it is supposed be.” The concept of security is more complex than most people imagine. “You can’t stop crime completely, but you can discourage criminals, making them take their activities elsewhere,” Galassi said. “By having active police officers as superiors on our staff, criminals take us a lot more seriously, and they move on after we confront them. But crime will always be there. Our job is to detect and deter and make sure that crime doesn’t happen where we are.”
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