Some of the stereotypes about private detectives are true. For instance, the trench coat. “There’s a reason why most detectives wear trench coats,” explained Charles Hannon, a Jersey City-based private eye. “It’s a good all-weather coat. It has large pockets so you can hide cameras, videos or even a shotgun underneath. It has a belt that can be used instead of handcuffs or to tie doors open. And you don’t always know where you’re going to be at night. Sometimes you need to use the coat as a blanket.” Hannon has been a New Jersey licensed private detective for over 30 years. Growing up in Jersey City, he names actor Humphrey Bogart, a detective movie mainstay, among his first heroes. Hannon began developing his investigative skills in World War II when he served with the Underwater Demolition Team – today known as the Navy Seals. After the war, he was sent on secret assignments to Moscow and Havana. While Hannon is not allowed to discuss these missions, he did admit that he was “sort of a spy.” Eventually he grew tired of working for the government and decided to become a private detective. Since he’s been on his own, Hannon has worked on the occasional cheating spouse case, but says he prefers more “meat-and-potato cases like kidnappings and homicides.” And according to the lone detective, he has a pretty good record. Hannon said last week that he has located 27 missing children during his tenure. “The police have thousands of cases to work on,” said Hannon. “I can devote more time to each case. I can go all over the world. The police are restricted to their district and they have to be legal. I can cut corners.” A case he worked on in the mid ’80s ranks high among his most memorable undertakings. A Jersey City man abducted his 5-year-old son from the boy’s mother, who lived in another country. After traveling to Mexico City and the Virgin Islands, Hannon eventually found the child in San Antonio, Texas. “I shed some tears when [the mother and son] were reunited,” said Hannon. “I got emotionally involved in that case. Maybe too emotionally involved. A lot of people think that private detectives are tough guys, but we’re not tough guys. You need to have a lot of compassion.” You also need to be able to act, said Hannon. Earlier in his career he was hired by a Hoboken steamship company to investigate workers suspected of stealing cargo. “I had to dress and act like a drunken longshoreman to get information on the people stealing the cargo,” he said. “To be a good private detective you have to be a good actor.” Hannon also posed as a priest to catch a hoodlum who was extorting money from a Jersey City parish. Apparently he was so convincing as a man of the cloth that one woman wanted to offer him her confession. “Private detective work is like a game,” explained Hannon. “It gets in your blood. It’s better than a game of chess. You have to use your wits and intelligence. It’s a real challenge. It’s the ultimate sport.” Of course, it’s not all fun and games. Over the years Hannon has found himself in some precarious positions. “I never had to shoot anyone, but I had to pull my gun out a few times,” he said. “During a kidnapping case, I had my lip split with the butt of a shot gun, and I also had a tooth knocked out,” While Hannon has started to plan for his retirement, he says he won’t hang up his trench coat until he solves two outstanding cases. Both involve children who have been missing for over 10 years. “I won’t give up,” Hannon said “This is not a job for the weak of heart. You don’t have superiors to advise you or police to back you up. You see the good, the bad and the ugly. You have to be able to think fast, and sometimes run fast.”
Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
