Who We Are
Anthony Griffin
Anthony began his apprentice work as a private investigator in 1990 under the supervision of Jim Simms, a distinguished author and Criminal Defense Investigator featured on the television program Primetime Live with Diane Sawyer and Dateline NBC. Anthony has also worked with investigators featured on the popular television program Forensic Files. He has been involved in conducting professional investigations for many years, specifically in the areas of Criminal Defense Investigations, Surveillance, and Skip Tracing. Other areas of investigations include but are not limited to, Insurance Fraud, Liability Claims Investigations, Post Conviction Relief, Pre-Litigation, Accident Investigations, Child Custody Investigations and work with the Center on Wrongful Convictions for Northwestern School of Law in Chicago, Illinois. He has also worked on cases with the Innocence Project. He has conducted work in these areas located in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. He is a USAF Veteran and classified by the Government as a Disabled Veteran serving his country with distinction and honor.
Anthony has a degree in Criminal Justice from Midlands Tech in Columbia, South Carolina and graduated with honors as a member of Phi Theta Kappa and Alpha Eta Kappa.
Various Investigative Coursework, Certifications and Seminars: Homicide Investigations, Death Investigations, Advanced Interviewing Techniques and Body Language Assessment, Crime Scene Investigations and Analysis, Federal Criminal Defense Panel (WV Seminar), Crime Scene Photography, Crime Scene Processing and Chain of Custody, Police Science, Constitutional Law, Statutory Law, Police Administration, Arrest Procedures, Firearms Training, Firearms Instructor, Skip Tracing, Bug Sweeping equipment and techniques, Advanced Surveillance and counter‑surveillance, and USAF NCO Preparatory School, just to name a few.
Jim Simms Case File Analysis and Consulting
Jim is a celebrated author of many books concerning the Private Investigation industry and won many awards for his work both in the field and through publishing. He has also been a featured speaker at many venues for attorney's, law enforcement, and Private Investigator's alike. J.B. Simms participated in investigations which have appeared on Primetime Live (ABC) with Diane Sawyer, and Dateline NBC.
After having conducted five undercover investigations over a two year period beginning in August 1981, J.B. Simms was hired as a private investigator with the Columbia Detective Agency to begin specializing in missing persons. In the spring of 1984, Simms traveled to San Francisco to investigate the disappearance of a young man who his grandmother had not heard from for six months. Simms found that the man’s identification had been being used to obtain money, but the missing man had not made contact with any family members. It was learned that the young man had died of “unknown causes,” one of only 9 cases that year in San Francisco. It was then determined that this was the beginning of the revelation of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco.
Later that year, he created J.B. Simms Investigations and continued to do missing persons work, reuniting many adoptees with their biological parents, and conducting criminal defense investigations. He obtained first hand knowledge of the fraud and corruption within the criminal justice system and civil litigation.
During his first murder investigation, an attorney (former prosecutor) made false statements against Simms in order to protect a murder suspect. Simms exposed the plot against himself, but this would not be the last time he would have conflicts with corrupt officials.
For over 40 years as a licensed private investigator, Simms worked with a number of attorneys and provided consultation on numerous criminal and civil cases. Many defendants were proven to be innocent.
Simms was also involved with federal law enforcement agencies in the detection of suspects having committed federal crimes.
My Say On The Matter
In early the early 1990's, I had decided to become a Private Investigator. While attending college and studying Criminal Justice to obtain my degree, and due to the many years of watching the "Rockford Files" on TV, I felt it was time to explore this career field. Being a law enforcement officer myself, I felt my hands were literally tied behind my back and felt very unfruitful in my career. I literally opened the phone book and called Jim Simms to inquire on how to become a PI. I wanted to learn. He invited me to his office, which by the way was a carbon copy of Jim Rockford's office, and I remember asking about the picture of Diane Sawyer on his wall. Needless to say, Jim Simms was no first-timer in the PI field. He was the real deal and even had people like Diane Sawyer and 60 minutes to prove that. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. He graciously took me under his wing and all the while correcting my mistakes along the way. Looking back over 30 years later, I am glad I got to learn from the best. To this day, I still employ the skills I learned from this seasoned investigator and the result is Griffin & Associates. The books above are a must read for anyone in the PI field or just for the casual reader who likes a good crime story. You will love the books because they are real and true just as they happened. In fact, I still remember doing some unimportant work on the case in the book "Don't Get Arrested In South Carolina," although in the background. I wasn't ready to tackle that kind of investigation then, like I do today. I have Jim to thank for that. These featured books are available on this site, but will link the one who desires to read these books directly to Jim and his publishing company. Check them out.....you'll be glad you did!
