Rockford Detective Agency receives A+ Better Business Bureau rating

Rockford Detective Agency staff, from left: Cheryl Lewis, Office Manager; Carol Roberts, COO; Chip Block, Operations Manager and Don Roberts, CEO.

By Jim Hagerty
Staff Writer

Rockford Detective Agency, Inc., has received an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, the firm announced Friday, Dec. 17.

The agency has been in business since 1993 and is the largest private detective business in the area.

Owned by Don and Carol Roberts, it became an Accredited Business with the Better Business Bureau in August.

According to Carol Roberts, a full-time investigator, private detectives spend considerable amounts of time working behind the scenes, which differs from personas made famous on television.

“It’s not like Columbo,” Roberts said, referring to the TV series starring Peter Falk. “Although we do surveillance, we rarely go racing around in cars unless a private security situation calls for it. We do a lot of grunt work so our clients don’t have to.”

Much of a private investigator’s work involves assisting defense attorneys, skip-tracing, re-measuring crime scenes and helping in custody investigations.

Rockford Detective Agency also provides employee background checks, fingerprinting, bodyguard and security services.

Private investigators are permitted to carry guns, however, they must follow industry guidelines and do not posses authority to make arrests or take criminal suspects into custody.

“We have certain acts we have to follow,” Roberts said. “We cannot bully or strong-arm anyone. Basically, we are private citizens permitted to do things within the scope of our license. We just work to make our clients happy.”

Rockford Detective Agency is at 1532 Windsor Rd., Loves Park. Staff can be reached at (815) 282-2822 and rockforddetective.com.

The Rockford Better Business Bureau can be reached at (815) 963-2222.