Good Neighbor Podcast: Pittsburgh
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Pittsburgh. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Leila Carter helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Good Neighbor Podcast: Pittsburgh
E98: Behind the Badge with Pittsburgh's Private Investigator: Integrity, Myths, And High-Stakes Cases
What makes Larry Forletta with Forletta Investigative Security Consultant a good neighbor?
Looking for the truth behind private investigations without the TV gloss? We sit down with former DEA agent turned PI, Larry Forletta, to unpack how real cases unfold, why integrity is non-negotiable, and what clients should expect when the goal is facts that stand up in court. Larry traces his path from Maryland State Police to undercover narcotics and the DEA, then into building a Pittsburgh-based firm that blends disciplined surveillance, meticulous interviews, and targeted research with a clear-eyed approach to timelines and outcomes.
We get into the misconceptions that haunt the industry- no, responsible investigators don’t promise results- and the practical realities of domestic cases in a no-fault divorce state, where asset discovery and documentation often matter more than theatrics. Larry shares how most of his clients come through attorneys and word of mouth, and why he invests time in teaching: safety talks for the public and CLE sessions for lawyers on working effectively with investigators, scoping cases, and maintaining evidentiary quality. If you’ve wondered how to hire the right PI, Larry’s checklist is blunt and useful: verify background, check for complaints, confirm licensing, and choose the professional who invites scrutiny.
We also explore licensing nuances that clients overlook. Pennsylvania issues PI licenses by county, with statewide authority once approved, while Ohio centralizes oversight at the state level. That difference shapes how firms operate and how you should vet credentials. Larry recounts notable work on the Smiley Face Killers docuseries tied to the disappearance of Dakota James, illustrating both the teamwork involved and the sobering reality that some cases resist neat endings. Through it all, one theme holds steady: integrity. It protects clients, builds courtroom credibility, and guides tough calls when evidence is scarce or timelines stretch.
If you value truth over drama and outcomes built on verifiable facts, this conversation offers a grounded guide to PI work, from hidden assets to headline investigations. Subscribe for more local stories with real takeaways, share this episode with someone considering a PI, and leave a review with your biggest question about hiring an investigator.
To learn more about Forletta Investigative Security Consultant go to:
Forletta Investigative Security Consultant
(412)719-2112
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lila Carter.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a private investigator? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Larry Forletta, with Forletta Investigative Security Consultant. Larry, how's it going?
SPEAKER_00:Hey, Layla, good morning, and uh great to be with you.
SPEAKER_02:Great to be here with you as well. We're excited to learn all about you and your business. So please share more about your company.
SPEAKER_00:Sure, Layla. Well, thank you for having us today. Um, I'll give you a little bit of background of myself. Uh uh my career started in law enforcement. Uh I started out with the Maryland State Police. Uh, after I left there, I worked undercover narcotics, and from there I went to the uh Drug Enforcement Administration as a DEA agent. Uh I retired some 19 years ago, and I just started, I uh decided to uh start my own private investigation business. So we've been around the Pittsburgh region for quite a while now, and uh we've done some very uh interesting cases, uh so to speak.
SPEAKER_02:So you semi-retired us hardworking people, we don't ever really retire, do we?
SPEAKER_00:That's right, we don't.
SPEAKER_02:So, how did you specifically get into the business of private investigation?
SPEAKER_00:Well, it it's kind of a fluke, I guess, in one sense, because um, although I retired relatively young, I was looking for something else to do, and I started looking into other options, and uh I thought that I could fit well in a private investigation in the private sector, and uh then it became a challenge and learning more about business than being an investigator, and uh so that's why I started a process, and besides that, I was uh I wanted to just work for myself and no one else after you know doing things that I did for you know quite a long time.
SPEAKER_02:Certainly, yeah. Being your own boss is probably the best job that there is, right? You wake up motivated to make something for yourself, so that's great. Are there any myths or maybe misconceptions in your industry that you'd like to talk about today?
SPEAKER_00:Well, there's there's several of them, and uh I think what uh people don't realize that private investigators you know do real do real life investigations. It's not like on TV where you'll see a PI solve a problem, you know, within a commercial break. Um, it takes a considerable time and effort and persistence to really reach the goal that you're trying to obtain, you know, in your investigation. And it doesn't matter what type of investigation it is, it does take time. And again, we we try to explain that to their clients, and we tell our clients just right up front, you know, this is the real world, and it's not TV, and we can't guarantee you how the outcome is going to be until we actually start the investigation. Some are positive outcomes and some are not. Um, so there's just a lot of factors involved and a lot of misconceptions that private investigators only spy on uh husbands and wives, which is not true. I mean, we do a lot of variety of different cases. Uh domestic cases are one of them, but there's many other investigations that we get involved in.
SPEAKER_02:So domestic cases would be like if someone is getting divorced, for example, and they're trying to prove that someone's cheating, or what would that typically look like?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so that's kind of that in a nutshell. I mean, you know, watching one of the persons that that's uh in the marriage and saying who they're meeting and and so on. Uh but uh as you may know, Pennsylvania is a no fault divorce state, and we explain that to the clients. So a lot of times, uh based on it's you know, I really need to know what is actually going on, and uh you can file what we call a fault divorce, which is more the person that files the divorce, and then you know the issue is always of assets that are involved, and sometimes you know, there's hidden assets that we have to try to locate with our you know expertise and and our uh associates uh that work with us.
SPEAKER_02:Sure. Okay, so as we know that marketing is the heart of any business, right? Who are your target customers for your service and how are you currently attracting them to the firm?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I would say the majority of our customers are from lawyers and law firms, and we've been dealing with this for a long time. The marketing aspect has been word of mouth, um, although we have a website presence uh and we've learned you know through different uh vendors and techniques about marketing. Um, we also have uh we have given public uh talks to a variety of different groups, like a women's group talking about safety and security on you know when you leave and you're in your car and you you get out and you walk to a location, um, from that to uh professionals, uh to you know, uh, for example, uh giving uh CLE classes to uh lawyers, and we've done quite a few of those. And it a lot of the subjects deal with how to work with a private investigator, make sure you're getting the right one, you know, is there any issues, the integrity, licensing? Uh, and there's there's a variety of things that you know you should always look for in a private investigator.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. So, what are some of those things?
SPEAKER_00:Well, first of all, you have to look uh to see the background of that investigator. You know, do they come from a law enforcement background or they just you know have done most of this in the private sector? Um are there any issues or complaints on that private investigator or their company? Um and are they licensed? And in Pennsylvania, it's kind of unique because each county has their own licensing regulations. So, for example, Allegheny County may do a little different from another county, and uh you know you have to go through this process, and uh and that's basically the way it works. And you're once you're licensed in any particular county in Pennsylvania, you're licensed throughout the whole state. And I also have a license in Ohio. Now, Ohio is a little different because it's regulated by the state, so there's the difference, each state has different uh priorities in terms of regulating uh the private investigative industry. And and I can tell you there's probably around 60,000 private investigators throughout the country, so it's it's it's pretty big.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. That's that's very interesting. I've never heard that an industry could be regulated by county in one state and then um statewide in another. So that's a really interesting nugget of information there. And I feel like the information that you have to share regarding how this job works and some of the things that you could help people with is very valuable information that people are probably intrigued by. Have you ever thought about maybe starting your own podcast to discuss what you do?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, funny that you should mention that. I did have my own podcast, and it was called Folletta Investigates, and it just became uh too time consuming uh and trying to run a PI business at the same time. Uh, but yeah, I had a very good podcast. Uh it lasted for a while, and most of our guests were some of my colleagues uh discussing what you know we did for a living and the dangers of working as an undercover DEA agent and you know things of that nature. So yeah, I did have one and it was uh it was enjoyable, but uh sometimes business has to proceed, and you can't do sometimes you can't do a couple, you know, two things that take most of your time.
SPEAKER_02:Sure, sure. Well, that's so cool that you're a former podcaster. So, what else outside of work do you do for fun, Larry?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I I think uh that's pretty much it, is my private investigation business. Um, it's it's become uh a business and a hobby at the same time because it I you know I wake up every day looking or doing something different, which we do. Um, you know, we do surveillances, we do interviews, uh, we work a variety of uh cases. Some have become very uh notoriety, especially in Pittsburgh. Uh the one investigation I was involved in it was called the Smiley Face Killers. Uh young man by the name of Dakota James went missing in January of 2017. And we got involved in the investigation, and eventually uh the smiley face killers became a docuseries on the uh oxygen network. So, yeah, I've been involved in some really significant uh type investigations.
SPEAKER_02:You said killers plural, so this is multiple people that were engaging.
SPEAKER_00:So the the the behind uh the smiley face killers uh were a group of retired uh New York City police detectives that started a profile uh on these missing young men uh some years ago. And actually they worked with me on this particular case, and that's how I got to meet them. And uh so they aired the Pittsburgh one as the first episode, and there was five, five or six other episodes that was aired through the Oxygen Network, you know, discussing uh what happened and the missing, you know, mostly uh I would say the majority of the victims were white male, some of them were gay, um, educated, athletic, and so they put this profile together. Um, the unfortunate part about it, none of the individuals have ever been brought to justice or um found out who who the actual killer was.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, interesting. Wow, and every case, every day is you know something different, I'm sure. In this uh in this field, it must be thrilling to have every day be kind of an exploration of a different case or a different scenario, or you know, we wake up, what am I gonna find out today? You know, so that's really interesting. Now, Larry, please tell our listeners one thing that they should remember or should stick with them about Forletta Investigative Security Consultant.
SPEAKER_00:Um I would say one word that best describes it would be integrity. Um because without that, uh an investigator is usually, you know, is basically useless, and they have no credibility either with the clients or the courts or whoever. So I think that's uh very important in my my line of work and as has been in my career in law enforcement.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. And how can our listeners learn more about Forletta Investigative Security Consultant?
SPEAKER_00:Well, we have a website and it's www.fcislc.com, or they can call us at 412-7192112.
SPEAKER_02:Excellent. Well, Larry, I very much appreciate your time today and having you as a guest on our show. We wish you and the private investigation firm the best moving forward.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much, Lella, and I appreciate uh you having us on.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnppittsburgh.com. That's gmppittsburgh.com or call 412 561 9956.