Here’s a scam that never made it into the local dailies.

A certain corporation’s management suspected something sneaky was going on because a rival company involved in litigation was just a little too informed about internal matters.

So they called in Bison Security Group to do some surveillance on their own premises.

BSG’s team set up hidden video cameras in a room where the photocopy machine was located.

From left, Gordon Patterson, Lance Saunders, Ray Renaud and Stuart Patterson are part of the experienced team of pros at Bison Security Group and Bison Bailiff Services.

The result was one of those Gotcha! moments.

A night-shift security guard was copying sensitive material and shipping it to the opposing company’s president, who happened to be his uncle.

That was the end of his job – and the end of a troublesome lawsuit for BSG’s client.

That’s one of many security and investigative services Bison provides, ranging from routine-but-thorough data research to a host of electronic techniques that would dazzle James Bond.

Bison also has a civil enforcement agency called Bison Bailiff Services – more about that later.

On the BSG side of the newly constructed head offices in southeast Calgary, the team has a remarkable array of experience. It includes former members of the RCMP, CSIS and the Calgary Police Service.

Bison Security and Bison Bailiff have offices throughout Alberta.

Among BSG’s clients are insurers and other corporations, government and the legal profession. BSG does background checks, traces and evaluates assets, searches records with the newest computer technology and skills, designs security systems, conducts polygraph tests, assembles detailed profiles of individuals and companies, runs internal investigations – the list is extensive.

“The insurance industry may call upon us to look at a scene where there’s a suspected arson or where they have a property loss, and assess whether the break-in or theft is legitimate,” BSG director Lance Saunders says.

“Oftentimes, defence lawyers are looking for the same kind of forensic analysis, evidence that the police provide.” BSG does similar testing, such as analysing handwriting, chemicals, fingerprints and other forensic evidence.

“Because of our police background, we’ll look at a crime scene much the same way as a serving police officer would.”

Since 1980, Bison Security Group has built a reputation for high-quality work. Some clients call if they have in-house security departments that require additional assistance, expertise or manpower.

“Because of the diversity of the company that we have here, we bring everything to the plate through one resource,” says operations manager Darryl Stark.

There’s a new challenge beginning January 1. All companies that collect, use or disclose personal information about Canadian citizens during the course of commercial activities will have to comply with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

BSG will help companies with responsibilities such as preventing information about individuals from ending up in the wrong hands.

In general, BSG’s work can be based on old- fashioned common sense – such as encouraging a client’s employees to lock valuable information in desks and consistently log off password-secure computers when their office is empty.

But the high-tech aspect of corporate dirty tricks these days requires a sophisticated array of solutions. BSG has equipment that runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars to detect illegal listening devices and other electronic methods of stealing valuable information and intellectual property.

Over on the Bison Bailiff Services side of the building, the work is more straightforward but equally dependent on many years of experience and expertise. In 1996, the Alberta government privatized the sheriff’s office. Sheriff’s bailiffs seize cars when lease payments aren’t paid, evict tenants who don’t pay their rent and seize goods that aren’t being paid for as promised.

Many people have a negative image of bailiffs, but Bison’s Gordon Patterson– who was with the provincially run sheriff’s office for 20 years – doesn’t fit the stereotype. He believes in a polite, professional attitude.

“We always try to go in with our hat in our hand and not use much authority,” he says. “It seems to work very well.”

The credit system we all enjoy wouldn’t last very long if defaulting debtors didn’t have to pay up. And Patterson believes we also wouldn’t like a world in which the creditors themselves could barge in and seize property or evict tenants instantly.

“We believe that the civil enforcement bailiff, approved by Alberta Justice and acting under the Alberta Civil Enforcement Act has proven to be an extremely effective tool in solving civil enforcement issues,” says Patterson.

For more information about Bison Bailiff Services, go to www.bisonbailiff.com, phone 403.265.1933 or call toll-free at 1.800.234.9614.

To reach Bison Security Group, go to www.bsgcorp.com, phone 403.262.4545 or call toll-free at 1.800.661.2245.