SPEAKER_03 1:45

Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Chandra Cleveland. Chandra is a Columbia, South Carolina-based private investigator and motivational speaker. Ms. Cleveland is a pioneer of change on how the world looks at crime on women and girls. Her career began in law enforcement with the Richland County Sheriff's Department Patrol Division in 1989 and served until 2006. In 2002, she was assigned the first African-American Female Internal Affairs Investigator, and she earned top honors as the first female of the Deputy of the Year for the state of South Carolina. Investigator Cleveland is a graduate of Benedict College, where she earned her Bachelor's of Science degree in early education and teaching children with special needs. She is the president and CEO of Columbia's Private Investigations and Consultants, LLC, also C Cleveland Speaks, and Palmetto Youth Connections, It's On Me Too. She has been very instrumental in rescuing several victims of sex trafficking in our communities and continues to be a voice to inform parents of the latest social media dangers. She's also an executive protection bodyguard for the stars, such as Steve Harvey, Patty LaBelle, Little Women of Atlanta, and Housewives of Atlanta. Her resume illustrates that she is a certified juvenile domestic violence investigator and intimate partner violence advocate. How are you today, Ms. Cleveland?

SPEAKER_00 3:19

I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

Thank you for being here with us today. Now I know I've had the pleasure of meeting you and speaking with you in person at a couple of events in Columbia. But can you please tell our audience a little bit about yourself and your journey so far?

SPEAKER_00 3:37

Oh well, I am the baby girl of seven of us. I have six sisters and one brother. I oh I just I don't know where to start at. It's just so much when you say, tell me how you start. My mother has always been one that if we had a friend and it seemed like they wanted something to eat or wasn't as clean, she would see the good in them and she would help them out. So we always had an extra person at our table, even though it was already so many of us. So that's where I get the spirit from, I guess, of helping people is from my mom. I mean, all the way up from being a baby till my adulthood, we always had someone that we bought in who was less fortunate than us. And we weren't that well off either. You know, the the scene that some people say, I didn't know I was poor until they said on television that we were poor. I didn't know that we were poor until they started talking about it. But during the time that my mom always invited people in, I had the same spirit as my mom. I started my career in law enforcement late in my years. I've always been a professional model, starting at age nine. And so at age nine, my librarian took some pictures of me. We won a contract, and I was just modeling all throughout my school years. I was in school sometime and then I was homeschooled. During that time of modeling, my mom said, Well, you know, the plan was for you to be the first one to go to college. And so my church was already making that happen. Back then, that was the thing. The church made sure whoever wanted to go to college that they helped them to make a way to go to college. So I got a scholarship to Benedict College. With me having homeschool, I graduated a year early from high school, and I went to Benedict College. I was accepted at several other colleges, but I really didn't want to leave home yet out of all the traveling. I love staying home and coming back home. So went through Benedict College, worked in the president's office, had a great time in college, didn't do anything crazy when I was there because I was still under contract modeling at the time. Graduated from there, and my mom took sick. Her health got bad, and I was going back and forth to California. The day I graduated college was the day I moved to California to model continuously. And so my mom got sick. I came home the first time. The doctors didn't diagnose her as a diabetic at that point. She went into a diabetic coma. Then it happened again. So I was staying at the Embassy Suites Hotel and, you know, the time difference of LA from here. I was up late at night saying, you know, I think I'm gonna have to make a move back home. This was almost, I would say, eight years later after me being in California. And it was a deputy sheriff working night shift there at the hotel. And he said, I said, I'm gonna have to find a job. Do you know any jobs available? And he hurried up and said, Oh, the sheriff department has jobs. And then he said, Oh, what am I thinking about? No, you could never do that. I was like, excuse me. And he was like, Oh, never mind. No, you you too prissy, you couldn't be a police officer and all that. And I said, Sir, you don't even know my background. And he was like, Well, you couldn't be a police officer. So that's how I became a police officer on the dare. So when I came home, my stepsister was like, What are you doing? That's like, I'm filling an application to become a deputy sheriff at the sheriff's department. She was like, Oh, I want to do that too. And I'm like, girl, come sit down. She always wants to do what I do. She's 10 years younger. So, needless to say, she's just like me. And she was like, I'm going to get an application. So she became a firefighter and a police officer. So we went to the police academy together, and she graduated as the JP Strong Award. That means the officer who finished at the top of their class. And I graduated as number two. So that's how it started. And from there, it was like God meant for me to be a police officer because my life has been shaped from beginning that I see until now to where I supposed to be.

SPEAKER_03 8:32

I can definitely see that in you. Every time I see you're at a community event or and you're always giving a lot of advice to people, whether they need it or not. And it's it's like good information. So I definitely wanted to get you on the podcast. And I just appreciate all that you're doing so far.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Thank you so much. And you know, I am I tell people it's not just Colombia. There are times that now since COVID, I wake up at two and three o'clock in the morning to give training to people in India and what is the others? It's been so many different ones in Pakistan. It's been quite a few. So it's been COVID has been, I wouldn't say good. COVID has been a national reach for me. It put me in the national spotlight, international. I said I don't, I don't think so. Deshaun McCoy. Now let me tell you about I shouldn't have said her name because now she didn't stay in law enforcement that long. Her attitude could not take it.

SPEAKER_03 9:45

Oh, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Got you, got you. I like how she put it. Yeah. I have a question for you, Miss Cleveland. And the the way that you said that you came into law enforcement, like you said, on a on a day or basically, or on a bet. How why did you like what what was the pivotal moment when you knew you wanted to stay there, though? Like, because of course you had to go through training, you had to go through academy, correct?

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

All right. So, like going through all that stuff, that stuff's pretty tough. And to just do it off of like, like you almost said, like off of bet the fact that you weren't growing up as a child wanting to go into law enforcement, what was it that kept you in that profession?

SPEAKER_00 10:30

You know, I woke up one day, it's almost like Forrest Gump. You're like, you're running, you're running, running, and one day you just say, I'm gonna stop. I was working so much and doing everything, and then one day I said, Jesus, I've been here 20 years. And I was like, I wanted to do more than this. But then after that, I got another promotion, and then what hit me, and I always know I'm very in tune to myself. I've always made time to listen to myself and listen to the environment around me. So when I said at 20 years, you've been here too long, why are you still here? That was my point to figure out what I wanted to do next. I didn't listen. And this was the first time I did not listen. And it came back two years later and gut punched me because I put so much into my work. I was living, breathing, sleeping. I have now, you know, I have so many kids right now today that will tell you when she got off work, she put on her clothes, she came to my house, she talked to me and my mom and dad. She looked at me and said, You're now my child. I'm gonna take care of you. You're not gonna show your butt in this school anymore. I mean, it was just so much after working just with the sheriff department. And I sat back and I'm like, okay, what happened to the Friday night calls that we used to get and the Saturday night calls of domestic violence at the same homes continuously? We would go back to those homes. But every time that I went there, I always pulled the victim aside and told her her rights. You can do better than this, you're worth more than this, look at your babies, you can do this. And within four years of me being on the road, I stopped one night and I'm like, hmm, we didn't get a domestic call any tonight.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

I realized all of those women that I took time with during the call and after the call to check up on them and give them information that could protect them and their kids. They all listened and they got out of the relationships. So after the 22nd year of being in law enforcement, someone made an accusation. In five points, almost every bartender knew my name. And it's kind of funny. They would call me the black Barbie. They're like, girl, the black Barbie is out tonight. You better not sell anybody any alcohol because she's gonna get you. And I came in. This gay guy was working at the gas station, and I sent the undercover in, and I came back in to thank him for not selling to her and give him a safe. He was like, Oh, you weren't gonna catch me tonight, Barbie, because they had done put the call out that the black Barbie is out tonight and you've been in that sales too. I was like, oh my God. The black Barbie? Really? So during that time, I was doing alcohol enforcement for five points, trying to get kids to stop drinking. I had it on lock, really. I did. Then one person came in, and I'm gonna call it like I'm gonna call it. She was a white girl, and she came in and said, Oh my gosh, you're just so talented, and you do so much. You got one this and you won that. And I'm looking at her like those things don't change me. I didn't work to get those awards. I worked to do my work that I was supposed to do and went beyond that. And so she was always like, Can I follow you one night? Can I do this? And it didn't. Long story short, someone made an anonymous tip within the sheriff department that Chandra was still in time. Come on. You got to get up pretty early in the morning. So some things happened, and you know, there is some things allowed to do an investigation and to call me up to the office and even go beyond to read me my rights. Little do you know, Chandra will never, and please take this to heart. Chandra will never just do what you say. Chandra will always put another system in place to check and balance it out. But you don't have to know that. But that's what Chandra would do. So they did all of this, and I was two sheets of mad. I had already contacted my lawyer. I had everything done. Needless to know, the Sheriff Department lawyer didn't know what they were doing because when I threatened to sue after them calling me up there and reading me my rights, because they didn't know that Chandra had another checks and balance in place. I had everybody signed and I took a picture of the store.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

So when they finished with the mud on their face, I at that point in time took some time off for mental anguish and hostile work environment, and I started my own company.

unknown 16:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Yeah. You don't gotta take that.

unknown 16:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:06

You answered that perfectly. That was the perfect move.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

That was. Yes. Man, yeah. So I see, I see, I can understand then what was going on, why you made that transition. And uh it leads perfectly into our next uh question or topic. So you became an investigator, correct?

SPEAKER_02 16:29

Yes. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Okay, and so this is all right, this is interesting. All right, so you you did all that work with law enforcement, and then you jump into private investigation. Now, what what are some of the things that make that how would you say a getting out of the system, like you're still there, but you don't know what I was wondering. Yeah, like clearly answer that. Yeah, so that's what I'm saying. So all right, so you're still in there, you're still in this in the system, but you aren't working for anybody, but you still get to do the things that you were getting that that that were edifying you, correct?

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Exactly. And like I said before, I'm one that talked to myself and I listened to the environment around me. I I knew that it was time for me to get out of that system, but I still had work to do. There were too many children victims, and there were too many female victims that did not know the law and the procedure in order to get justice for themselves. So when I began my private investigation firm, I tell everyone the top thing for me to do is to get justice for women and girls who have not gotten justice from being victimized. So I knew that I couldn't stop doing that. And there were so many children that were being victimized and families that I really wanted to tell them what the system can offer them, how they can get out of this thing and be better. So, private investigation was the next best thing. I went to Sled and I told them I wanted to be a private investigator. They're like, okay, pay the money, you got it. And I was like, Well, it says that I have to go through training. And they were like, No, you you went through training. 22 years in law enforcement.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

That is dope. That's so cool. Okay, all right, that is cool. I didn't continue, continue. This is how much did it cost for you to get your to to actually get the cost for it?

SPEAKER_00 18:33

The cost for the license is $350.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Oh man. And you already had the training.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

And so you you have to go through that every single year, and you have to be trained every single year. You have training hours that you have to put forth. But South Carolina is the only place that you can't become a private investigator here through SLID if you have not trained 352 hours under a licensed private investigator.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Oh, okay. So I have embedded But since you were already law enforcement, yes, it was different.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Yeah. And so I have one person still working with me right now that wants to be a private investigator. And I think I think he has right now 200 hours and he has a hundred and something more to work. But, you know, after getting that license, now it's been 15 years. 15 years since I've had my agency.

unknown 19:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Wow. Man, bravo, man, that's amazing. Man, I'll I'll tell you this. As a private investigator, you know, we watch, people watch TV, get C Media and stuff, and how they say private investigators are. Could you harp on some prop like popular misconceptions about private investigators and what you all actually do and how you actually go about your business?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

You know, I had to tell one of my clients just last night, they're like, Were you able to tap into his phone? Did you did you follow him yesterday when he went to that girl house? Because he was there because he didn't answer the phone. I know you saw him over there, and I'm like, ma'am, we do not follow the client every minute and second of the day. Nobody does that.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

But I have other hidden technology now that you can almost say that I follow you from the time you touch a device to the time you put it down. Or even when you don't really put it down. So that's just a little, a little tad bit.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Okay, okay. All right. So some of the stuff is for real. Because I mean, you watch like I know I grew up loving like Mission Impossible and stuff like that, and watching people do little secret spy stuff and investigator shows. And I was like, some of the stuff has to be real. So like speaking with somebody who actually does this for a living, it that is that's interesting to know that. Yeah, yeah, you all have techniques, ways to get information.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

And I have a little bit more techniques than a regular investigator have. And I'm, you know, I think the different partnerships that I have made around the world that people are like, I want to give you this technology. You need to peep this out because this is gonna save you a lot of money. You can take a lot of clients right now. And I'm like, what you talking about, Willis? We're gonna do it legally. What you talking about? But I am I am a little, like I say, brush the dust off my shoulder. I'm a little good at what I do.

unknown 21:48

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Does I know this is a this is a different type of question, but knowing what you're able to do and your capabilities of being able to get informate information as an investigator, especially for what you do, I think it's amazing. Does it ever put any fear into you, though, about that technology being used on you?

SPEAKER_00 22:11

I am an open book. I mean, it can be it. I am so weird in my own space that they would be like, dang, she does listen to a lot of this or that, acknowledge things, uh, protecting things and and meditating and protecting my space and mind from what I've seen in what I do. I I am not scared at all. I ain't never scurred by that part.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Because you know how people have their, I guess you could some people may call them conspiratorial viewpoints on technology and its ability to monitor people and stuff like that or surveil people. And that's why I asked that question because I know some of our listeners, they may have those questions, especially as millennials. We always wonder about that stuff. But listen to somebody that like, you don't seem like you have much fear or pessimism about it, I would say.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna say this, and I'm I'm trying to season it up in my mouth before I spit it out to you.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

Never worried about anybody seeing anything that they think I do behind closed doors. But if someone tries to harm me or anything like that, I'm crazy. I'm just gonna say that, okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:38

I like how you season that up. All right.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Yeah, that's the best way to put it that part.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

I'm crazy.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

That's a good point. All right, we need that. All right, that made me feel good. I mean, you just put me at ease. You put me in the very, it put me at ease hearing that from somebody in the profession. If I'm good, I'm good now.

SPEAKER_03 24:01

So I know I have a question, a couple of questions about the the it's on me too movement. Can you tell us a little bit about that and your whole initiative with that?

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Sure. When I started my company, like I said, I analyzed everything. I could not start a business without having a nonprofit. And that nonprofit will help curtail some of the things and give people knowledge that they need in order to protect themselves. So it started out as Pelmetal Youth Connection. I wanted to empower youth in the area in where I grew up in the projects. I grew up in the projects of Saxon Homes and Allen Benedict Court. So I went back there and my office was at Benedict for about 19 years. I mean, no, nine years, I'm sorry. Nine years. And so I had programs there. I would go out in the community, pick the kids up. I would do homework with them, ones who were really exceeding. I gave them laptops and things like that. So it's on me too. The it stands for I think safety and on me too. So it's on me stands for I think safety on me too. And that means that it's not up just to the community to keep you safe. It's not up just for the schools to keep you safe. And it's definitely not up just for law enforcement to keep you safe. It's on you too to learn ways to keep yourself and your family safe. So with It's on Me Too, I'm always giving out the component of safety-ness. What ways you can be safe, how you can educate yourself, those who were in school. I would give them lessons on what are the good friends and things you should tell. Snitches don't always get stitches. So it's just a lot of that. So it's on me too has a component of self-defense. It's called cat fight self-defense, is what I teach. I saw that. And I teach self-defense and stilettos because you're not going to be in workout clothes when you get attacked. You're going to be in the clothes that you wear every single day. So my self-defense class is I don't allow you to wear workout clothes. I need you to put on what you wear every single day because I'm going to teach you ways to fight for your life in what you're wearing. So I have also kid fight self-defense. And this is the thing that I go through different videos and I teach kids what to do, how to create passwords with the parents to make sure that you don't get into even, we don't do stranger danger anymore. It's a mom's friend, it's a community leader, it's your coach. If someone makes you feel uncomfortable, or they tell you that your mama dad told them to come and pick you up, what's the password?

SPEAKER_02 27:13

Got it.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

And if they don't say the password and you ask them, you say, you don't ask them a password. You say, so my mama sent you to come get me. And you say, Yeah, your mom told me to pick you up right here at the bus stop, but I didn't see you. So I saw you walking and she told me to come pick you up. What you do as a kid, you say, okay, stay right there. The child goes and calls the mom to confirm it before you get in anyone's car. And so that's one of the ways that I teach kids how to protect themselves. And it's on me to do a whole lot of things. We go out and help parents to find missing children. This year I will be putting out a task force request. I want to create a black and missing task community task force. That means that our community will be out looking for our missing in our communities because someone in the community always knows, always know something about that missing person. So that's my task that I'm working on right now is a community black and missing task force. Because if you did not know, they're over, oh my gosh, I'm sure is well over 90,000 black and missing right now. Three years ago it was at 70 something, 75,000. And during the peak of the pandemic of COVID, we had uh almost a 38% increase in the amount of black and missing.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

Yeah, that's true. Bad, that's horrible statistics. Horrible statistics. But that leads into our next question about community awareness engagement. But I know as you were speaking on the statistics for missing black girls and women as well, but missing black folk, I mean, it is ridiculous. The the the number of reported missing versus, I mean, versus the the share of the overall female population is out is ridiculous. The numbers don't make any sense. No, they do not. You know, it's it's so out off balance. And then the lack of media attention coupled with the the lack of effort to go to finding and actually locating them, as you were speaking on, as opposed to their other counterparts and other ethnicities, is ridiculous. So what do you think are some of the reasons for this discrepancy in coverage and allocation of resources?

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Well, you know, sometimes we're our own worst enemies. Most of these girls that are missing, that are black and brown girls, are taken by somebody who's black and brown. And of course, the other thing that's missing is that somebody knew something and didn't say anything. We have a lot of males, black males running around here with young girls, and my brothers don't say anything. Man, isn't that Tosha's girl? That girl 14, right? Yeah, but she did it. No, that's not it, brother. You're gonna have to stop saying that little girl. Think of these little girls as your sister. The other thing, our women in our community. Well, she was fast anyway. I used to see her out there doing dit, did, did, did, did. But what did you do to stop her? Did you ever take and say, hey, sister, how you doing? You look cute now, you got a banging body, but honey, let me scoop you in on some information. It's a way to talk to everyone. We have sat here and we've always sat back and looked at people and talked about people. And don't you know that some of those people didn't even know better in order to do better? I remember the times that living in the projects and we had a next door neighbor, and my mom had to work. And like I said, it was six girls. And my mom worked, and that next door neighbor, she knew my mom didn't allow people in our house when she wasn't at home. She knew that we could not sit on that porch when my mom was not at home, and she would tell every single time. My mom would come in and my mom would take off her clothes, say, Hey to everybody, come and take off her clothes. We helping her put stuff up. And she said, Go get the belt over there. Y'all sit down right here. Who was outside after you got home from school? Well, start trembling, like, oh shh. Y'all, let me tell you, if y'all talk to my sisters, they would say, We knew she was gonna be the police. Because the first one who raised her hand, oh Mom, Shari was outside, Lynn was outside, Pam was outside, Miss Bell came back and said, Y'all know y'all not supposed to be outside. So she made them get inside. I tell her the ask my sister them, they said, We knew you was gonna be the police. You tell everything when mama gets home. So, with that said, we need to go back to that. But now we have so many parents who are so defensive. Stay out of my blank, blank business. You don't be blunt blind. So that's why we're partially the way we are right now. The next thing, why don't law enforcement put anything up? Because most of the time it could be that the parents knew something and don't want law enforcement to come to their house. So they stopped calling. So there's so many.

SPEAKER_01 33:09

What would the example of that? What would an example of that look like?

SPEAKER_00 33:12

What the example of it looks like is the boyfriend who you're dating selling drugs out of your house, and you're getting ready to call the police and say that your daughter is missing, and he's sitting right there, and like, no, you better not call the police here. You better say she was missing from school or something.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

Got it.

SPEAKER_00 33:30

Got it. Then the next thing is national TV. They're not sensitive to black girls. Our girls are never a victim. You're always a runaway.

SPEAKER_03 33:44

How do you handle the media with getting stuff out there?

SPEAKER_00 33:50

It took time. It took my skills of showing them that something else is wrong. You know, I was viewed, I was on Charlotte's channel on last Friday. They interviewed me about Black and Missing and how I help families to make sure they know everything they need to get according to the law when it is suspicious activity of their loved ones missing. It doesn't take a genius to know if we need you, media, to put this out. We really think something happened to this person. We know that she would never leave her children. We know that she knew she had an appointment to attend and we were supposed to get together. She did not show. Those things are enough information. As soon as the parents or the family bring it to law enforcement, it should be made as a media blast. But, you know, I say to people again, this can happen for everyone else but us. And then we're the first ones to jump on the bandwagon to say, oh, she was fast anyway. That's just like saying to a rape victim, what were you wearing the night you were raped?

SPEAKER_01 35:15

Good point. Good point.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

No one asks to be taken. No one knows about the perverts that are out here. The hundreds of influencers out there who are being killed by people who watch them every day. They're safety tips that I can give them also. There are people that will admire you from afar and then try to take you. So yeah, it's it's it's a whole lot of combination. So I don't just point the finger at one person, but I know that we have to do better. If you are a reporter or you're putting stuff on the news, just look at the evidence. Evidence tells you everything for me.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

And I know there's there's one point that you made earlier that I do want to harp on, and it's the community-based issue where a lot of things, yeah, you you got to get help from other people, but your base and your foundation has to be correct. So the morals of the community, I think we do have an issue with that, and it's causing us to put ourselves like you, like the example that you made with having literally having a drug dealer boyfriend and your child missing, and you can't do the right thing to save your child. That's a moral issue in our community, correct?

SPEAKER_00 36:39

It is, it is indeed. It truly is. We have so many young girls that are mothers, and they're trying to compete with their child, or either they're not trying to raise a child right now. And those two, neither one of them are an option once the child is here.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

How do we how can we start changing our, especially in the black community, how can we start changing the shift in our culture where our morals can be more reflective of what we want to see, which includes like care and protection of our women and children? That's a bad thing, you know?

SPEAKER_00 37:18

No, and you know, and I'm calling on Jesus because He knows, He knows my strife with this. We can't go back.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

I believe it.

SPEAKER_00 37:27

But from this day forward, you can always change. And I tell people that all the time. And I tell girls that I pick up from whatever to whatever, you can't go back and correct your wrong, but you can change from this forward, this day forward. Our communities need to get back on the saddle. These young parents, all of these young kids nowadays, 14, 15, 12, out here killing people, and you wonder why?

SPEAKER_02 37:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:58

Did you not know that it was a whole setup when they said that they were gonna loosen the gun laws? All that made room for is for black people to start killing each other easily, more accessibly. That was no victory for anything. And now you sit back and all across the country. I mean, it is not anywhere that I know of that young black boys are killing each other, are killing young girls. We have to know that it's up to us to make our community safer. Everybody talks about law enforcement reform. It's gotta be a community reform first before it can be a law enforcement reform.

SPEAKER_03 38:52

Yeah, we gotta hold ourselves accountable.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

We need law enforcement, and we need to hold them accountable, and we can't do that if your community is not together.

SPEAKER_03 39:06

What would be the truth? The proper way to report somebody What are some things that we need to consider when reporting?

SPEAKER_00 39:15

When reporting someone missing, you think of where where they were supposed to be at that time, the last time you spoke to them? Was there anything they were worried about? Make sure you check with all the friends to see who saw them last. And then you call law enforcement. If they're not where they're supposed to be from the time that they're usually with you as a parent, then once you've called the friend circle and they're not there, report it to law enforcement immediately. It does not, and let me tell you again, it does not mean they're going to go and look for them. What it means that they will be able to take the report and your person will be in NCIC, which is a database nationally around the world, that it will go into. So if someone finds her or have an encounter with her in law enforcement, him or her in law enforcement, they will be able to say, this is the missing person out of South Carolina. But we need to make sure, you know, I'm I don't try to push my business. You can go to any private investigator you want to. And it's in the laws at juvenile justice that if you can afford to, hire a private investigator that will be centered on your person to look for just your person.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 40:46

Yeah, I know people don't understand. They would not, like you wouldn't know that unless you're actively researching that information.

SPEAKER_00 40:53

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 40:54

Now, do you know any of like specific areas in Colombia where people have been going missing more frequently compared to others?

SPEAKER_00 41:04

No, because the missing is occurring on social media. And I would say yeah, if I could explain that part, is that everything is happening in the DM. And then now, you know, it it it I well, I should say it used to say it went down in the DM, but now it's going down on other devices. And I can't say because this is how I use my tooling in order to find them. Right. It goes down, gotcha. It goes down on social media. So if I really had to see from a particular area, I would say the Broad River area. There's more people that go missing. Then it will be second, will be the Northeast area.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

Wow. Oh my goodness. Okay. This is a very sobering conversation. Very much so. Very much so. And it's to think it like you don't ever think about it being that close to home.

SPEAKER_00 42:15

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

That's what I think it is, too. Yeah, that's what gets you in.

SPEAKER_00 42:19

Yeah, and you know, people are having this false sense of that it's a stranger. It's somebody that you see in the community every single day that has been lurking and prepping and preying on the young girl. Oh, I see you needed something. You didn't have enough for lunch. Hey, baby girl, let me let you let me buy this for you. A kiki. Oh, thank you. Not knowing he is prepping you.

SPEAKER_03 42:50

I remember with you being an investigator, how do you schedule time off? Self-care. Like, what do you do to balance your your time?

SPEAKER_00 43:03

I don't answer the phone. I don't answer the phone. I don't answer these DMs that people are like, my cousin's child, uncle baby is missing. Can you call him? Let's get this straight. I don't work for free. I am not law enforcement. So until you tell me, hey, investigator Cleveland, my cousin is missing, can you tell me how much it's gonna cost us? That's the way you need to approach me.

SPEAKER_02 43:35

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

I am not for free. I have done enough free in my life that the Lord said, your free bed is already made up here. But you got to survive down there until you get here. And I need people to understand that. I don't get when I ask for donations, it's like crickets. The same six people give me donations. And you know who they are? My sisters. I have never gotten donations from the community. I have never gotten a grant because I don't know how to write grants, and I don't have time to sit down and write grants because I'm always trying to work so that I can get money to pay my bills. Because I take so many missing cases, and none of them have paid me. I would say out of the 500 cases I've taken, maybe three people. Wow. And if you know me, I'm out late at night rescuing girls. But that train has stopped. We're not doing that anymore.

SPEAKER_01 44:41

Yeah. You can't. You can't run yourself into the ground like that. And at the same time, that goes back again, we were talking about earlier with the morals of our of our our neighborhoods and our culture and our society in the sense of we're supposed to make sure that we put value into those things that are positive for our communities. And with you doing that work, people should want to put back into it because you're not taking anything away or being negative to the community. You're doing nothing but trying to bless the community. So again, that's on us. The whole story of people choosing uh Barabbas over Jesus is a similar thing. We keep having that moral issue, we can't get it right. It's upsetting, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:28

I definitely want to know like, have you been into the schools to actually speak to any of the kids about these topics? I know you still do motivational speaking.

SPEAKER_00 45:41

Yes. I have been in the schools and they have been very Very good with helping me. And I mean, before COVID came, District 2 had me in on several accounts. And after doing a speaking engagement, we always had at least three to five girls come forward saying they're being abused right now. Yeah, but I don't get to be in there enough. And of course, I understand why not, but because they don't have the teachers to teach the kids nowadays. So, you know, I can't get in there when the teachers are back or running behind trying to educate them. So I try to get in in the community spot whenever I can. And, you know, it that's another problem. When I host community-based events for parents to learn what's coming up and what I think they need to be aware of, I get four to five people show up in a room. And then you want to call me and say, You, your child missing. Where were you when I had the presentation last month?

SPEAKER_01 46:55

Yeah. Oh man. I'm telling you, man. I'm telling you, man. This like you said, mm-hmm, mm-mm. Mm-mm-mm-mm. That's all I can do to that one, man.

SPEAKER_02 47:08

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 47:09

Yeah, that's something I think it's a it's a cultural issue. We gotta fix it. We gotta fix some of those moral, moral compass things. We're a little bit off from where we where we should be, especially when it comes to that, our priorities and what we think is important for our lives. Yeah. Yeah, most definitely. Most definitely.

SPEAKER_03 47:30

I definitely want to help out, you know, with you getting the word out there and stuff. So is there anything that we can do to help you?

SPEAKER_02 47:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 47:39

Yes, yes. As soon as I get this task force together, the task force will be comprised of different nonprofits within our communities already, and communities themselves getting a task force, having a task force, and I'm making a little tin sign, and I'm trying to get someone who can who's in that business of world that could help me by bringing all of that together. Because everyone who joins and says that they're part of the task force, the black and missing task force, and you have that in your community. That means that the person in your community know after they call law enforcement and report their loved one missing, come to you, you will give them everything else that they need in order for us to for me to do a broadcast of the person missing in last scene area.

SPEAKER_03 48:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 48:38

To get the information out there fast. So if your guy, if you guys, your podcast to be that entity and you can blast it out too. This is what I need.

SPEAKER_01 48:50

Got it. Got it. We definitely will assist with that, especially from what we're talking about, like you know, being the change you want to be. Yeah, we'll do our part. I I have no qualms with that at all. Just let us know where we got to be and what we need to do, and we will help you get that information out, most definitely.

SPEAKER_03 49:09

And can you tell people how they can locate you and find you and contact you online?

SPEAKER_00 49:14

Sure. On Facebook, I am Investigator Cleveland, Instagram, Investigator Cleveland, Twitter, Investigator Cleveland. My website is www.columbiapinconsultants.com. And it's the same website for It's on Me2. If you'd like to be a part of it, I need you because I want to start having a location where girls can call if they're having any problems or disconnect at home or in their surroundings. I need volunteers that can pass a background check.

SPEAKER_01 49:52

Yeah. That's for real. No, that's serious.

SPEAKER_02 49:56

I understand.

unknown 49:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:00

Well, definitely, if you have any other speaking events coming up, also, like you said, the community ones, let us know so we can help get the word out there for that.

SPEAKER_00 50:10

Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 50:12

No problem. And thank you for this episode. This was a very informative. I was really interested in talking to you because it's a lot that people really don't understand that goes into this type of work that you do. So you broke everything.

SPEAKER_01 50:26

Very forthcoming with the information. Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_00 50:29

For having me. I always want to get the information out there to the community so that we can do better. When you know better, you do better, hopefully. So that is my plan.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 50:41

I agree. And I hope hopefully our audience learned a lot from this episode. And we just want to say thank you guys for joining us today and listening. And make sure you subscribe to us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. And you can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook at the Hilltop Love Podcast. See you guys soon.