Investigator Edmund Rooney (below) opened his own firm, RALI,P.C. (Rooney and Associates Legal Investigations, Private Corp.), in Mokena six months ago. Rooney, 39, is a member of the Mokena Chamber of Commerce and lives in the town with his wife and three daughters but without any of the edgy film noir conventions of detective fiction: no ratty raincoat, no bottle of Scotch in a desk drawer, no cloud of cigarette smoke. But he does have sunglasses, a relatively inconspicuous car and a good camera.
Q. How did you decide to become a private investigator?
A. Well, my grandfather and my uncle were police officers. My father was a newspaper reporter, and I have two brothers-in-law who are newspaper reporters. I knew all along I wanted to do something law-related and people-related. I’ve got a degree in criminal justice from Loyola University. I took an aptitude test . . . and they told me that I wasn’t military-oriented, and I’d never make it on a police force. I’d been doing some investigative work for the law firm of Corboy and Demetrio, so when I graduated, I just kind of created my own job. I was legal investigator for the law firm for 15 years.
It’s always been a dream of mine to go out on my own, so I went to work for a while for a detective agency in Addison to learn the business end. I already knew the job. I had to learn the business.
Q. A detective agency seems like more of a big-city business. Why locate in the suburbs?
A. It’s not just the city. I’m getting business out of Mokena too. My background is in personal injury investigation, and I do insurance checks, background checks, process serving, things like that. A local landlord is interested in having background checks on prospective tenants. What he said to me was, “I never thought I’d need a private detective, but . . .” I’m the only private detective in town.
Q. Some of the people you’re interviewing or serving subpoenas to may be on the wrong side of the law. Have you ever been attacked?
A. Fortunately, no, but I am careful. What I do is, I am very cautious when I’m serving a subpoena, depending on the neighborhood. I’ll carry pepper spray with me just in case. Another thing that helps is, apparently I have a cop look. No matter how I dress, no matter where I am, people think I’m a police officer. I was canvassing an area recently and I got out of the car and walked up to a lady and she said, “I didn’t do it.”
Q. What kind of qualities does a good investigator need?
A. You need to be people-oriented. You need to love your job. It’s kind of like sales. If you can’t sell the product, you’re not going to be successful. You need to be inquisitive. You need to be–not aggressive–assertive. Sometimes you just have to keep pushing and pushing. You have to keep going and, kind of like reporters, you can’t take no for an answer.