"There are really no Magnum PI's in our profession," says Bob Heales, president of R.A. Heales & Associates, LTD, 7935 E. Prentice Ave., Suite 301, Englewood, on March 7.

The longtime private investigator, who bought his company in 1986 and now has offices in Englewood and Minnesota, is talking about how life in his trade is far-removed from the gritty, glamorous career fostered by Hollywood productions.

"Our professional organizations have actually objected to some methods used on TV," Heales says. "They portray an image that we don't like because the public thinks we're doing illegal things to get information."

And playing by the rules is especially important to Heales, as he is a past president and executive director of the World Association of Detectives, an international organization with more than 800 members in 75 different countries. That organization, and others that Heales belongs to, holds investigators to the highest ethical standards.

Those standards are being tested in Colorado, which is one of seven states that do not require licensing for private investigators. Heales says Colorado attracts a number of incompetent or unethical investigators - people who might have lost their licenses in other states.

When Heales graduated from college in the 1970s, he intended to work in criminal justice or law enforcement. Instead, he found himself competing for jobs with Vietnam veterans who had preference over him. After answering an ad in the paper that read, "Must own van for surveillance," he borrowed $1,900 from his parents to buy the van and hasn't looked back.

Heales spends most of his time tending to the business side of his operations, but he does get involved in some of the more complex cases, such as missing-persons cases. In one of his most high-profile efforts, Heales coordinated the 2004 search for 22-year-old North Dakota student Dru Sjodin, who ultimately was found deceased.

"Those cases are rare, fortunately. They're trying, emotional cases," Heales says. "At the same time, it's rewarding when you help someone find a loved one and resolve the case."

The "bread and butter" of the company is surveillance cases from insurance companies or law firms representing insurance companies, Heales says. Heales' vice president, John Karubus, mentions a current case where they are watching a person who is collecting widow's benefits but is suspected of living with someone else. According to law, people who are involved in common-law relationships are ineligible for widow's benefits.

Heales says his investigators typically spend long, tedious hours spying on their targets from the back of minivans with double-tinted windows. The minivans are less apt to stand out in suburban neighborhoods. The investigators don't carry guns, but they do rely on video cameras, binoculars and changes of clothing.

Dangerous situations are infrequent for Heales' investigators, but he discloses that on rare occasions, they encounter people wielding loaded guns or using verbal threats. He recalls having someone chase him with a tire iron in the first few weeks he was on the job.

Instead of running around town with guns blazing, being a private investigator is very much a waiting game, Heales says.

"Some days we are very active, and some days we're just hoping (the target) will step outside and get the newspaper," he says.