About Us

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Jim Hessel began his career in law enforcement at the Bloomington Police Department in 1967. 

Jim left Bloomington in 1972 to join the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), where he spent over 28 years working undercover narcotics. His tenure at BCA also consisted of various duties on task forces and projects with other state and federal agencies.

Jim has been a licensed Private Investigator in the state of Minnesota since 1995.  He was on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Association of Private Investigators (MAPI) from 2000 - 2022 and was President of MAPI in 2013.  From 2002 - 2022, Jim was appointed to the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services and was also Chairman of the Complaint Committee for the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services for 10 years.

In 1995, Jim founded Emerald Investigations, Inc. He retired from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in 2000. While with the BCA, Jim Hessel provided executive protection for heads of state and foreign dignitaries. As a currently licensed police officer and Private Investigator, Jim provides executive protection and armed security for CEOs and executives of major corporations.