“Yeah uh… I guess I mostly just do whatever they tell me.”

Justin Ramirez has an extensive Minor League Baseball card collection. He recently surpassed 100 LinkedIn connections. And perhaps most notably, Justin is a professional detective.

This regular private eye has been keeping our streets safe and leaving no stone unturned since late 2013, when he got fired from his job as a security guard at Kennedy Middle School.

“I was inspired to be a detective after the first time I watched the movie, Ace Ventura. I wanted to do what he did… But it turns out there’s no such thing as a ‘pet detective’, so I just became a regular detective instead. ”

At that moment, Ramirez’ calling to publicly serve was born. In early 2014, after a multiple month stint spent eating microwave burritos and listening to podcasts, Ramirez enrolled at the Detective Educational Institute where he became tirelessly devoted to his craft.

Ramirez patiently explains his careful, highly sophisticated process:

“I mostly just look for clues and then if I find any, I follow them. You gotta look really carefully. Not much you can do if there aren’t any clues. In the business, we like to call that a ‘dead end’.”

This extreme level of nuance is lost on most. Given the nature of his work, surely, Justin must cut a corner now and then, in the name of the greater good? Or an insatiable desire to unearth the truth?

Alas, a utilitarian, Ramirez is not.

While some of his peers and counterparts may prioritize personal success or the relentless pursuit of clues, Ramirez places integrity above everything. He’s heard criticism in the past, but this is a man who pays little mind to the opinion of others.

“Yeah at first all the rules were a little bit much, but if someone has a sign on their property saying no trespassing, then you can’t trespass. It’s why we have the rules.

“The thing about breaking the rules is you might get caught. I don’t want to get caught.”

It’s hard to argue with logic like that. The rules are the rules, after all. And while some detectives may solve more cases by breaking them, we can all rest well knowing that this detective will consistently follow them.