Southern Professional Investigations was established in 1996 by James L. Baker. After a 23 year career with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Baker elected to put his years of training and experience to use in the private sector. Mr. Baker's background includes a BS in Business Administration and MS in Criminal Justice and a 1986 graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Mr. Baker began his career in 1974 with the GBI in Americus, GA. During this time he was often assigned to the U.S. Secret Service to assist in providing executive protection to President Jimmy Carter.

Later he was promoted and transferred to Atlanta, where he supervised 35 undercover narcotics agents that targeted street level dealers. He was promoted to Special Agent in Charge and sent to Albany, GA where he supervised an office that targeted major drug violators and smugglers. The majority of these investigations consisted of long hours of surveillance to bring the case to a successful conclusion. Mr. Baker has developed numerous contacts in law enforcement throughout Georgia.

Michael Rundles has teamed with Southern Professional Investigations. Mr. Rundles is retired with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) after 22 years of service. He worked general investigations, narcotics, and was trained as a profiler. Mr. Rundles performed an internship with the FBI profiling unit at Quantico, VA.

Mr. Rundles was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge where he supervised the Appalachian Drug Task Force for 5 years and the State Health Care Fraud Control Unit.

Mr. Rundles has a BS degree in Criminal Justice from Brenau College and a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbus State University. He is a post certified instructor and teaches all over the southeast on “Statement Analysis” for the Laboratory for Scientific Interrogation (LSI)