Laura Franks worked for the Santa Ana Police Department from 1992 to 2020. She was hired as a correctional officer working in a direct supervision jail and promoted to corporal and eventually correctional supervisor. She worked in the jail for approximately 10 years.
She was also assigned to the human resources section of the police department from 1996 to 1998 and then from 2008 to 2017 working as a background investigator. This position started with her assisting the jail in hiring staff as a new holding facility with over 500 inmates was being built. This in comparison to the 96 bed facility, when she first started with the agency, required much more staff. After a few years of working in backgrounds primarily working on non-sworn staff, she was given the opportunity to assist with the hiring of sworn staff. At one point for approximately six years, she supervised the background unit.
Laura retired in July of 2020 and currently owns her own background investigation company, Gate Keeper Investigations and she is a contractor for a background software company called eSOPH as well as Embassy Consulting where she assists with the completion of background investigations.