-My name is Lilli Flores.
I was one of the trainers at Uber
for about a year and a half.
The office is located in downtown Phoenix,
just a regular downtown building.
So the Special Investigations Unit handles anything
from minor accidents all the way up to major accidents.
They also handle things such as physical assault,
sexual assault, very serious issues
that shouldn't be happening while using the Uber platform.
Say something happens during your trip,
you're able to report it through the Uber app.
That'll go to a team that's able to mitigate and kind of say,
"This is something minor.
We can handle this with just maybe a refund or something,
like a small reply."
Or if it's something more major,
it would go to the Special Investigations Unit team.
They'll hand it off to different investigators,
and then that person will then reach out
to all parties involved,
whether it be drivers, riders, third parties,
any other person who may have been involved in the incident,
and we'll try to find out, you know, the facts of the case.
And then they'll make decisions regarding
if people can stay online using the app,
if they need to be deactivated, so on and so forth,
based off of those facts and decisions.
I think a prerequisite to be an investigator
is a very good idea, especially if the prerequisite
is having some sort of background in law enforcement
where we've been actually working
as a police officer or investigator somewhere else,
or even just going to school for it,
just because we do have a small window
to get somebody from their first day
to talking to people on the phone.
People with investigative backgrounds
are qualified to do this job,
not just any person off the street.
At this time, investigators do not report any of the incidents
that happen on the Uber app to law enforcement.
Uber has their own background check system
that they follow, however, with background checks,
it's not always accurate because it can take up to three months
for an incident to happen on somebody's background check.
Along with that, they do not report to any other companies,
any other ride share apps.
No law enforcement is involved.
The lack of communication between the ride share apps
really puts people in a very dangerous position.
If they were reporting it,
then that person doesn't have access
to being in a vehicle with a stranger anymore.
There's about seven different what they call "case types."
So that would be, again, a physical assault, robbery,
assault with a deadly weapon, something like that.
So of those seven, I would say the majority of the cases
would be the sexual assaults.
The worst possible outcome for a driver-partner or a rider
is to be deactivated from the Uber app.
That will only happen under a few different circumstances.
One, if this is maybe the second
or third report of a similar incident
happening to or from that person.
Another one is if we have actual corroborative evidence
with maybe videos or pictures or police reports,
anything of that nature.
And the third possible way for somebody to be deactivated
is if they actually admit to the incident.
I would tell any rider that if anything does occur
and they need to talk to an investigator
with the Special Investigations Unit
to just know that person is doing their best job
to help you in that moment.
They're doing whatever they can with what they can.
So what investigators are allowed to tell customers
is very, very noncommittal.
So it's nothing like, "Oh, I'm sorry this happened to,"
or, "I'm sorry about everything."
It's more of, "I'm sorry to hear about this,"
or, "What you're describing is very concerning."
So it's just based off of them saying it rather
than it actually happening,
therefore Uber does not have to take responsibility for it.
Investigators are there first to protect Uber,
and then next, to protect the customer.