Hiring A Private Investigator vs. Do-It-Yourself Investigating

The interesting thing about posing this question is that most peoplethink they are qualified to answer it, although they aren’t. The factis, most people do not know what detectives, whether on the policeforce or “for hire,” really do in an investigation, and what sorts ofskills are required. It is certainly nothing like you see on TV.

Of course, you would not do much murder investigating, even if onehappened in your family. You would probably leave the burglary capersto the police, too. Private investigators can certainly look into thosematters for you, but the bulk of a private eye’s work involves findingpeople and identifying their whereabouts, their actions – and, ofcourse, their assets. This is why the great majority of private eyesmake the great majority of their money on divorces and civil matters,not criminal investigations.

Private eye or DIY?

Private investigations can be difficult for even the mostexperienced professional. Private investigators have been helpingpeople “get the skinny,” or the truth, in all types of situations.Whether it’s a company investigating a string of warehouse thefts, aspouse that suspects her significant other of cheating or a case of adisappearing investment advisor (these are on the rise), privateinvestigations can be quite challenging and time-consuming. There arecertain tricks of the trade that you must learn, and there is nosubstitute for on-the-job training.

There will always be a huge difference between a real “PI” and ado-it-yourselfer (DIY’er). But if you reduce the tasks to theirsimplest components, there are a number of basic matters that you couldinvestigate, or begin investigating, without hiring a professionalright away. With the Internet, you can check many databases, includingthose of government agencies and various industries, to help you in theone undertaking in which you just might make some progress on your own,namely, locating people who don’t want to be found.

Tools and tricks

Private investigation has changed tremendously over the past fewdecades. As opposed the “old days” of the “gumshoe” where a PI wouldfollow a wayward wife around town with a camera and try to catch themin an adulterous act, PI’s now are highly trained, skilledprofessionals. Whether they are former police officers or crime labtechnicians, or like many others took law and/or accounting courses(like FBI agents), they did what was necessary to get an “education forinvestigation.”

Trying to conduct an investigation without the required skills willyield poor results. This is where many of the DIY’ers make their first,and most catastrophic, error. They think that a few web searches and a$19.95 online background check is “investigating.” This, of course, issilly. So, even in the one type of investigation in which DIY’ers couldbe successful, the personal search, there are twists, turns, shortcutsand time-wasters all along the way. There are precious few things otherthan experience that can make a beginner a veteran.

Danger and other high costs

There is also a tremendous amount of danger that PI’s can getthemselves into. Some of them will face life and death circumstances.These days, however, many private investigators are not acting underthat title alone, and hold badges in law enforcement. This allows themto protect themselves to the fullest extent. However, among the 50states there are various laws regulating, or outright prohibiting,sworn peace officers from working as private detectives, security staffor bodyguards.

With danger being an equal opportunity employer, and something thatany PI might face in a thousand different ways, the “DIY detective gig”might become something of a magnet for those who want to becomevigilantes for justice. Fortunately, most states have licensingprocedures in place that will limit the number of “John Waynes” thatare allowed to flash badges and carry concealed weapons while in theemploy of a private citizen.

Back to basics

Not only can private investigation be dangerous and daunting, it isalso very time consuming. Private investigators dedicate their everywaking hour to the completion of whatever case they happen to be on. PIwork is difficult for the professional and amateur alike, but decidinghow much to “bite off” should be simple for the DIY’er. The answerwould range from “none” to “not much,” at least until you develop thebasic online search skills, plus learn how to get information over thephone, by mail, via e-mail or in person from the myriad local, county,state and federal bureaucrats that man the barricades in the governmentoffices that are chock full of answers.

It’s very important to consider all of the costs, in terms of money,time and danger, which conducting an investigation entails. Invest someresearch time into the fine points of, say, “skip tracing” and you willdiscover that it’s not as easy as it might have seemed on television.Then, when confronted with a problem that needs some detective work –nothing criminal, of course – you should be able to see a clear linebetween what you can handle yourself and what you need help to do. Itshould not bother you in the least that the latter group will be muchlarger than the former, as it is that way with most everything. Afterall, you can only be an expert at so much, so get help when you needit. The trick is knowing when to do that, and it’s always better to erron the side of caution and ask for help than to charge ahead and lose your head!