Jobs for Private Detectives and Investigators

A private investigator, also known as a detective or private eye, is a professional trained in the art of investigation and surveillance.

For hire 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, many of these professionals have a background in the FBI, CIA, military, police, special forces, and other government agencies. You’ve heard of the famous fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, and his trusty sidekick, Watson, who portrayed a type of private investigator. Today's private investigators have the benefit of modern technology and investigator training to serve the public as well as attorneys, the police, insurance companies, and many others.

The following describes the different types of investigations that can be done. Conducted by professionals, almost all of them are undetectable and untraceable.

1. Surveillance, or monitoring a person’s every movement.
2. Investigating possible infidelity.
3. Tracking cell phone usage and position.
4. Locating a missing person.
5. Finding a person’s current employer.
6. Finding a person by utility company records.
7. Accessing database records for background investigations to obtain such information as employment status, civil history, criminal history, medical history, and other data.
8. Acquiring facts regarding parental fitness in child custody disputes.
9. Investigating telephone numbers: Regular telephone numbers as well as disconnected, non-published, cell phone, and 800/888/877/900 numbers and pager tracing.
10. Internet monitoring and surveillance, finding out what sites are being visited, reading e-mails and forum posts, key log, and more.
11. Screenings for employment, tenancy, loss prevention, insurance fraud, and other business assistance.
12. Serving attorneys.
13. Taking photographs and videos to document information.
14. Assisting victims when the police are unable to help.
15. Placing hidden cameras to obtain information about nannies and other caretakers, or the kids’ behavior when the parents are away.
16. Recovering trash to provide information in an investigation.
17. Paternity DNA testing.
18. Polygraph testing for investigations.
19. High- or low-profile protection as an armed or unarmed bodyguard or escort.
20. Finding a mother or father to help enforce the collection of child support payments.
21. Counter eavesdropping, or electronic countermeasures to ensure employees or others are not bugging your office.
22. Investigations of accident scenes.
23. Special assignments, which may consist of a wide range of activities and depend on an investigator’s expertise.

Certain rules should be followed when choosing a private investigator. First, make sure he or she is licensed and experienced. He should guarantee confidentiality of your information. The work of a private investigator should be strictly confidential, and any information you give to him or receive from him should stay confidential. If an investigator cannot guarantee confidentiality, don’t hire him. Next, he should be insured. If he were to harm someone or cause property damage while conducting an investigation you hired him to do, you will not be held liable to provide compensation. A reputable investigator will have no problem with presenting you with proof of insurance coverage for you to review. Finally, have a clear contract drawn up and read it very carefully before signing it. Following these guidelines will help you find a reliable and trustworthy private investigator and protect you from inexperienced or poorly trained investigators.






 

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