What I Do as a Private Investigator

People often think of Private investigators as those they have seen in movies who investigate murders and such violent crimes. While this may be true to some extent, a majority of Sydney private investigators are involved in the day to day affairs which involve finding the truth about something.

Want to know more about Private Investigators and what they do? Then read on.

Who are Private Investigators?

A private investigator also called PI and Private Detective is a professional, whose services can be hired to undertake some investigation in order to come up with facts and truth. Private investigators often work for law enforcement agencies, civil and criminal lawyers, insurance providers, businesses or any private individual.

They gather data and testimonials as required from them. Individual Private investigators, work in private investigation agencies, or offer their services as self-employed professionals and also accept work as freelancers directly from clients.

In several countries, a personal investigator must register with the concerned authorities as such and obtain a private investigator’s license.

What does a Private Investigator do?

Private investigators work for several kinds of assignments. They try to find information related to legal, financial, and personal matters. Such information is sought by the stakeholders for whom knowing the facts is essential for making a decision. A few of the work that a private investigator undertakes are listed here:

• Surveillance and observation: They may follow and observe the action and behavior of people under surveillance. These can the spouse or ex-spouse of a client; people who intend to marry; family relatives on whom certain responsibilities are to be placed etc. They monitor the target and keep records of their actions.

• Finding missing persons: They are often assigned the tasks of locating missing people. In spite of the matter being reported to the police, the relatives may want faster and sure results.

• Obtain confidential information: They may collect data which a client has requested for.

• Background verification: Employer may want to know the background of the person they may like to hire for an important position. They verify the facts declared by a candidate and their pre-employment data.

• Fraud investigations: Companies, especially those dealing with financial matters, often hire private investigators to investigate employee fraud, theft, or security of business trade secrets.

• Claims investigation: Insurance companies often take the help of private investigators in examining the claims and to be satisfied that the claim is genuine, before paying up for the claim.

• Investigating computer crimes: A private investigator may need to spend hours behind the computer to investigate cases of computer frauds and identity thefts.

• Divorce and Child Custody: the rising numbers of divorce and child custody cases need concrete proof so that a party gets divorce and custody of children. The private investigators collect such evidence for their clients.

Working Conditions

Private investigators may work indoors in the office, making inquiry calls, researching on the Internet, taking care of electronic surveillance, interviewing people on phone etc.

Some may need to do fieldwork. They conduct interviews with people who may give some information, do physical surveillance of people with high-tech gadgets like cameras and recording devices, and make site visits, besides other activities which help in unearthing the required information.

A private investigator may be required to work irregular hours, get into tight and dangerous spots, and is often asked to give statements and testify about the evidence produced in court.

Hope you have understood how vital is the role of private investigators in the quest for truth and justice. They are not exactly like those featured in movies and books, but their contribution to the society, nonetheless, are immense.

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