The concept of a private investigator was always an interesting one. Pop culture, main movies, has countless characters of this sort, and many of them have become quite popular, right? For instance, the freshest example that comes to our mind is the character Doc Sportello, in both the novel and movie “Inherent Vice”. But little is known about how private investigators function in real life.
While it needs to be said that the image we’ve been presented in movies has some realistic points, it certainly cannot be described as fully accurate. For instance, it certainly doesn’t have glamour, as depicted in movies and books. If you require these services, you can always contact Haywood Hunt & Associates Inc. Generally, you cannot always be certain whether a PI is legal.
Let’s talk about how you can establish the credibility of a private investigator in real life.
What Makes a PI Legal?
It needs to be said that three main factors make a PI legal. Let’s check them out.
1. License
If a private investigator is serious and committed to their work, it makes sense that it should be licensed. Without it, they do not have any legal background to do what they do. However, it is obvious that different states have different regulations about this field. It is interesting to know that there are a couple of states that do not require any license. We are talking about states like Mississippi and Wyoming.
It is even more interesting to see the case in the state of Colorado. For those who didn’t know, a PI in Colorado can be voluntary. But, if that person is required to do some work outside the state limitations, having a license is an absolute must. Basically, every state has a database, where you can find all the licensed PIs. If the name of the one you’ve come across doesn’t pop up, avoid doing business with that particular office.
2. Background
Since a private investigator is a person that needs a long range of skills and capabilities to be effective, only a trained person should become one. While someone may be gifted enough to do all the work without training, we do not believe that the number of these cases is high. In most situations, you will see that a private eye was a member of the police enforcement or some other legal matters.
Chance is that PIs will need to monitor people with criminal backgrounds. They can check it conveniently using lookupinmate.org. Meddling with those people is not a safe thing to do. So, the client needs a person who needs when’s the right moment to act, and when the situation dictates that it should stay in the shadows. Not to mention that a PI should know how to preserve pieces of evidence if there are any in that particular case.
3. Experience
The third factor we’d like to discuss is the experience. Surely, you would like to hire someone experienced and capable of doing the job properly. That cannot be achieved without years in this business, right? Thankfully, pretty much all the PI offices you will come across are experienced enough. Those who are beginners in this business will work at these offices, where they can learn about the job.
So, even if the office is brand-new, there’s a chance that the private investigator you’re about to hire has learned from the best. The easiest way to determine how experienced someone is, you can go to the office and talk about your case. Based on the conversation, the answers you receive, and how the methodology is explained to you, you can conclude whether you should trust it or not.
4. Transparency and Discretion
The final element we would like to talk about is the question of transparency. Just think about it, nobody likes to pay for a service and not hear about all the elements, right? Even though this might sound silly, this happens much more than you might think. So, we believe that looking for a PI who’s transparent about their experience, background, and most importantly, licenses is a priority.
Besides transparency, secrecy is another important component. In most cases, private investigators work on cases that are completely private matters of their clients. For that reason, they must provide ultimate discretion about the facts they will uncover during their investigation. So, you can see that both sides of the coin matter in this case, right?
Commonest Mistakes
Now that we’ve learned about what makes PIs credible, let’s take a look at a couple of mistakes people make when hiring them.
Not Meting PI in Person
We completely understand that meeting with a private investigator in person is not always an easy thing to do. The reasons are rather obvious, they are not always in their office. So, reaching them can be quite challenging, no matter what the perspective you have on it.
But, we cannot stress enough how important it is to meet the person you will hire. During the meeting, it is possible to ask all the most important questions about the investigation. Also, it is much better to share all the particularities in person. You can hear all the responses and actions, he or she will take.
Look for a Cheap Option
Of course, looking for the cheapest solution will always be the first factor people think about. Still, we don’t believe clients can expect a proper investigation in this case. At the same time, we don’t believe that a private investigator’s competence always reflects the price.
For that reason, you should look at the price at all. Take all other relevant aspects into consideration, like portfolio and previous jobs. Only by doing that, you can receive the best possible service, which can be quite an important question, since you have decided to look for this sort of help, isn’t it?
The Bottom Line
Hiring a private investigator is a pretty complex process. There are a couple of elements that require your attention. Here, we’ve provided a couple of factors you can use to determine a PIs credibility. Plus, you can see some misconceptions, you should avoid.
