The Key Responsibilities Of A Private Investigator

Private investigation is a unique profession that involves application of diverse skills to investigate issues. Private investigators perform multi-faceted roles requiring skills such as legal skills, technical skills and financial skills .They occupy an important space in legal case and identifying the whereabouts of missing persons. Private investigators also function as insurance investigators and corporate investigators. The mandate of private investigators is to put together crucial information that is needed by a client. A private investigator works in liaison with lawyers, business entities or individual persons. Likewise, the investigator has the option of operating a company to provide services independently.

 Private investigators perform various roles. Below is a summary of their roles:
· Assessing and validating the identity of a person.
· Assessing the financial background of a person.
· Investigating crimes.
· Looking into a person’s family history and background.

The main responsibilities of a private investigator are:
1. Research activities
Research is a priority to a private investigator. Before engaging in other methods of getting information, private investigators have to first conduct their own research. Research is undertaken to familiarize with information about a person or a case. Gaining such knowledge gives private investigators direction as they unravel more issues related to their investigation. Research focuses on reviewing legal and public documents pertaining a case, retrieving computer databases, examining background information of persons involved in a case and any other information related to a crime a person has been accused of.

From an employment perspective, private investigators help employers in the recruitment and hiring process. When a person is seeking employment, employers can hire a private investigator to conduct background checks. The investigator schedules an appointment with a former employer or a referee to get honest views about a potential employee. This is done to enable employers to acquire more information about a potential employee. It is necessary to do so to avoid recruiting persons that have criminal records or have been involved in malicious activities.


2. Conducting interviews
Other than research, a private investigator has the right to schedule interviews with relevant persons. The interviews involve persons who have a connection to the matter under investigation. To acquire credible information, the investigator should conduct separate interviews with every person that is tied to a case. Interviews supplement research conducted by a private investigator. The investigator poses questions and responses are elicited by the respondents. The responses given help the investigator to get more insights about an investigation. The investigator should keep the information gathered from the interview very confidential and only disclose it to the concerned parties. Confidentiality is important to assist in building a watertight case endowed with strong evidence Face to face interviews are very convenient due to the following reasons:
· An investigator is able to get firsthand information about a case.
· Probing aids in getting more information about a case or person.
· An investigator is able to verify whether information provided is true or a mere exaggeration of the situation.
· An investigator may acquire further leads concerning a missing person.
· A different perspective of the case is gained.

. 3. Surveillance
Surveillance is mostly employed in unearthing information related to crimes committed or infidelity issues. It simply means keenly observing a person of interest in an investigation without his knowledge. Surveillance is done to establish how a person is related to a crime that happened in the recent past or one that is about to happen. A private investigator monitors the movement of a person and takes note of each activity done in a certain place. Afterwards, the investigator briefs a client of the findings. There are various surveillance techniques used by investigators:

· Use of CCTV cameras (Preconstructive surveillance technique)
CCTV cameras rely on technology to document information in form of video images. They are located on places frequently visited by individuals being investigated. They are used to record information about the individuals which is then accessed by an investigator. The investigator is able to retrieve and analyze the information attentively. Evaluating the information helps in pinpointing the specific details that are significant to the investigation.

· Use of evidence found on a crime scene (reconstructive surveillance technique)
In this technique, an investigator focuses on a crime scene to find out if useful evidence exists. If there is any evidence, it is used to formulate ideas of what exactly took place. The evidence also assists in identification of the persons who were present at the crime scene and their overall involvement in the crime.

4. Reinforce law enforcement activities
A private investigator reinforces the work of policemen. Policemen are at times faced with lots of workload because crimes happen almost on a daily basis. Their duties might become overwhelming. Juggling different multiple law enforcement activities is often impossible. To ensure all duties are accomplished, policemen collaborate with private investigators in pursuing criminals. The investigators monitor and alert policemen of the location of suspects leading to their capture. This is to ensure they apprehend the criminals and present enough evidence to enlighten judges and magistrates of the specific crimes committed by the criminals. In case policemen face restrictions in solving a case, private investigators help them to garner the evidence needed.

5. Give testimonies in a court
Testimonies are used by a jury to make a court ruling. Private investigators can be used by attorneys to aid them in proving the innocence of their clients. The investigators give testimonies based on the evidence gathered from multiple sources. Because they are experts in their own capacity, they are able to proficiently present evidence using a convincing approach.

6. Undertake criminal investigations
Private investigators assume the role of the police in certain occasions. Some people are skeptical of the procedure followed by the police to carry out investigations of criminal nature. They instead decide to hire a private investigator to independently help them resolve a crime.

To wrap up, private investigators are involved in many roles. They can investigate a company’s financial status, recover stolen funds, and expose insurance scams. The roles that an investigator is tasked with demand reasonable thinking, objectivity, versatile skills and experience. Possession of these attributes guide an investigator when gathering information needed by clients.