Not all private investigators are legitimate
In the state of California, there are legal requirements to being a private investigator. Thousands of hours or work experience must be completed with a licensed private investigation company or as a law enforcement officer. In addition, depending upon the hours worked, there may be educational requirements. After this, a state examination must be passed, and then a licensed will be issued. As you can tell, a licensed private …show more content…
The company or individual should have been in business for several years. This experience should be since the time of getting his or her license. A private investigation firm will have several people working for clients, so those with less experience will learn from those who have been active in the profession for many years. Those who work solo will likely have had someone they worked under for a time to gain valuable experience. You should always inquire about who a private investigator gained their practical work experience from.
A background in law enforcement
Although this is not necessary to be a private investigator, it is a positive sign if a PI has this in their background. Often, during the course of an investigation, there will be encounters with unsavory characters. Someone who has worked in law enforcement will know how best to handle this type of person in various situations. More importantly, those with a background in law enforcement have a good understanding of human nature, both the good and bad sides. The ability to anticipate what people will do next or where they may be located is enormously helpful in this field of work.
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At least a couple of these references should be from professional people such as lawyers. A good private investigator routinely works for private attorneys as well as many businesses.
They should have experience in the service you need
There are a wide range of services that a private investigator can provide, but only the larger private investigation firms will offer most, if not all, of them. A smaller company or a person working alone is likely to have a specialty, so regardless of whether an investigator claims they can help you, you need to inquire about their specif experiences, and they should be able to give you references of clients for whom they have done this specific work.
Even if you find a San Diego PI with all of the attributes listed above, you will still need to consult with the investigator to get a feel for how comfortable you are with them. Communication and trust are important issues between private investigators and their clients, so make sure it feels right to you before you hire