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Comparing a Licensed Private Investigator with Amateur Sleuth and/or Police Detective
A licensed private investigator and a police detective must follow guidelines and rules. An amateur detective/Accidental Sleuth doesn't necessarily know about, much less, obey or care about those rules.
Private Investigators are in the information business. They search for truth, impartially delivered in their pursuit of solving whatever they have been hired to investigate. An Accidental Sleuth usually has a vested interest in the outcome of her search and therefore doesn't necessarily want to find anything that doesn't comply with her preconceived criminal.
Skip Tracers are only one of the many types of investigations Private Investigators are hired to carry out. Janet Evanovich is a good example of books working with the premise of Skip Tracers. Skip Tracers locate those who have skipped out on a bond, dead beat parents etc. and are usually licensed by the state where they hang out their shingle.
Private Investigators, detectives, and accidental sleuths have one key point in common; they are very creative, innovative, using thinking sideways or outside the proverbial box of the common methods of deducing and finding the value evidence or clues presented and those hidden in the mix.
According to Steven Kerry Brown, in his book Private Investigating Techniques the pros use to crack the case,, Second Edition Alpha Books/Penguin Group, 2007 "Cop wannabes don't make good private investigators." That does not mean your accidental sleuth would not be a good detective however. The unglamorous side of the PI's live is that many cases are hour after hour of sheer tedium, with mountains of paperwork and documentation at the end of the day to record what he finds.
Evidence collected either by the accidental sleuth or the PI needs to be admissible in court. Collecting that evidence must be done within the law. Trespassing is one that you need to consider – and remind yourself that trespass is one thing, but peeping is another. Trespassing, you may get away with once because you must first be warned, in most states. However, if you are peeking into someone's window, peeping Tom style, that is illegal from the get go.
You must "…Ensure that the investigation is conducted without violating any local, state, or federal laws," says Brown. The investigation should, when in doubt, err on the side of caution.
Another thing Licensed Private Investigators need to adhere to are finding experience in order to qualify for their license at all. Something an amateur sleuth wouldn't have to worry about. However, there are ways to get this experience whether you're looking for license or you are an amateur sleuth, these include: Insurance Claims Adjuster, Military Intelligence, or working for another licensed Private Investigator.
Some amateur sleuths are in positions that make them perfect for the protagonist/detective. In Antique Armor, by Billie A Williams, Wings epress, Inc, 2010, June Fabrizio owns an antique shop and when a suit of armor shows up in her shop with no idea where it came from and it seems to be connected to the death of her brother, she knows how to start trying to find a paper trail to this piece of ancient history. She is an accidental sleuth; she has a vested interest in the investigation. She wants to be sure the right person is tagged with her brother's murder, not the most convenient suspect whether s/ he did the deed or not.
The accidental sleuth doesn't worry about protocol, she doesn't worry about getting all the i's dotted or t's crossed while she is tracking down clues. She doesn't worry about a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice; she just worries about tracking down the clues.
Knowing where to look, especially courthouse ins and outs and the clerk of courts for what he/she can provide, is important in tracking people down…as for a skip tracer, and your accidental sleuth may eventually need to know this as well—but she will use the materials she needs and her background provides, to find those ins.
Some interesting asides for the Private Investigator trying to obtain a license provided by Brown are 10 states that do not specifically require a PI license though they may require you to have a business license. These states are:
Alabama Alaska Colorado Idaho
Mississippi Missouri Pennsylvania( license issued by county)
Rhode Island (license issued by city or town) South Dakota Wyoming.
Virginia requires proof of training.
A resource for those of you writing a Private Investigator story is the PI Directory you'll find it at www.thepidirectory.com/licensingunits
Once again be certain that you check the laws where you are setting your story so that your Private Investigator, or Accidental Sleuth/Amateur Detective will not break any rules (Unless of course you mean for them to get in trouble with the local law enforcement bran ch.).
Check out the Complete Idiot's Guide Private Investigating, second edition by Steven Kerry Brown for answers to more questions about what and how your Private Investigator is different than my accidental sleuths.
