Are private investigators worth their money?

[Cass]

Private investigators are probably as popular with you guys as private security officers, but I figured I'd ask anyway...

I know it's kind of a broad question, but how useful are they really in let's say locating a person? Do their services actually go beyond what anybody could just find out on their own? Do they have any resources that "regular" people do not have (i.e. access to databases, etc.), or is it just a matter of them being experienced and knowing where to look?

Are most of them legitimate or are there a lot of scam artists?

Are they worth their money or is it a waste?

[Sgt. Slaughter]

A lot of them are "You get what you pay for" kinda people. Many of them are former cops/detectives who retired and do the PI gig for extra cash. Alot of it is knowing which databases to use. With the advent of the internet, most people can look things up on their own if they're willing to pay the fees associated with each site.

Are you trying to find someone who can track me down?

[Cat_Doc]

Are you trying to find someone who can track me down?

Actually, all she has to do is find someone old enough to buy a six pack of beer to track you down. Bait!

[retdetsgt]

I agree with the big guy. As far as databases, most of it is knowing where to look. Sometimes it's as simple as going to the courthouse and asking to look at tax or court records. They are expensive though, depending on what you what to find out.

I'm leery of most of these "pay to find out" Internet sites. They're only as good as how often they update their records.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

Actually, all she has to do is find someone old enough to buy a six pack of beer to track you down. Bait!

That's a crock! I'd give her my address if she wanted it. Then she could bring that beer to my doorstep!!!

Wait.

She's not old enough for beer....

Dammit!:D

[txinvestigator1]

Private investigators are probably as popular with you guys as private security officers, but I figured I'd ask anyway...

I know it's kind of a broad question, but how useful are they really in let's say locating a person? Do their services actually go beyond what anybody could just find out on their own? Do they have any resources that "regular" people do not have (i.e. access to databases, etc.), or is it just a matter of them being experienced and knowing where to look?

Are most of them legitimate or are there a lot of scam artists?

Are they worth their money or is it a waste?

Very broad questions. As a Private Investigator, I feel uniquely qualified to answer your questions.

In locating a person a PI can be very useful. We DO have access to databases that a non-PI does. We also have the expertise, skills and contacts to conduct missing person, long lost love investigations.

Much of what I do is simply knowing where to find information that is publicly available.

As to legitimacy; check your states licensing laws. In Texas, for example, a PI must be licensed by the state. That requires background checks, insurance, etc. Also check to see if the PI you consider hiring is a member of professional associations and has additional certifications above the minimum the state requires. As with any other professional you would hire look for references and check the state licensing agency and BBB for complaints.

I have had to come into cases after another investigative company botched up the work.

Investigators I know have great relationships with Law Enforcement. It is important to PIs as we often have to build cases to take to a LE agency for prosecution. I have often asked for assistance for LEOs, asking questions about cases, gaining intelligence on potential crimes, etc. I have worked closely with Narcotics Divisions, Missing Person detectives, theft detectives, etc.

As opposed to Security Guards, I find that cops are interested in this work. They usually have lots of questions about the money you can make, and other things.

Here are some of the things I have accomplished as a PI;

Employee Misconduct (usually theft, but can be others) I have conducted too many of these investigations to count. They usually involve theft of money or product. However, I proved that a man who worked for a large diamond company was engaged in corporate espionage. I obtained an admission in a medical office when a person passed over for a promotion poured a urine sample on the suede jacket of the person who actually got the promotion.

I made a criminal case against a man who was using his employers product, staff and equipment to open a competing company.

Those are just a few off of the top of my head. We usually obtain an admission from the offender that allows the company to seek reimbursement and dismissal of the employee.

Lost, Missing Persons, Finding Persons

I have worked with the police department on several missing person cases. These have involved wealthy families. In each case we located the person.

I have also located runaways.

For adults where you just want to find someone, past lover, old friend, family member etc., my contract states that I will attempt to find the person. If I do I will give that person YOUR information and let them know you are looking for them. I will not provide you with contact information unless the person gives me written authorization.

Court Order Compliance

These usually involve child custody cases. I verify and document compliance with court orders regarding child custody issues. For example, Dad is prohibited from having unrelated overnight female guests when he has possession of his children.

Or mom is only allowed to visit her children under the supervision of grandma. Parents not allowed to leave the county with children, things of that nature.

Domestic

Is wife or hubby cheating. Typical stuff you see on Cheaters, only I would NEVER allow a "confrontation" like they do, and I don't do boyfriend/girlfriend stuff unless children are involved.

Workers Comp, Personal Injury

If Johnny is on workers comp why is he water skiing this weekend?

If Mary hurt her back at work and can barely walk, why is hanging from a stripper pole evenings?

We also conduct pre-marital backgrounds, asset searches, create executive dossiers, and many other types of investigations.

If you have any specific questions please ask away.

[Cass]

Are you trying to find someone who can track me down?

LOL. Finding you is easy.

Actually, all she has to do is find someone old enough to buy a six pack of beer to track you down. Bait!

What's his favorite?

I agree with the big guy.

WTF is "the big guy"? You can't possibly be talking about the Sarge. :rolleyes: :p

As far as databases, most of it is knowing where to look. Sometimes it's as simple as going to the courthouse and asking to look at tax or court records. They are expensive though, depending on what you what to find out.

I'm leery of most of these "pay to find out" Internet sites. They're only as good as how often they update their records.

Are there any reputable sites that you or anybody else can recommend?

That's a crock! I'd give her my address if she wanted it.

That's ONE reason why you'd be easy to find...unless your address is one of those that get phucked up on a GPS...:rolleyes:

Then she could bring that beer to my doorstep!!!

Wait.

She's not old enough for beer....

Dammit!:D

There goes your perfect plan... You'll just have to wait until I'm old enough to make your beer runs. ;)

Very broad questions. As a Private Investigator, I feel uniquely qualified to answer your questions.

In locating a person a PI can be very useful. We DO have access to databases that a non-PI does. We also have the expertise, skills and contacts to conduct missing person, long lost love investigations.

Much of what I do is simply knowing where to find information that is publicly available.

[...]

If you have any specific questions please ask away.

Thanks so much for the detailed reply!

I want to track down my biological father. All I know is his first name (duh), an unusual nickname people used to call him, and where he spent winter break of 1990. My mom THINKS he said he was from Indiana, but she doesn't remember. :rolleyes:

The one thing that sets him apart is that he gave me a genetic disorder. He HAS to have the same condition, and most likely a serious case of it judging by my symptoms. He's probably received extensive treatment for it. He could probably be tracked down through hospital records, but I doubt I'd be able to access them. :confused:

Any chance of finding him?

Also, I'm a bit disappointed that you wouldn't give me his contact info if you were to find him. Is that common practice? Or just your own personal moral standard? I'd hate to pay someone a ton of money only for them to tell me "I passed on your info". Do you provide any kind of proof that you actually FOUND the person? :confused:

[txinvestigator1]

Thanks so much for the detailed reply!

I want to track down my biological father. All I know is his first name (duh), an unusual nickname people used to call him, and where he spent winter break of 1990. My mom THINKS he said he was from Indiana, but she doesn't remember. :rolleyes:

The one thing that sets him apart is that he gave me a genetic disorder. He HAS to have the same condition, and most likely a serious case of it judging by my symptoms. He's probably received extensive treatment for it. He could probably be tracked down through hospital records, but I doubt I'd be able to access them. :confused:

WIth HIPAA it is a serious crime to access medical records without consent or a court order. Those records would not be accessable.

Any chance of finding him?

Sure. Without knowing how much information you already have it would not be possible to give a probability, but I have found people I never thought I could, and have been unabable to locate others who it appeared would be simple.

Also, I'm a bit disappointed that you wouldn't give me his contact info if you were to find him. Is that common practice? Or just your own personal moral standard? I'd hate to pay someone a ton of money only for them to tell me "I passed on your info". Do you provide any kind of proof that you actually FOUND the person? :confused:

You would know up front that is my policy, and it is in the contract. Investigators I have worked with all have the same policy. It is not a moral standard. You might actually be looking for your biologocal father just to know him, to ask him questions or try to re-establish a relationship. You also might be looking for someone who did or you believe wronged in the past and you plan to cause them harm.

Theses are people's lives, and we have to respect that. It is an ethical issue.

People have a right to be left alone. You have a right to look for him, but if he wants to be left alone then that right overrides your right to look for him.


As far as paying the money; you are paying for the investigative work, not an end result. PIs NEVER guarantee a result. Sometimes a result is not what you expect or want. Sometimes there is no result. You still have to pay for the service.

I believe there are some "clearinghouses" where people looking to re-connect with families that are used by adoptees and parents. Basically you register, and if he decided to look for you he could find you there. Or he might be registered. I don't have any names off the top of my head.

Just to give you a heads up, PI rates run from $75 per hour up to $150 and more, depending on the difficulty and type of work. Then you have expenses on top of that, such as database fees, parking, copies, notarized documents, etc. Most PIs require a deposit to begin work. I work against the deposit. Once the deposit is spent, I file a preliminary report and the client can stop or make an additional deposit to continue the investigation if needed.

Best of luck to you in your quest.

[BP348]

I really couldn't give an answer to the question but I agree with the you get what you pay for.

We had a guy at work several years ago who had an incident over an alien being legal or not. Big boss said he was illegal agent believed that the guy was legal so he let the guy go. Big boss got PO and had the agent fired. Well the agent hired a PI to find the guy & he did, can you imagin trying to find one specific alien in Houston? anyway because the PI found the alien the agent was able to sue and get his job back.

I believe it cost the agent like $8k but to get your job back after 15+ years on the job & save your retirement, I'd say it was worth every dollar. Of course he tried to have the judge make the service pay the fee but the judge wouldn't do it. I think the service was wrong so they should have had to pay the PI's fee.

Anyway good luck trying to find your dad.

[SnapShawt]

Some very good and some very fly-by-night bad. As with anything.

As txinvestigator said, if someone doesn't want you to know where he/she is at, then no amount of money you provide overrides his/her right to be left alone by you, including you not being told where he/she is at. You do not have the RIGHT to know where anyone is, and that includes your mother/father/son/daughter etc. as long as he/she is 18 or older and expresses the desire that you not be told. In fact, were his/her instruction that you not be told ignored and you were told anyway, then the person who told you would be civilly liable for disclosing that information to you.

[Cass]

WIth HIPAA it is a serious crime to access medical records without consent or a court order. Those records would not be accessable.

OK. I googled "HIPAA" (I had never heard of it before). Definitely sounds like medical records are completely off limits. My guess is without that information, it would be extremely difficult to track him down. As I said, that would narrow it down to a tiny percentage of the population...

You would know up front that is my policy, and it is in the contract. Investigators I have worked with all have the same policy. It is not a moral standard. You might actually be looking for your biologocal father just to know him, to ask him questions or try to re-establish a relationship. You also might be looking for someone who did or you believe wronged in the past and you plan to cause them harm.

Theses are people's lives, and we have to respect that. It is an ethical issue.

People have a right to be left alone. You have a right to look for him, but if he wants to be left alone then that right overrides your right to look for him.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to argue with you or second-guess your policies. I'm only asking because I'm trying to understand...

The way I look at it, everybody has a right to HIDE. I don't think anybody has a right not to be found. If they can be tracked down by accessing PUBLIC information then they should be fair game...

I understand the concern about someone wanting to harm the person they're tracking, but it is not like as the PI you would supply them with a gun and ammunition to do it. It's a location. What your client does with it, shouldn't matter, at least not legally. Ethically, that's a whole different issue, but I believe people are responsible for their own actions and unless your client has indicated that they were out to harm that person I wouldn't hold the PI responsible in any way. Yeah, it would be "tragic" and might cause some feelings of guilt, but it still wouldn't be the PI's fault or responsibility.

I agree that people have a right to be left alone, but I think that's different from being found. If I were to harass or stalk or threaten somebody then there are plenty of legal remedies.

Again, I don't mean to offend you or be a smart ***. I'm just really surprised at this policy. :confused:

Best of luck to you in your quest.

Thank you.

As txinvestigator said, if someone doesn't want you to know where he/she is at, then no amount of money you provide overrides his/her right to be left alone by you, including you not being told where he/she is at. You do not have the RIGHT to know where anyone is, and that includes your mother/father/son/daughter etc. as long as he/she is 18 or older and expresses the desire that you not be told.

Same goes for you. Not wanting to pick a fight, just trying to learn/understand.

As said above, I don't have a RIGHT to know where they are, but neither do they have a RIGHT not to be found. They DO have a right to be "left alone", but to me that's a separate issue.

In fact, were his/her instruction that you not be told ignored and you were told anyway, then the person who told you would be civilly liable for disclosing that information to you.

I really don't understand this. I would hire the PI to work for ME, not the other person. It's not like a mutual contract and a mediator between both parties. I don't see why the PI would ever even have any direct contact with the "target", much less enter into some type of contract/agreement with them. :confused: I would just want the address/phone number and only I would establish contact. I wouldn't consider that the PI's job. He/she's not a social worker...or a body guard for that matter.

If you were to do surveillance on a cheating spouse I doubt you would present the cheating party with all your evidence (photographs of them making out with another man, emails between them, or whatever) and then ask them if it was alright with them to share the info with your client. :confused: I'm not sure I understand the different ethical standards between both scenarios...

If you could elaborate further on this, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[txinvestigator1]

[quote=Cass;1047803]

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to argue with you or second-guess your policies. I'm only asking because I'm trying to understand...

Never entered my mind, I was just 'splaining.

The way I look at it, everybody has a right to HIDE. I don't think anybody has a right not to be found. If they can be tracked down by accessing PUBLIC information then they should be fair game...

You can, but when you pay me to do it I become invloved in any potential legal action if you turn out to be a stalker or murderer.

I understand the concern about someone wanting to harm the person they're tracking, but it is not like as the PI you would supply them with a gun and ammunition to do it. It's a location. What your client does with it, shouldn't matter, at least not legally.

As a professional I rely on case law and what has happened to others as part of the decision process as to how I proceed on each case. You are niave in the realities here.

Ethically, that's a whole different issue, but I believe people are responsible for their own actions and unless your client has indicated that they were out to harm that person I wouldn't hold the PI responsible in any way.

No, if you killed the guy YOU would not hold me responsible, but the courts are inclined to. And you never know how you will react until a situation is upon you.

Yeah, it would be "tragic" and might cause some feelings of guilt, but it still wouldn't be the PI's fault or responsibility.

That is a very nice way to think. However it is not reality.

I really don't understand this. I would hire the PI to work for ME, not the other person. It's not like a mutual contract and a mediator between both parties. I don't see why the PI would ever even have any direct contact with the "target", much less enter into some type of contract/agreement with them. :confused: I would just want the address/phone number and only I would establish contact. I wouldn't consider that the PI's job. He/she's not a social worker...or a body guard for that matter.

I already explained this to you. You cannot be absolved of responsibility just because you were paid to do something.

If you were to do surveillance on a cheating spouse I doubt you would present the cheating party with all your evidence (photographs of them making out with another man, emails between them, or whatever) and then ask them if it was alright with them to share the info with your client. :confused: I'm not sure I understand the different ethical standards between both scenarios...

I think you do, but you are trying to twist things into your wants. A spouse has a legitimate purpoe to know if the other is cheating. The problem for you is I have no way of knowing if your reason is legitmate. I am not willing to take the gamble unless you are willing to do it MY way. Otherwise, you can track him down yourself. See that is the way free enterprise works; you can go elsewhere if you don't like my conditions. Especially when I KNOW what the consequences can be.

[Cass]

Thanks, TX, for elaborating.

Makes sense now. I didn't realize that the courts had already decided to hold PIs responsible for whatever their clients decide to do with the information provided to them. It doesn't seem right to me, but if that's the way the current law is, then I can see why you would follow that policy...

Now to a different, but related question...

IF I wanted to find somebody who has "wronged me" in the past, but I'm not out for vigilante justice...

...how can I find that person?

This person should be charged with the crimes he committed and also pay restitution. But I doubt that many years after the fact police would have any interest in pursuing it or put much effort into finding him. They have much bigger fish to catch...

So if a PI can't help me, am I just on my own? :confused:

[retdetsgt]

IF I wanted to find somebody who has "wronged me" in the past, but I'm not out for vigilante justice...

...how can I find that person?

This person should be charged with the crimes he committed and also pay restitution. But I doubt that many years after the fact police would have any interest in pursuing it or put much effort into finding him. They have much bigger fish to catch...

So if a PI can't help me, am I just on my own? :confused:

If you have new information and the statute of limitations hasn't expired, the police will almost always open a case and go with it. Or you could hire a PI who, upon locating the person notify the police of his/her whereabouts.

If the criminal statutes of limitations has expired, you could hire a lawyer who hire someone to find that person to try and recover your losses or whatever. That would work out because you would need a private lawyer to for anything other than vigilante justice. The contract would be between the lawyer and the PI.

[Cass]

If you have new information and the statute of limitations hasn't expired, the police will almost always open a case and go with it. Or you could hire a PI who, upon locating the person notify the police of his/her whereabouts.

If the criminal statutes of limitations has expired, you could hire a lawyer who hire someone to find that person to try and recover your losses or whatever. That would work out because you would need a private lawyer to for anything other than vigilante justice. The contract would be between the lawyer and the PI.

Thanks.

But I don't have any "new information". Nothing has changed. I just never filed charges...