Private investigators, also known as private detectives, have always been helpful to individuals and businesses alike. While individuals hire them to get to the root of certain crime suspects, businesses seek their services to know everything about specific employees thought to be involved in wrongdoings. Private investigators may charge around $50 to $200 per hour on average for their services, depending on their experience, success rate, and the complexity of the case.

Services provided by private investigators
Here are some reasons why companies or individuals hire local private investigators:

Corporate investigation
Large organizations have hundreds of employees. This makes it challenging for them to track each one in terms of how they use company property, how judiciously they treat company time, and how well they follow the operational guidelines and code of conduct. Moreover, when there is suspected criminal activity, nobody in the organization likes to get their hands dirty to investigate the matter. Corporate investigators offer just the right solution in such situations. With their help, businesses can look into possible employee misconduct. For instance, if an employee steals money from the company treasury, a corporate detective can help stop the activity and assist law enforcement agencies in arresting the culprit.

Corporate investigators perform two main types of tasks: standard corporate monitoring (which involves computer surveillance, employee surveillance, and vehicle surveillance to aid the organization) and statement taking/interviewing to get legally-binding statements from the concerned parties in a company. For instance, they may interview the victim, the alleged perpetrator, and key management personnel to resolve a possible physical assault situation.

Family-related investigation
Family private investigators help families address specific complex situations. For example, a divorced individual may hire them to watch their child while the kid is with the other parent and look for evidence of mistreatment. Later, they can present this evidence in court during a child custody hearing to prove better competence as a parent.

Background checks during recruitment
Performing a background check is the bread-and-butter task of private investigators. These checks involve closely examining a candidate’s professional and personal history to know more about them before hiring them for a job. The investigation is vital to eliminate potential fraudsters and impersonators while recruiting people into an organization.

Civil investigations
This is a secondary specialty of private investigators. Sometimes, law enforcement agencies hire specialists to gather evidence for or against individuals involved in trials for legal cases. These cases could be linked to domestic violence, workers’ compensation, missing persons, and secretive asset searches.

Apart from these services, private investigators can seamlessly execute accident investigations, arson/fire investigations, crime scene evaluations, fraud investigations, insurance claims evaluations, automobile recovery and repossession, bankruptcy verification, business credit checks, civil litigation support, and many other tasks.

Factors to consider while hiring private investigators
Since PI services cover such a broad spectrum of activities, one may be tempted to hire them for their work. However, a private investigator must tick the following boxes before one can opt to avail of their services:

Reputation
An investigator’s reputation and reliability are arguably more significant than their experience. Young and dynamic investigators are often more successful at solving cases than their veteran counterparts. Similarly, if people choose an agency instead of an independent investigator, they must ensure the organization is reputable and their investigators follow the best practices while conducting investigations.

Experience
Experience builds expertise, so hiring a veteran private investigator, or an agency that has been around for many years, is a relatively fail-safe option for individuals or organizations. Besides, an experienced agency will have a more extensive network of informers, a better relationship with local law enforcement authorities, and greater know-how to resolve tricky and complex investigative situations.

Licenses and certifications
Investigating someone privately without certifications and licenses is illegal. People or companies being investigated are within their rights to sue somebody if the latter does not have the license to validate their “investigator” status.

Insurance
If private investigators provide insurance for their services, clients do not lose money if the investigations do not have a successful (or intended) outcome. So, it is advisable to choose an investigative agency that offers insurance along with their services.

Fees
Remember that “cheap” does not mean “good” services. Therefore, instead of selecting the most frugal option, one must choose the best one to get investigative services of the best caliber.

Reasons to hire a private investigator
Some of the biggest reasons to hire PI services are as follows:

• To keep business matters free of criminal interference
• To keep a close, watchful, and protective eye on vulnerable family members
• To know everything regarding a potential job candidate before recruiting them
• To gather evidence to defend clients during a legal trial
• To collect relevant information to prevent or call out instances of perjury committed during an ongoing legal case
• To prevent financial fraud in an organization