Private investigator

Who is private detective?

The first detective agency was founded in 1833. It was founded by Eugen Francis Vidok and it is considered to be the first private detective. The first detective agency which provided detective services was called "Firm for universal information concerning trade and commerce". Police tried many times to close the detective agency and Eugen was even arrested after he solved the case regarding embezzlement of money. He was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 3,000 francs but was released soon afterwards. This private detective was first one to introduce records writing and ballistics as important factors in investigations. Some of his detective methods are still used today in investigations by French police.

Certainly the most famous private detective of all time is Alan Pinkerton with his Pinkerton detective agency. Alan Pinkerton Detective Agency was founded in 1850 in Chicago. As America expanded territorially, so did the transport and railway system. Railway companies hired Pinkerton detective agency in order to protect transportation. Pinkerton detective agency has successfully solved a series of train robberies and has gained a respectable reputation through out the country.

In the American Civil War, in addition to his service on the side of the Union Army, Pinkerton has developed several investigative techniques that are still used today. Among these techniques are the “tracking of the suspect” as well as the technique called “undercover agent”. During the war, Pinkerton was the head of the secret service union, which is considered the precursor to the formation of “US Secret Service”. He managed to thwart a conspiracy with intent to kill Abraham Lincoln. His agents often worked as insiders in the army Confederation and the collected data.

After the end of the Civil War Pinkerton Detective Agency continues to offer detective services by continuing to chase robbers of trains, including the famous Rino gang and Jesse James gang. Pinkerton Detective Agency was engaged to counter the movement of trade unions America. In 1872 the Spanish government has hired Pinkerton detective agency in order to help the goverment curb the revolution in island of Cuba.

Alan Pinkerton died in 1884 in Chicago. At the time of his death he worked on creating a system that will centralize all the information for identifying criminals, the database, which is now owned by the FBI.

After his death, Detective Agency continued to provide detective services and become an important force in suppressing the movement of trade unions in the US and Canada, which is why the image of the agency changed over the years. Nevertheless, Pinkerton has remained synonymous with the private detective decades later. Pinkerton Detective Agency operates today in Chicago and provide detective services. Since 2003 the company operates as a subsidiary of Securitas AB.

Private detective is a professional hired by law firms, corporations, insurance companies, private individuals or other entities in order to obtain intelligence information and reaffirme or refute the information. Traits of good private detective are, among others, above-average intelligence, power of transformations, patience, combinatorial thinking, analytical thinking ability and logical reasoning, as well as the possibility of looking at things from different angles. Professional private investigator usually has experience in working for the police or other security services, and is also trained, in theory and practise, for conducting professional investigations. He is searching, gathering, reviewing and analyzing information and evidence. Private detective has a large number of associates that enables him access to places that are usually inaccessible to ordinary citizens.

Detective services from more recent times involve intelligence work in the industrail sector regarding industral espionage, public records search, anonymus threats, protection of the family, credibility assessment, cases of juvenile delinquency or marital problems. Detective services often involve insurance and fraud investigations, investigation associated with infidelity, background checks of potential employees, investigation into the suspicious insurance claims or finding missing persons or persons wanted by the law. Private detective is often hired by attorneys in order to obtain evidence that may have a significant impact on court judgments.

The main activity of private detective is investigation. The investigation may include, among other things, combing legal records, family history, open source information gathering, computer investigation, database investigation, investigation of past related to candidates for the position or information gathering of any kind.

After initial investigation is finished, an analysis of the facts is done, followed by assessment done by private detective, a definition and selection of relevent and irelevent case elements is required, after which private detective chooses methodology with best chances of putting an efficient closure for the case. What makes investigation and analysis crucial, essential, and the most important part of private detective job is the fact that there are no two cases alike or any know template or pattern on which to work on. Each case is a different story and in each new case a private investigator must start from the scraps in order to fully take into consideration all aspects of the case, and to explore elements of information step by step until the whole "picture" is completed, all facts are established and veryfied and the answers to all questions are found.

Interrogation is a method to come up with the necessary information. People who can be interrogated are relatives of missing persons, witnesses of other crimes, or any person who can possibly posses any kind of primary or secondary knowledge that could be relevant to the case under investigation, in order to obtaion valualbe information. Through interrogation, combined with his own investigation, private detective is able to collect evidence in order to solve the case or present some evidence for the court.

Surveillance is secret monitoring of a person without his or her knowledge, information gathering and reporting about that person activity to the client who has hired a private detective. A private detective is familiar with all the modern techniques of effective surveillance.

Danger is an integral part of detective work. Private detective is civil person with authorities, and is also physically prepared to defend themselves, their clients or their property. Good intuition and the ability to transform areone the main features of any good investigator. With the help of these features private detective is able to remain inconspicuous.