Private Investigation Myths Myths about Private Investigations become a Private Investigator
The image of a private investigator that many people hold in their minds is often formed by the images projected from movie screens and television sets. Unfortunately, many of the myths perpetuated by Hollywood are just plain wrong:
Myth: Private investigators make a lot of money.
Reality: Some private investigators can go months without a case. While some manage to make six figure salaries, these are usually the private investigators working as supervisors in established agencies or private businesses. Most private investigators live a life of moderation and thrift. The risk of venturing into the field of private investigations as an independent investigator is about equal to the risk of opening up any other type of small business. The career is not immune to a bad economy and several private investigators work second jobs to keep food on the table all year round. The private investigator must be savvy in business, capable in marketing, and patient in making a profit if he or she expects to remain in business beyond the first year.
Myth: Private investigators live a life of adventure.
Reality: The work of a private investigator is typically boring and mundane. As professional gatherers of evidence, private investigators spend many hours on long surveillance jobs, reviewing records/paperwork, and talking with clients and informants. Once the evidence has been gathered, the private investigator compiles his or her findings in a report for the client. Most private investigators work very hard to avoid any and all confrontations to reduce their liability in the field. Rather than creating a scene, good private investigators will walk away from confrontation and only resort to physical force against another person if under direct and immediate threat.
Myth: Law enforcement experience is required to be a private investigator.
Reality: No jurisdiction in the United States requires experience as a law enforcement officer in order to obtain a private investigator’s license.
Myth: Former police officers make the best private investigators.
Reality: The job of a police officer and the job of a private investigator are apples and oranges. A police officer is meant to be seen, hence the high visibility patrol car and the military style uniform. A private investigator is meant to be invisible, working behind the scenes, on behalf of their client. Police officers are backed with government authority and special laws that allow them to search, detain, and arrest. Private investigators are private citizens with no special authority above that of any other citizen. Men and women who make the transition from law enforcement to private investigations must learn to cope with the fact that they no longer have the authority to act “in the name of the law” and must learn how to investigate cases as a private person.
