There are some skills that can not be taught for someone to become a successful Professional Private Investigator. These skills can be honed, improved upon, yet there are a few skills that successful private investigators must possess before they begin their training.  Being alert at all times - Being alert to potentially dangerous situations is one aspect, more importantly, it is being alert to situations, body language, what is said, and what is not said while conducting an investigation. Some refer to this as being "quick of mind", or "sharp" or "intuitive". Successful private investigato ..read more

Private investigations are often challenging, complex -- that's the primary reason clients employ a private investigator. Chances are you've heard, maybe even used the idiom, "Going down the rabbit hole" which refers to taking routes that are problematic, often following leads that are not specifically related an investigation. Starting out I experienced this problem first hand. After completing several interviews in a simple assault case, I had a long list of additional "leads" to follow. What should have been a simple, quick investigation, quickly expanded to include several actions. When as ..read more

The investigative report is one of the primary deliverable's that private investigator provides to their client. From a report personnel actions, criminal actions, and/or civil actions may be started. In some cases, the report may serve as protection when claims are made against the investigator. Following are some tips, as a refresher for the experienced private investigator, and for those just starting out in private investigations.  Just the facts!!!! - This can not be emphasized enough. When writing a report every sentence must be factual. Don't make assumptions, don't provide unsubstan ..read more

Effective interviewing requires a lot of work. Laying the foundation for rapport, closely monitoring body language, and controlling the interview. (Click here for the basics of interviewing) Monitoring and controlling the tempo of the interview is an additional technique that effective private investigators use to increase the amount and the quality of the information they obtain from the interviewee.  For the purposes of this article, tempo refers to two primary aspects; the emotional state of both the investigator and the interviewee, and speed of the interview, primarily through the speed ..read more

Being able to devote adequate time is often the biggest pitfall. As Private Investigations is a business that relies on making money to be successful, it is easy for a Private Investigator to fall into traps, primarily, failing to adequately evaluate a case before accepting it. Private investigators, when deciding whether to take a case, or not, must carefully weigh their decision before proceeding.  Why would a private investigator not take a case? There are many reasons why a private investigator would not take a case:  Lack of expertise in the specific case being presented - Not all investi ..read more

The ProPI Academy 2019 Blog Book is here and available for download for FREE!!!! The blog book is a collection of academy blog posts in PDF or Ebook formats for easier reference.  Download as a PDF  Download as an Ebook 2019_propi_academy_blog_book__2_.pdfFile Size: 737 kb File Type: pdf Download File 2019_propi_academy_blog_book__1_.epubFile Size: 1672 kb File Type: epub Download File ..read more

When working on a criminal case, or an individual suspected of violating company policy you need to prepare in advance for conducting an interview, or follow-up interview, and identify a strategy to confront the suspect with their actions. Following are a few suggestions in preparing to confront a suspect.  Preparing in advance can help you during the interview or interrogation process.Start by gathering the facts that point to your suspect. Have them in the order they happen. Sometimes creating a timeline with notes as to what evidence supports each fact is great place to start. This will a ..read more

No industry is free from individuals that choose to do the wrong thing from time-to-time and this applies to private investigators as well. Unfortunately, there are those limited few that bring discredit to our profession and it often reflects badly on all of us.  Ethical, professional private investigators are always alert to conduct that may breach or violate ethical professional standards. Here is a simple decision making method to determine if your conduct during an investigation is ethical. This method is extremely important when the decision is not clear.  Is the action(s) a violation ..read more

Some investigations into incidents, criminal or surveillance activity can be difficult to convey to your client in a written report. Establishing a clear timeline in chronological order can greatly assist in sharing information with your client they can understand. Here are a few timeline format ideas to help in your next investigation:  ​ Straight Timeline - This is a timeline where the action from one moment to the next or is one step to another. For example; a customer is injured by slipping on a wet a floor. The timeline will start with the causal action, water on the floor and continue t ..read more

There's nothing more rewarding than conducting an interview of a suspect and getting a confession, or completing an eye witness interview that clearly identifies the suspect. But wait, your work is not done.  Even when an interview is completed, the information you are searching for has been obtained, you must verify the information to ensure it is factual, then document it in the report for your client.  Why is it important to verify the facts when you get a confession or eye witness accounts? Because the suspect may change their story, or if court is in the future, they simply plea the fif ..read more