by Craig Engstrom*

You may need a professional investigator for a variety of reasons:

• you need a thorough background or asset check completed on your business or domestic partner,
• you suspect your spouse or significant other is cheating,
• you want to know if the hospice where your mother or father resides is a good one,
• you want to know if your realtor is a fraud,
• you need to know if your child is hanging around the wrong crowd,
• you need to know if your mother or father is remarrying the right person,
• you want to know if the police have done a thorough job developing a case for prosecution, or
• you need to prove your innocence or mitigate a sentence.

This list could go on.


But where do you find a quality private investigator? The answer to this question is not simple. Evidence suggests that more people are turning to internet search engines to find businesses (2008, “Dial I for internet”). This is also true in the profession of private investigating.

Searching “[name of city] private investigator” through Google, Yahoo, or Bing can quickly generate a list of companies, but then you have to decide which companies to call or hire. If you’re not unlike most people, it is likely you will rely on the boxed advertisements or the top listed companies provided by the “search spiders.” While these may be good private investigation companies, sometimes they are not.

To assist you in making your search results work for you, here are two things to keep in mind:

800 numbers or vague links can be trouble. Among the listed and advertised local companies, there will be nationwide companies with a toll free number and generic website. The business model for these companies is to contract a case with you and then to locate a private investigator in the area where you need an investigation. While this may be a good model for florists and hotels, when it comes to legal matters, it is best to go straight to the company that will provide you with needed services. First, the “nationwide” companies have to charge you more because they will then subcontract to the local company. They may try to find the lowest-priced investigator. Why should you pay $85 per hour for a $50-per-hour investigator? It is not the money that is really at issue–a quality investigation is. Second, with the nationwide company you may not get direct access to the field investigator. This means that if you happen to have intelligence that will assist the investigation, it may not reach the field investigator in time. Similarly, the field investigator cannot contact you with field reports and give you timely updates. If you know that the target of the investigation is not doing much, you can direct the investigator to do it at another time (saving you money). In other words, you have less financial control of the investigation.


Advertised or top listed companies are spending more money on advertising. A good business person is not always a good private investigator, and a good private investigator is not always a good business person. By simply relying on top listed or companies advertising with “Adwords,” you may simply be hiring a good business person who pays a lot of money to web optimization companies. These companies can employ great investigators, but not always. You should contact several companies and be diligent and ask the right questions.

Keep in mind that the higher advertising expenses a company has, the more likely they’ll charge higher hourly rates.

The first thing you should look for when you click to a company’s website is their license number. It is the law in most states that private investigators display their license numbers. If the company does not follow this law, will they follow others?

Here is an alternative to search engines:

Begin with the yellow pages. Not to sound old fashioned, but there are reasons to still consider the yellow pages when searching for a private investigations company. You can even do this search online (www.yellowpages.com). While the same issues as above apply, the value of yellow pages is that it is a great selection mechanism. Consider the yellow pages as a reference book. The number of companies listed in the yellow pages is likely already to be sufficient for you to have an opportunity to find a quality investigator who can meet your investigative needs. While it may take a minute longer to look in the yellow pages than to do a Google search, you will save time because all of the search results are already filtered for you. You also know one thing for sure: companies in the yellow pages have been around a while. Each year hundreds of new private investigations companies start and just as many go out of business. A new company can immediately begin showing up in internet search results, but a company in the yellow pages has had to be around for at least a year. If your investigation is likely to extend over a period of time, it is best to go with a company with tenure.

Nothing, of course, will be able to assist you more than your own due diligence. Hiring a professional investigator can be the smart thing to do. Hiring a quality investigator should take you some time. Your decision should not be made by an internet search engine.

References

Dial I for internet. (2008, May 24). The Economist. Retrieved June 18, 2008 from http://www.economist.com


*Craig Engstrom is an assistant professor at Elmhurst College. His research focuses on the business of private, professional investigations. He provides public relations and consulting services to private investigators in order to increase the legitimacy of the profession and to assist consumers in making well-informed decisions.

Since the recession began, increased layoffs and high unemployment have led to a much talked aboutincrease in new business start-ups. Most start-ups, according to data reported by Scott Shane in The Illusions of Entrepreneurship (2008), are destined to fail. What is more, businesses that seem successful are constantly faced with common business risks, such as employee misconduct, theft, and lawsuits. These constant threats keep most small-to-medium-sized enterprises in a perpetual “near-death” state.

The recession has also led to increased unemployment, economic hardship, and, not surprisingly, increased business theft. Take, for example, the case of Bradco Supply Company (Dallas, Texas), which has been robbed repeatedly throughout 2009. This is not, of course, an isolated incident,

Crooks nationwide have been stealing millions of dollars worth of shingles from companies this year, a sizable increase from years past. Previously, thieves would steal them from construction sites, but not on this level. They’re now getting ambitious, robbing warehouses — sometimes several semi-truckloads at a time — and hauling away hundreds of thousands of dollars in shingles. In Texas alone, at least $4 million worth have [sic] been stolen this year. (Oct. 10, 2009, Health News)

This has left many shingle suppliers literally hanging on by one. While public detectives are dealing with increased thefts, cities are also faced with their own fiscal crises due to declines in property tax revenues. Consequently, many of them have had to make painful cuts to city budgets. While police and fire departments may be the last to see their budgets cut, they are being asked to do more with less, and “with the emphasis in public law enforcement upon illegal drug suppression and violent crime reduction, property crimes perpetuated against faceless corporate victims receive second-level priority” (Sennewald, 2006, p. 15). Because many police departments do not have the time or resources to fully investigate small crimes against business owners (and by small this could still mean a $20,000 piece of equipment), many small businesses owners have been left searching for their own solutions.

Business owners should seek out multiple solutions to these problems. One feasible solution is to keep on retainer a private, professional investigative agency. While the cost of retaining an independent investigator could cost a business owner anywhere between $5,000 and $25,000 a year, this is considerably cheaper than the costs associated with inventory loss, employee misconduct, or service/production shut down. (If you’re smaller than that, most investigators will find an amicable solution.)

There are at least 6 reasons a professional investigator can be beneficial to any small business:

(1) Due Diligence – Whenever a civil or criminal suit is filed against a company, one of the best defenses a company has is its ability to demonstrate due diligence. Showing (with good documentation) that a company took reasonable measures to mitigate risks and thwart dangerous, risky, or hazardous behavior can make a positive impression on judges and jurors. Remember, a company just has to show it tookreasonable steps. Having an independent observer overseeing employees, seeking out security breaches, and identifying product risks, is likely to be seen as a reasonable precaution. Additionally, it is hard to live with the consequences of accidental deaths or huge inventory losses, especially when they may have been preventable.

(2) Risk Assessment – Using a company that specializes in risk assessment, security, and fraud, to test for potential breach points can help save a company a significant amount of money and negative publicity. For example, an episode on Dateline NBC a while back showed valets stealing items from cars. The owners of the hotels, restaurants, or valet service companies were castigated on national television for not controlling their employees, demonstrating why these companies have a vested interested in running their own undercover operations from time to time. Other risk assessments that a professional investigator can assist with are independent laboratory product tests, computer security threat assessments, electronic countermeasures, and undercover operations to check employee loyalty. An ongoing consultation with a trained private investigator can help identity problems, and she or he can offer a variety of solutions. Do note, however, that a good investigator will admit his or her weaknesses and will suggest alternative experts to deal with issues where she or he lacks expertise. (Make sure to specify in your contract who assumes the costs for the experts.)

(3) Background Checks – Many small businesses hire people without doing an extensive background check. This can become a major liability and threat to a company. Retaining a private investigator to do background checks on all potential hires will save a company money through quantity discounts and increased security. Habitual entrepreneurs should absolutely do a background check on all potential partners and investors.

(4) Asset Searches – Of course, a company may have to do asset searches as part of a background check on investors or business partners, but if management suspects that a major customer may file for bankruptcy, and that company has accepted goods or services on credit, a thorough investigation of the indebted business’s assets should commence. A retained investigator can insure they aren’t hiding or selling assets as means of avoiding repayment of credit.

(5) Networks – One thing that many people don’t fully understand is that professional investigators have many connections with other agencies, attorneys, experts, and professionals. This means that whenever a question may arise, they have a large pool of expertise to draw upon. If a company happens to need an answer to a particular question, they can call their investigator and save precious time and money.

(6) Commitment to company goals – Businesses sometimes must thwart activities without publicity. When a public detective investigates an issue, they have a duty to observe and report. This means that—like it or not—a public detective’s investigation will be made public or, worse, publicized in media sources. A public investigator’s objective is prosecution. A private investigator, on the other hand, has many options. His or her interest is helping to protect the client from negative publicity and to thwart any activity that is not in the interest of their client (within reason).

These six reasons entrepreneurs should hire a private investigator are only partial. There are, of course, many other reasons an entrepreneur may want to hire a professional investigator. This non-comprehensive list, however, highlights some of the more important work investigators are currently doing for their private sector clients. So that each party can better understand the other’s needs and work styles in a time of crisis, it is important to build a relationship and rapport with a particular investigation company over time. This requires ongoing collaboration, which is only attainable through ongoing work together. In a time of crisis, having had a private investigator agency as part of your yearly operating expenses will save you time, money, and emotional stress. Call a local, licensed agency to see what sort of plan you can create within your budget to protect your precious business assets.