36 private investigators share their concerns about the industry
DESCRIPTION
36 experienced private investigators share their concerns about the current state of the private investigation industry and where it is going. Click through to find out more about how legislation, industry competition, licensing and regulation differences, government control, databases, DIY websites, unlicensed activity, subcontractors, and a lack of focus on continued education and professionalism is having a negative effect on the profession.TRANSCRIPT
private investigatorsshare their concerns about the
profession
36
What concerns do you have
about the private
investigation profession?
I’m concerned about . . .
-Robert Taylor, Taylor Support Services
“. . . legislation restricting information release to investigators.”
1.
-Edgar F. Linton, Jr., Private Investigator
“ . . . enforcement of license requirements.”
2.
-Kevin Burgdorf, KB & Associates LLC
“. . .too many contract persons just starting up a business without
license.”
3.
-Jim Silvania, Silvania Investigative Services
“. . .unlicensed and/or non-professional investigators.”
4.
- Tom Herder, Private Investigator
“. . . loss of online records.”
5.
- Peter Duffey, Double Helix Services, Inc.
“. . . lack of consistency and an apparent lack of discipline. ”
6.
-Tim Braatz, Atlas Investigations
“. . . PIs not wanting to attend Seminars to get their Continuing
Education. They just do it online and skip everything else.”
7.
- Tom Dolan, Lakeside Investigations, Inc.
“. . . ethics.”
8.
-Stephen Bojekian, Analytical Consulting Associates, LLC
“. . . inexperienced people not willing to ask questions, over-confidence in
database information, more concerned with the invoice than the
investigation. And most of all government and the courts not giving
us the access we need.”
9.
-Royce King, S.E. Oklahoma Investigative Services, LLC
“. . . licensing and consistency among the states relative to rules and
regulations.”
10.
-Jayne Walker, Walker Confidential
“. . . the fact that the standardization and skill level differentials are quite apparent, even in California, where the same baseline standards apply.”
11.
- Bennett PI
“. . . government control.”
12.
-Tony Stefano, ALIASS
“. . . the fact that anyone can apply to become a PI.”
13.
-Scott Herring, S.W. Herring International
“. . . the competition against each other is lowering the average
investigation rate and people fighting for work and lowering the hourly rate
to get it.”
14.
-Fernando Fernandez, Covert Intelligence, LLC
“. . . the fact that many other PIs cross border states to conduct
investigations without being licensed in the state that are investigating.”
15.
-RK Agency Investigations
“. . . the criminals and unethical investigators working illegally, undercutting prices, and giving
industry a bad name.”
16.
-Sonja Dee Raffeet, Research World Unlimited
“. . . the lack of prosecutions for non licensed people working as private
investigators.”
17.
-Peter Duffey, Double Helix Services, Inc.
“. . . the lack of standardized regulations.”
18.
-Brian Poirier, Aenigma Group
“. . . the flood of low rate investigators coming in from retired law
enforcement.”
19.
-FR Investigations
“. . . regulation re: licenses and reciprocal for all states.”
20.
- Ann, Private Investigator
“. . . the fact that this is a dying industry. The public has access to so much information that our business has been cut in half by do-it-yourself
investigation websites.”
21.
-Steven Harris, ALIASS
“. . . the laws limiting access of licensed/registered investigators to
needed and vital information.”
22.
-Howard Kravitz, Howard Kravitz & Associates
“. . . there are too many licensed private investigators that should not
be licensed.”
23.
-T. Michael Walker, Walker Confidential LLC
“. . . acute lack of minimum standards of qualifications.”
24
-Ellen Gold, Paula Drake Investigations
“. . . too many newly retired cops undercutting prices.”
25.
-Delbert S. Buttman, Wizard Investigations
“I have a concern that there will be over regulation resulting in loss of
business.”
26.
-Michael A. Stewart, AxiomTrace, LLC
“Myself, my agency, a previous agency that I owned for 24 years and my colleagues spend a
great amount of time making efforts to promote the professionalism that this industry offers if the client base is educated on what they should
expect for their investment. I am greatly concerned by any agency or investigator that conducts themselves and their business in a
way that may set back our industry. Sam Spade is dead and should stay that way.”
27.
-Jennifer Maghinay, Maghinay Investigations, LLC
“We are seeing an increase in fraudulent and unlicensed people.”
28.
-Shawn Kane, Kane Consulting Inc.
“My biggest concern is that each day we as an industry have to continue to fight to maintain
our access to certain databases and information. There is not a week that goes by where I do not hear a story about some new
legislation that has been introduced which can eliminate or hinder our access to certain database information. This is a national
concern. ”
29.
-Robert Orozco, Advanced Professional Investigations
“I am concerned that there are not very many agencies hiring
employees. There is a shift to using mostly subcontractors, which makes it difficult for investigators entering
the profession.”
30.
-Larry A. Peters, Larry A. Peters, Inc.
“This industry has been good to me for the past 50 years. I was Army trained and entered civilian life as an
investigator and have never stopped loving the work. I have had a gun pulled on me three times, but the gun
never went off and I walked away. I am the only Private Investigator in the history of the United States to have a case over turned by the United States Supreme Court,
based on exculpatory evidence found after the conviction in handwriting comparison. There is a lack of training just about every where I go. In Virginia, they really try to teach techniques, but if you don't have the experience you can't
show students how it is to be done.”
31.
-Joseph Kimangu Ngunjiri, Private Eye Investigations Kenya (Ltd)
“The business is being taken over by people who do not care about their
integrity and can do anything to succeed in their goals.”
32.
-William Ratcliff, Cape Fear Investigative Services, Inc.
“PI's all over the country need to be held to a higher standard as to weed
out those with no integrity.”
33.
-Bob Grandaw, BBG Investigations
“We have less and less control on things. There does need to be stricter licensing and regulation BUT bring it to the committees and investigators
to get their feedback.”
34.
- Robinson Investigations LLC
“All states should require a license.”
35.
-Brian Fox, Fox Lair Investigative Services
“I wish there was more standardization between states, and recognition of each state's licensing.”
36.
What concerns you about the private
investigation industry?
tweet your concerns to @pinow #piconcerns