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 investigators have the necessary skills, abilities, and knowledge to take on all cases. Some obvious areas might be computer intrusion investigations. This is a highly technical field requiring not only specific knowledge but often software and/or equipment. 
  • Inability to meet client demands - Some client's may have unrealistic expectations as to the timeline required to complete the case, expectations of how evidence might be collected, or other reasons that may place the investigation out of reach of the investigator. Some of these expectations may violate state and federal laws. 
  • Current case load may also be a determining factor - A firm with several active cases may not be able to take on another case. Investigators have to carefully review their current load and determine if they have are able to absorb another case.  

From observation and experience there are some pitfalls that private investigators have to work hard to avoid. The opportunity to increase the bottom line can result in negative consequences if not carefully considered. 

• Damage to reputation - The worse situation is where an investigator is not able to effectively investigate a case for a client based on the reasons above. This is disastrous. One failed investigation can result in a dramatic loss of revenue for an investigative firm. Word-of-mouth can reduce business opportunities for the firm. With the use of social media, one dissatisfied client can severely impact business opportunities for the firm, short and long term. Protecting the firm's reputation is critical to ongoing business success.
• Loss of revenue - Often when taking on a case where the investigator does not have the necessary skills or experience the bottom line can be greatly impacted. Additional costs to get the job done right quickly add up. Hiring additional investigators, or technicians, even having to purchase additional equipment endangers the profitability of an investigation. 
• Poorly executed investigation - Being unable to devote the necessary time, or expertise can result in an investigation that is not helpful to the client, or even worse, fail to the point that the client may incur liabilities. This not only fails the client, but damages the reputation of the firm, and possibly allowing violators to go unpunished. 

When deciding to take a case, investigators should consider the T.A.S.K.E.R. thought process...

• Time - the time required to complete the investigation based on the scope provided by the client. Time must be considered in comparison to existing workload, and staffing to effectively meet the client's timeline. 
• Abilities - Considering the abilities of the firm in meeting the clients expectations is critical. Short deadlines, and/or unrealistic expectations of the client great decreases the ability of the firm to complete the investigation in a satisfactory manner.  
• Skills - Toughest part of any decision is admitting to a client that the firm does not possess the necessary skills to complete an investigation. Having an inventory of colleagues with the necessary specialties can go a long way to off-setting the challenges in meeting a clients expectations. 
• Knowledge - Some investigations require a specific knowledge base. Employment investigations, internal employee investigations, all have specific rules and laws that need to be followed. Without the necessary knowledge, a lot of time, not to mention the case, can be lost. Experience is something we also throw in to this category. Having experience in a specific investigation is critical to being successful.
• Equipment - There are times when purchasing special equipment from GPS, surveillance camera's, computer processing software, etc, have to be made to allow the firm to expand their service offerings. Considering the initial investment in equipment to complete the investigation has to be compared to the potential return. In addition, impacts on the timeline of the investigation will have to be carefully considered from purchasing, learning how to use the equipment, as well as gaining the required knowledge in it's proper operation and use.  
• Risk - Overall, an investigator has to weigh the risks of financial impacts, and potential risks to the firms reputation when deciding to take a case. Considering the aspects mentioned above will allow the firm to make a better decision when deciding whether to take a case. One investigator shared, "If I have concerns about the investigation that make pause on making a decision for more than 24 hours I pass on it [investigation]. I will try to help the client find a firm to assist them." 

There are other obvious reasons not to take on a case such as;  the clients' motivation may not be ethical, the investigation can not be successful, or the investigator realizes the client will be difficult to work with in completing the investigation. Although there may be a missed opportunity for financial gain, when the risks are present, understand that long-term business opportunities can be negatively impacted, potentially threatening the existence of the firm. 

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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 allow you to focus your interview/interrogation to gain additional insights into each fact. 
• Learn about the suspect. Talk with the client to gain additional information about their habits, possible personal issues they may be facing, and ask if there have been any noted changes in their behavior since the incident before you meet with the suspect. 
• Identify any legal requirements, or policy requirements that may include notifications you must give to the suspect at the beginning of your interview/interrogation. These may include policy notifications, depending on the client, that require them to cooperate with an administrative investigation. 
• Develop your question list in the order you want to begin. Starting slowly with open-ended questions, then working up to more specific questions is one technique that works for most situations. For example; "Tell me about what you did yesterday from about 9:00 am to 11:00 am?" Then getting more specific, "At 9:15 am you said you were in Jane's office. Why did you go in her office while she was gone?", "What were you carrying when you left her office?" 

Starting the interview/interrogation: 

• For safety you should have a second investigator with you in the event the suspect becomes violent. Also, having a second investigator will allow one to focus on questioning, monitoring body language while the second investigator focuses on taking notes. 
• Continuing with safety, arrange the meeting location so you have a direct route to the exit. 
• Always start by developing rapport, even if you have interviewed the suspect before. Your goal is to get them comfortable at in talking to you. This increases the chance that they will open up to you as the questioning progresses. Starting off in an aggressive manner often results in resistance from the suspect. One investigator shared with us, "I get more confessions with sugar than I do with salt." 
• When appropriate, be empathetic with the suspect during questioning. Being empathetic furthers their their trust in you and they may be more likely to open up about the incident. If you are aware of personal issues, such as financial problems, drug use, etc, you may want to emphasize with them during the interview with verbal "clues". "We know you are facing some financial issues. Facing financial issues is stressful, makes me feel trapped." (Notice the change the use of "me" in the second sentence)
• TIP: One private investigator uses a technique he calls, "mental braking". After the interview has progressed for awhile he will intentionally sit back in a relaxed manner, and ask the suspect, "What are you thinking right now?", to slow the interview -- "slowly apply the brakes". Depending on the suspect's response, the investigator will ask further questions. For example; if the suspect says, "I'm thinking that you suspect me." The investigator says he always responds with, "Why is that? What makes you think that?"

During the interview/interrogation: 

• Address contradictions in the suspect's statements.
• Practice active listening. Use your body language to let them know you are listening. One technique is to mirror their body posture. If they are leaning back then do the same. 
• Be alert to their body language. Hands touching their face repeatedly, breaking eye contact, etc. These signs can help guide you on your questioning in changing from a casual approach to a more pointed approach. 

Closing the interview/interrogation: 

• Some experienced investigators, when concluding the interview with or without a confession, will ask the suspect to write a statement about the incident, even if they have already written one. One investigator shared, that in her experience, the suspect that was involved often will refuse to write a statement, but cautions that this is not a sign of guilt in all cases. It often allows her to continue the interview with more discussion. 
• Near the end of the interview/interrogation, if the suspect has not confessed, you can decide if you will confront them with some or all of the evidence you have. Being empathetic, if the suspect has been generally cooperative, may help solicit a confession. "Unfortunately, I don't believe you. I have witnesses, and video evidence that shows you at the scene when the incident occurred. I can understand that you are under a lot of stress right now with everything that is going on in your life. Stress clouds my thinking. It would help me if you could explain how that happened if you weren't the one?" 

These are just a few ideas, or tips. How you implement them will depend on your specific case, the evidence you have, reactions of your suspect, and your personal preference in conducting interviews or interrogations. 

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. 

1. Is the action(s) a violation of any local, state, or federal law? If yes then STOP. If no, continue to the next item. 
2. Will the action(s) if taken negate being presented in court? If yes then STOP. If no, continue to the next item. 
3. Is the action(s) considered immoral, unjust, or otherwise a questionably practice? If yes then STOP. If no, continue to the next item. 
4. Are the action(s) contradictory to professional private investigative standards? If yes then STOP, if no then continue to the next item. 
5. Will completing the action(s) make you, your investigators or client feel uncomfortable? If yes, then STOP, if no then continue to the next item. 
6. Will the action(s), if known to others, put your company at risk of obtaining additional business? If yes then STOP, if no then continue to the next item. 

If you answer Yes to any of the questions above then you should not take that action. If you can answer No to all of these questions, there is a great chance that others will not question your conduct.

One question that often comes up from students, "Is there any situation where violating ethics acceptable, maybe more ethical?" This is a tricky question as it seems to imply the private investigator is conducting an unethical act when they learn something that is of such great importance to reveal that it would make the unethical act ethical. Our answer, considering the context of the question, is No - we are not aware of any "excuse" to make unethical conduct ethical. Otherwise the action(s) would be ethical at the time.

The biggest risk a private investigator takes when deciding to pursue an unethical or questionable action in their investigation is the harm that may be done to a client. This is unethical behavior aside from the action - creating risk for the client.​ 

​It's unfortunate that a few investigators decide to continue moving in the wrong direction when they know better, or are just not sure. When they do, and get caught, this reflects badly on them and badly on the private investigator profession. Any time the action is questionable, you are not sure if the answer is Yes or No, the best course of action is to find an alternative approach or discuss with legal counsel, or other trusted colleagues in your profession. 

For fun, watch New York Private Investigator, Michael McKeever, by clicking here, Fact-Check some private investigator movies. 
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