What are private investigators’ responsibilities? Generally speaking, they collect evidence and put together clues and process them correctly to present them in court. They also provide these services to private clients outside of court. However, many often collaborate with attorneys for varying types of cases.
PIs use a wide array of investigative methods to acquire said evidence. Interrogation, for example, is often chief among them. This would entail dealing with witness interviews or even perpetrators of a relevant crime to their case. Another key responsibility they hold is locating missing people or essential pieces of information. These are often crucial to turning cases around.
Private investigators’ responsibilities include thorough research
Before embarking on any important tasks like serving subpoenas or locating key assets or missing persons PIs need to perform research. Without this preliminary information, it’s almost impossible to know where to start.
Hence why PIs will start with research. For instance, sifting through legal records and papers and checking phonebooks. Even accessing databases on public records and other online sources. Some of these can then be collated and processed for evidence in court. Or alternatively analyzed, which may lead to finding the right person or data for the case.
Even before interviewing witnesses, a very important part of any legal case, it’s important for PIs to do their research. How else would they know to ask the right questions if they don’t know enough about their subject? Or how else would they be able to consider the context of the case, if they don’t fully understand the specific information they are looking for?
Surveillance can serve as a form of primary source research too, since it entails learning about the given subject firsthand.
What other useful skills do PIs have?
Some private investigators have solid experience and knowledge with computer forensics. These are particularly valuable skills since they can aid with various responsibilities. With them they are capable of analyzing and efficiently acquiring digital evidence and dealing with large quantities of data.
Electronic trails are a part of many cases since we all use computers and other devices. Each of these devices leaves a trail of activity. And this information can all be used in court, proving to be compelling and solid evidence.
If you find yourself in need of a licensed private investigator and their particular set of skills, please feel free to call us. Or simply click on this link to get in contact with one of our team members.
