Detectives/Private Investigators : Introduction
Sherlock Holmes and his numerous escapades has given a glorious sheen to a
Private Detective's career profile. But, though this is a field with a lot of
thrill and adventure, it is a dangerous profession as well. If you love
investigative work and is ready to take up its inevitable challenges, its the
career of your choice.
A detective is one who investigate a committed crime or any other fact to
find out the truth behind it. In other words, a Detective investigates events,
and suspicious activities on the request of the client or a company. A
detective's work mainly involves finding facts by making enquiries and
investigating using various techniques, without the knowledge of the person or
people he is pursuing. Detectives or private investigators are now part of our
society life. Private detectives and investigators assist lawyers, businesses,
insurance companies, investors and the public with a variety of cases.
Detectives not only lighten the burden of law and order enforcement agencies,
they are even employed for verifying the credentials of prospective marriage
partner or to find evidence to establish grounds for a divorce, child custody
etc. Detectives investigate, prevent, and solve crimes against people and
property.
The detective's job is very similar to that of a policeman and those in
intelligence service, but the difference is that the detective works privately
for people who employ them, and does not have the powers to arrest or detain
people for questioning. A detective is not a law keeper, they investigate the
case for the benefit of his or her own client. Most detectives or private
investigators are those who retire from government services such as the
military, law enforcement agencies, police force or former security guards.
After retirement they start their own detective agency or work for other private
parties as agents.
Detective handle cases like, burglary, extortion, theft, suicide, kidnapping,
fraud, murder, rape, forgery, molestation, eve teasing, family cases, undercover
operations, copyright infringement cases,
cyber crime and so on. There are also industrial and corporate cases such as
investigating industrial espionage and taking countermeasures for the same;
protecting intellectual property rights etc. Techniques used by detectives for
investigation include fingerprint collection, photography, voice and video
recording, shadowing and application of Forensic science.
Detectives often work irregular hours, including nights and weekends. They
may have to work even more than forty hours a week on certain cases. Work time
depends upon the case they are in charge of. While working, they should also take care to remain within the scope of
the law as they can be susceptible to criminal charges.
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