With the new millennium just underway and having spent two thirds of my adult working life as a Police Officer, I had become totally disillusioned and so decided that enough was enough. Before making a hasty exit I had already been in contact with former colleagues who had already taken the plunge and were working in the price investigation industry. They seem to thrive on being given more freedom to use their skills as an investigator as opposed to being tethered by the ‘red tape’ that thwarted swift and effective investigation within the Police sector
The move from police to private investigator
In departing the Police service after just over thirteen years I guess most outsiders would expect that I would have all the skills needed to engage in a career in the private detective industry. The fact is that this could not be further from the truth. Yes, I was disciplined, I had received plenty of criminal investigative skills input in the form of interviewing skills and had also been involved in surveillance secondments during my Police years, but in truth sleuthing in the private sector is ‘a whole different ball game’ as compared to life as an investigative Police Officer.
Having the right tools to work as a PI
Whereas the publicly funded investigative teams had the benefit of numbers of staff and the back up should things go awry, the Private Investigator has to be self sufficient and almost at time completely self-reliant. There is no bottomless pit of funding for surveillance operations and abundance of staff enjoyed by some Police surveillance teams, the Private Detective surveillance team is blessed if it has three operatives on a single target, but more often than not Private Investigators either act alone or feel lucky to have a second operative to assist. Of course one could argue that in the private services sector the investigation agent is not normally asked to follow organised criminals, however, this doesn’t mean it is any easier to blend into the surroundings or ‘become invisible’ to the target being followed.
Rewarding Career as an investigator
Despite the downsides of sometimes working alone often restricted by tight funding for the investigation process and so as a result being under far more pressure to get a result first time, I found that the challenge almost helped me enjoy the life of a PI even more. Yes, as a Police Officer I got a buzz from ‘feeling the collar’ of a criminal who deserved to be taken off the street, but in comparison the kick that I got out of getting video evidence of a fraudster in tricky circumstances, where it should not have been possible to remain ‘invisible’ was often more satisfying. This was just the start of my new chosen career. Everything seemed incredibly exciting, life seemed like an adventure again, but this was only the beginning – could the fun really last?
Created By Adrian Mudd
