.png)
Whether you’re going through a divorce or there’s some anomaly going on in your company, you might need a private investigator. Regardless of your situation, you need to make sure that you hire somebody who can get the job done properly. This is easier said than done.
Hiring a private investigator actually involves quite a bit of attention to detail. It’s too easy to spend a tremendous amount of time and money, only to have very little to show for it. You don’t want to put yourself in a ridiculous situation of throwing good money after bad. To make sure that you identify, hire, and work with somebody who is up to the job, pay attention to these six qualities of a solid private investigator.
Proper accreditation
Let’s start from the basics. In the state of Arizona, people who offer private investigative services need to have the appropriate state accreditation. They had to go through the necessary regulatory hoops, so to speak. This doesn’t necessarily mean that this person is automatically a good hire.
Don’t confuse professionalism with state accreditation. You are just making sure that this person has the proper credentials, and is at least legally qualified to do the work. You don’t want to work with someone who isn’t state-accredited; this can land you in all sorts of legal hot water. It doesn’t matter how highly people think of that person. If that person is too careless to handle state regulatory paperwork, you have no business hiring that person.
Proven experience
Someone may have all the accreditation in the world, but it’s not of much value if people don’t know this person. I know this may be some sort of a chicken and egg dilemma. How can you get a track record if you’re just new, and how can you get experience if you don’t have a track record to sell yourself with? Still, if you come across someone with a track record, this means they’ve been around for some time. They know how things work, and they’ve paid their dues. It’s most likely that this person will know what to do and not create a legal mess for you.
There’s no shortage of nightmare stories of private investigators who bungle up a potential case of their clients. In many cases, the clients end up settling a case for a far lower amount than it’s worth. All sorts of nightmares can happen, if you hire someone who is wet behind the ears.
Trustworthiness
The right investigator should be extremely discrete. Most cases concerning private investigators and detectives have a lot of sensitive personal information involved. You must be able to trust this person, and hand over this information to somebody who will be careful with it. You don’t want somebody with loose lips who brags to random people with their past exploits using your situation as a case study. Be wary of these people. Ask a few questions, and pay attention to the stories they tell. See how they cover their tracks, as far as confidence is concerned.
Highly committed to ethical work
You know you’re dealing with somebody who is all too eager to cut corners, when there seems to be no ethical limit to what this person can do. While it’s nice to hear “everything is possible,” as far as investigative work is concerned, you still have to abide by proper legal parameters. There are ethical limits.
Keep in mind that this person is going to be acting as your representative. After all, this person is going to be doing investigative work on your behalf. If this individual is all too ready to bend the law and commit all sorts of ethical breaches, you might want to hold off. You don’t want to create a bigger problem than what you’re solving. The reason why you hired this specialist is to solve problems, not to open a can of worms.
Availability is crucial
Unfortunately, just like with any other industry, really good service providers easily get swamped. The word gets out that they do quality work, and this usually means they have a long line of eager prospective customers in front of their door. You have to establish availability immediately.
Closely related to this is the concept of focus and dedication. I have no doubt. This person is dedicated to their craft; that’s not the issue. What I mean by dedication is whether they can devote enough time to your particular case. You don’t want somebody who takes up a lot of cases and ends up doing a lackluster job with most of them. You don’t want to hire someone who is double booking you just to earn more money. Make sure you ask pointed questions about this issue.
Clear charges
This is extremely important. Make sure that all charges are transparent when you discuss retaining the Arizona private investigator you’re considering. You don’t want hidden and late surprise charges that piled up. Make sure you see eye-to-eye with your prospective contractor regarding all possible charges. These expenses should not just be routine expenses, but reasonably foreseeable ones as well.
Now, it’s easy to say ‘foreseeable charges,’ it’s another thing entirely to actually understand it. You should talk over the common types of foreseeable charges with detective agency or practitioner you wish to contract. Make sure you get to fully explain what these charges are and what triggers them. Their explanations must be clear, plain, and be directly related to the outcomes you desire. Also, it would help if you get the detective to tell you different scenarios when each charge will materialize. If they are inclined, try to push them to come up with an estimate on the probability each foreseeable charge will be involved in your case. While the agency might not be able to comply with all your demands, the more of the information described above you get them to volunteer, the better. You need all this information to make a truly informed decision.
Make sure that you pay close attention to the qualities above. If too many of them are missing, you need to look for another investigator to hire. If the person you’re considering has all or most of these qualities, go with that person. There’s just too much at stake, for you to overlook or ignore any of the considerations described above.
