Police Officer To Private Investigator.

For many police officers looking for a career change, many consider a natural transition from being a police officer to becoming a private investigator. Many succeed but many also fail. This blog hopefully, will help anyone considering the transition go on to make it a succesful venture.

There are lots of detective agencies in the UK and all over the world that are run by ex police officers, especially those that come from a detective role. Some have put in 30 years of service and when it’s time for something new, why not carry on doing something that they know and create a business of investigating? It makes perfect sense but I am going to tell you the differences between working in the police and working as a private individual.

Legalities & evidence.

Working in the private sector is going to be a lot different to what you are used to because you will now have no more powers than any other civilian. You wont be able to seize electronic equipment such as computers and mobile phones for analysis of messages, calls and cell site analysis. You wont be able to check someones criminal history on a computer database. You will not be able to check a vehicle registration mark to find the registered keeper, you wont be able to confiscate any substances to prove drug use. Looking into individuals private and business bank accounts is out of bounds. You wont be able to compel someone to attend an interview and the list goes on.

At this juncture you may wonder if it is worth the transition. The issue a PI has is down to legalities. However, although it’s more long winded there are usually ways to bring an investigation to a succesful conclusion using other legal methods. Being a PI you will have to learn all about GDPR as that is what constraints you will have to work with. Any breach of GDPR in your investigation is not a legal one and this will not be good for you or your client if you use illegal methods to prove your case.

Adaption is key.

The above paragraph basically says that you can be succesful working in the private sector but you just need to adapt. One area I see a lot of ex police fail is in the surveillance arena. you have probably worked in a surveillance team for 20 years. In that time you have dealt with some serious criminals from drug dealers to suspected terrorists in your time in surveillance so there is nothing you need to learn, right? WRONG! I have seen so many ex cops fail here for the simple reason that they did not prepare for civvy street and worse of all because they, in their minds  know everything and they failed or refused to adapt.

Let me explain the differences between surveillance in the police to surveillance in the private sector.

At best you will now be working as a three man team but usually a two man team. In the police there would probably be a 7 man or more team which means your exposure levels would be much less.

You will now be working to a private individuals or a small companies budget as opposed to the public purse and results will be expected in a much smaller time scale. This means at times getting in closer than you would like and now theres only probably two of you gaining exposure as opposed to having the luxury of 7, 8 or 9 officers spreading the exposure levels out and ‘losing’ yourself for longer periods so you are not fresh in your subjects memory.

Last but certainly not least we come back to evidence. In the civilian world if theres no imagery then it didn’t happen. Everything we do in surveillance requires imagery to back up our report. From a simple matrimonial/infidelity surveillance to an insurance fraud or criminal case imagery is required. Mrs Jones wants to hit her wayward husband with a report showing him with his floosie the night before. It’s no good a report saying what he did without photographic evidence to back it up. The same is true for insurance fraud. If the guy is claiming for injuries sustained in a car accident renders him unable to use his upper limbs, it proves nothing if the report says we saw him in the gym lifting 100kg but there is no imagery to back it up.

What’s the best way to prepare myself before going into a private investigation role?

Here, I hope to advise you of what I have learned from my 28 years of working as a private investigator but before I do, let me tell you about myself. I do not come from a police or military background, however, I was mentored by an ex police surveillance operative who saw something in me, who not only taught me surveillance but also helped show me how to run my business. Over the years I have seen many people come and go and this advice is purely from my observations.

Look for a private investigator course the ABI offer several courses. The IPI also does a general all round course  These can be done long distance if required but dont do a long distance surveillance course, this needs to be done practically not remotely. I did a long distance (non surveillance) PI course many years ago and it helped me immensely. Steer away from any courses that have the wording similar to “Licensed private investigation course” There is no such thing at this time as licensing for PI’s.

If you are considering surveillance, even if you have years of surveillance under your belt its worth doing a five day course where you can learn all about surveillance in the private sector and get your hands on some of the kit we use including camera equipment. My advice would be to steer clear of the training providers that have images of themselves in camouflage clothing on tanks in the desert and appear full of self ego. A tank is not going to help you carry out covert surveillance.

As mentioned previously, you will need to produce photographic evidence. Not only that, the photography or videography has to be good. This is where a lot of ex police fail. They arm themselves with a camcorder and take poor, shaky and out of focus footage, which demonstrates lack of experience and lack of professionalism. Just last week I watched a police documentary where they carried out surveillance on a drug dealing team. The main surveillance operative boasted 34 years experience. His footage was shocking. Out of focus, in focus, shaking about it was terrible and akin to someone with parkinsons! Produce that in civvy street and I guarantee no surveillance team will have you work with them again. This is a small world and trust me word gets around and this is where you will fail!

If you can find yourself a mentor, this is gold dust as they will advise you on everything from the latest covert and non covert kit, how to kit out your vehicle and many other useful things such as price structuring for your new clients. I value the input of a mentor above everything else. A good course is your foundation but the real learning is on the ground.