Many jurisdictions require PIs to be licensed. Depending on local laws, they may or may not carry a
firearm. Equipment can vary greatly, but generally involves a wide variety of
surveillance equipment and recording devices. While PIs may investigate criminal matters, they typically do not hold any
law enforcement authority by virtue of the position, regardless of licensure. Private investigators’ authority is usually identical to other citizens’ (off-duty or retired
law enforcement officers serving as a PI may retain their police powers at all times, depending on the jurisdiction). They are expected to keep detailed notes and to be prepared to testify in court regarding any of their observations on behalf of their clients, irregular hours may also be required when performing surveillance work. These include phone hacking,
pretexting, identity theft and other illegal means of accessing government, insurance and police databases to obtain highly sensitive private information on their targets.
Australia Private investigators in Australia must be licensed by the licensing authority relevant to the state where they are located. This applies to all states except the Australian Capital Territory. Companies offering investigation services must also hold a business licence and all their operatives must hold individual licences. Generally, the licences are administered and regulated by the state police; however, in some states, this can also be managed by other government agencies. The evidence collected by private investigators must adhere to strict rules of admissibility. If proper protocols are not followed during the investigation services, the evidence may be deemed inadmissible in the court of law. To become registered in New South Wales requires a Class 2E licence, which can be applied for through the NSW Fair Trading website. The Australian Capital Territory does not require PIs to be licensed, although they are still bound by legislation. PIs working in the ACT cannot enter the NSW area without a CAPI license, else they will be in breach of the law. In Queensland, a private investigator need to be licensed under the
Queensland Government and apply for a private investigator licence by completing an application for a security provider licence. Applicant will need to have a criminal history check and submit fingerprint.
Canada Private investigators in Canada are licensed at the provincial level by the appropriate body. For instance, in the province of
Ontario, private investigators are licensed and regulated by the Ministry of Community Safety & Correctional Services (MCSCS). In the province of
Alberta, private investigators are licensed and regulated by the Alberta Justice and Solicitor General. Similar licensing requirements apply in other
provinces and territories of Canada. As per the
Ontario text of the Private Security and Investigative Services Act of 2005, private investigators are forbidden from referring to themselves as
detective or
private detective. In order to become a licensed private investigator, you must be 18 years of age or older in
Ontario (in other
Provinces and territories of Canada the eligible age to work may be higher); have a clean criminal record or obtain a waiver; and submit a correctly completed application for a license. You are required to complete 50-hours of basic training with an accredited source such as a university, college, or through private agencies licensed to administer the course. Upon completion of basic training, individuals are required to write and pass the basic test to obtain a private investigator's license
UK In 2001, the Private Security Industry Act empowered the
Security Industry Authority (SIA) to introduce licensing for private investigators in the United Kingdom. Although the SIA regulates various other sectors of the private security industry, the specific licensing framework for private investigators has never been fully implemented, and remains unimplemented . As a result, there is no government-backed licensing scheme for private investigators in the UK. The SIA has periodically announced potential dates for when private investigator licensing might take effect, including a proposal for discussion in Parliament in May 2015. However, no formal scheme has emerged. In December 2014, Corporate Livewire published an article by a UK private investigator at BAR Investigations, discussing the implications of the unimplemented licensing regime and other industry concerns. The cost of hiring a private investigator in the UK varies according to the complexity of the inquiry and the investigator’s level of experience, with typical daily rates ranging from £200 to £500.
United States Private investigators in the United States may or may not be licensed or registered by a government licensing authority or state police of the state where they are located. Licensing varies from state to state and can range from: a) no state license required; b) city or state business license required (such as in the five states of
Idaho,
Alaska,
Mississippi,
South Dakota, and
Wyoming); c) to needing several years of experience and licensing-related training classes and testing (as is the case with
Virginia, West Virginia, and
California). In some states (Indiana, Michigan, Rhode Island), work experience can be substituted with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. In many states, companies offering investigation services must hold an agency license, and all of their investigators or detectives must hold individual licenses or registrations; furthermore, certain states such as
Washington have separate classes of licensing for roles such as trainers of private investigators, individual private investigators, and private investigative agencies. A few states require character references from people not related to the applicant by blood or marriage (3 in Massachusetts, 5 in Minnesota). A few reciprocity agreements allow a US private investigator working in one state to continue work in another for a limited time without getting a separate license, but not all states participate in these agreements. In 1887,
Colorado became the first state in the union to institute licensing requirements for private investigators. Section 12-21-101 of the 1973 edition of
Colorado Revised Statutes mandated license for "detective business", section 12-21-109 declared unlicensed operation a misdemeanor. However, on February 7, 1977, after
El Paso County challenged a local security company Ro'Mar Investigation and Security, Inc.'s right to conduct investigations without a license, the
Colorado Supreme Court deemed the law unconstitutional in People v. Ro'Mar, citing that the statute did not define a "detective business" and the
Secretary of State lacked the ability to define it by rule. Following this, several private investigators formed Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado (PPIAC) in order to try to get the licensing laws reinstated, but the bills died in the General Assembly. Four reviews carried out by the
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies in 1985, 1987, 2000 and 2006 recommended against state regulation due to the lack to harm to consumers. On June 10, 2011,
Governor John Hickenlooper signed into law Colorado House Bill 1195, which reinstated licenses for private investigators on voluntary basis effective July 1, 2012. A license applicant would have to be of 21 years of age or older, hold United States citizenship and have at least 4,000 hours of work experience as an investigator or part of a local, state or federal law enforcement agency; or 2,000 hours with post-secondary education. On June 6, 2014, Hickenlooper signed into law Senate Bill 133, which effective June 1, 2015, made licensure mandatory. This split the licenses into two categories: Class I, requiring the applicant to be 21 years of age or older, hold United States citizenship and pass the Colorado Jurisprudence Exam. Class II requires in addition to Class I requirements a minimum of 4,000 hours of work experience as an investigator or part of a local, state or federal law enforcement agency. In 2019, following a review, the
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies' Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform suggested licensure requirement elimination, predicting "little to no consumer harm". In June 2020, Governor
Jared Polis vetoed House Bill 1207 to keep licensure requirements, causing the licensure requirements to expire on August 31, 2021. Florida has 3 types of licenses: Class CC for private investigator intern, C for private investigator, and MA for manager of a private investigative agency. As Class C license requires at least two years of experience, most applicants start with Class CC, which allows them to work under a sponsorship of a licensed Class C investigator. For a Private Investigator License in New York, an investigator needs three years of verifiable experience, and to pass a NY State Department of State Division of licensing Services exam. In 1893
a federal law was passed explicitly barring the government from employing the Pinkerton Detective Agency or a similar agency.
Vietnam Current Vietnamese law stipulates that investigation is the authority of state agencies. According to the Investment Law and Decrees 108/2006/NĐ-CP and 52/2008/NĐ-CP, businesses providing security services are not allowed to conduct investigations or private detective activities in any form. However, due to social demand, private detective offices have rapidly developed. Recently, private detective services have grown significantly, primarily in the form of information provision. Common services in Vietnam include information investigation, address finding, surveillance, phone number tracking, information verification, missing person searches, DNA testing, and counterfeit goods investigation. The cost of hiring a private investigator is around one million VND per day. For cases involving infidelity surveillance or searching for missing children, clients may pay tens of millions of VND per contract. Additionally, some internet service providers have shown signs of participating in this service. In general,
Vietnam needs a clear legal framework for the private detective profession. In reality, many private detectives operate illegally, leading to calls for proper regulation of this profession. ==Fiction==