There is a certain romance and myth surrounding the female detective. Tough, skilled and able to hold her own among her peers and fellow detectives, the female detective was once one of the most overlooked resources of crime fighting. These days, though, this is true no longer. Here are 4 reasons why female detectives are as good as (or even better than) male detectives:

Female detectives are not considered intimidating.
Consider some of the most famous female detectives in popular culture – from the very astute Ms. Marple to the dynamic duo Cagney & Lacey to the very capable Olivia Benson of SVU. These are women who are intelligent, resourceful, capable of defending victims and themselves, can throw a mean punch and play mind games with criminals.

However, even with all their firepower and physical capabilities, female detectives are not as intimidating as their male counterparts. It’s easier for them to approach victims and witnesses, who are less likely to run away from them or withhold information.

Most people give information more readily to female detectives.
It’s quite common to see someone offer more information to a woman inquiring about something than they would to a man. Most people won’t suspect an unfamiliar woman asking around the neighborhood. They would readily discuss what they know or have seen with a female detective.

Certain sensitive cases are best left in the hands of female detectives.
Some detective work, such as those involving women and children are often assigned to female detectives. Cases involving family, child abuse and abandonment, marital problems and violence against women are often much easier for women detectives to handle.

Female detectives are more emotionally equipped for certain sensitive work, especially those that require empathy and understanding. Child and women victims, more often than not, prefer to discuss their cases with female law enforcement officers. This is why detectives or police personnel assigned to handle cases involving abuse or sexual assault are women.

Female detectives can play certain roles for undercover work.
Quite frankly, there are certain roles that male detectives just can’t play in real life. They could, for example, pretend to be 16-year-old girls online but try as they might, they wouldn’t be able to do the same thing in real life. They leave this type of undercover work to female detectives. In the area of undercover work, female detectives can play mothers, sisters, nannies, secretaries, girlfriends, waitresses, nurses, even prostitutes, depending on the case.

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Contrary to popular belief, having a gift for solving mysteries and the knack for disguises are not enough to make anyone into a private investigator. The government has, indeed, strict laws regarding private investigations and only the states of Wyoming, South Dakota, Missouri, and Mississippi, Idaho, and Colorado don’t currently require private investigators to have licenses to operate.

A Glimpse of California Regulations for Private Investigation Firms
Even if you’re planning to offer private investigation services in any of the aforementioned states, it would still be to your business’s advantage if you’re able to obtain a private investigation license. To give you an idea of what kind of requirements you’d need to comply with, let’s take a look with what California, one of the states with the toughest laws for PIs, asks of its private investigators.

Definition of a Private Investigator’s Work
To work as a private investigator, the services of your business must be any of the following: investigate cause of accidents (natural or man-made) and injury, location of stolen or lost property, identity, character, occupation, or business of a person, and crimes; secure evidence for court use; lastly, protect persons if it’s a minor part of the investigation.

Requirements for a Private Investigator
The state of California requires private investigators to be at least eighteen years old.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as well as the California Department of Justice (DOJ) will also subject all applicants to a criminal history background check.

Those applying for licenses for private investigation must also possess work experience in the given field for at least three years. Such work should be compensated and amounting to two thousand hours at work annually or a total of 6,000 work hours in three years.

There are alternatives offered to the aforementioned requirement. Those with degrees in police science or law may apply for a license if they’ve experience in investigative work amounting to at least two years or 4,000 work hours.

Those with AA degrees in criminal law, justice, or police science may also apply once they’ve accumulated 5,000 hours at work in at least 2 and a half years.

All work hours tallied by applicants must be certified by your employer and received while you are still in the person’s employ as arson investigator for fire suppression agencies of the government, PI firm employee or repossessor, insurance adjuster, or a law enforcement officer.

Lastly, all applicants will have to take a 2-hour multiple-choice test.

If you think you can comply with all these requirements then you have a bright future ahead of you as a private investigator.

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To make your private investigator company distinguishable from the rest, you need to offer more services and promise better performance at better rates. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Offer Comprehensive Services
Clients prefer to transact with one company for all their private investigation needs. Specializing is one thing, but instead of making your company specialize in one area of investigation, why not hire specialists for each field so you can cater to all your clients’ needs?

Instead of offering just background investigation for domestic and business concerns, consider expanding your company’s services to include solving crimes, obtaining and securing evidence for court use, finding missing persons, investigating fraud, and providing security and protection measures for clients.

Hire Qualified Private Investigators
The reputation of your private investigator company will be largely based on the performance of your investigators. You can start building your reputation by assuring your clients of the exemplary qualifications of your investigators.

To be true to your word, make sure that all your private investigators are licensed to operate. In most cases, this would mean that all your employees are of legal age, have zero criminal records, considerable work experience, and passed the necessary tests for licensing.

Neither would it hurt if you’ve enrolled them in special training programs to give your investigators the necessary skills for client consultations. Many a client have been lost not because of an investigator’s inexperience in the field but more because of his poor communication skills.

Offer Estimates and Negotiable Rates
Rates are almost always variable in private investigation because lots of unexpected factors can come up and affect the direction and cost of the investigation. Clients, however, will feel more comfortable with your firm if you can promise them to estimate expenses every step of the way. If possible, promise them the change to negotiate rates as well; haggling might reduce your rates by a few dollars but it can also assure you a steady line of projects from loyal clients.

Use State of the Art Technology
Private investigations can be wrapped up more quickly if the people handling the case are not just efficient but also have access to state of the art technology. Technology has always been a significant help to investigative cases and it’s to your advantage if you let your clients know that you have the means of using the best equipment to solve cases quickly and affordably.

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Not everyone in this world can unfortunately be considered trustworthy, and this is something you have to remember when you’re in the process of hiring private investigators. All of them may appear sympathetic and eager to help, but you need to look deeper and dig for more facts to be certain that you’re hiring the ideal investigator for your need.

Hire someone trusted by people you trust.
If you don’t know any private investigator then try to at least hire investigators trusted by people you know and trust. You may not be sure of the investigator’s characters but you can at least personally vouch for the people who referred the investigator to you. That’s almost as good, don’t you think?

Verify facts.
A private investigator will have to supply you with his business name and address, a list of clients or references, and his license details. Make sure to verify all of them. Even if the documents he has submitted to you appear to be official and authentic, there’s nothing wrong with double-checking and ensuring that they are indeed valid.

Ask about SOP.
It is your right as a client to know how the private investigator intends to proceed with the case. This is especially important when you’re dealing with personal matters and there may be certain steps the investigator might take but you’d rather not have him do.

In many cases, private investigators submit periodical reports to their clients and ask for permission before taking any kind of action. If this is not part of your investigator’s SOP then make sure to have him include it. With these terms, you can at least be assured that you won’t be shocked by the total bill of your investigation.

Get everything in writing.
Oral contracts or agreements rarely, if ever, hold up in court so it’s best to get everything you agree upon in writing. Ask whatever you need to ask and don’t be afraid to ask for additional information if something still remains clear. Private investigation is costly and you need to know how much you’ll be charged for what to estimate the total cost of your investigation.

Once all terms and conditions have been agreed to, make sure to read your contract several times before signing on the dotted line. Don’t ignore the fine print!

Last but not the least, go with your gut instincts. No matter how highly recommended a private investigator is, he still isn’t the ideal choice if you don’t feel comfortable transacting with him.

image credits to John.P

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