DESERT  DETECTIVE  AGENCY

Choosing Your

Licensed Private Investigator

The Arizona Department of Public Safety is the agency that issues P.I. licenses.  On their web site, DPS has a link entitled, "Things You Should Know Before Hiring a Private Investigative Agency."   The following information may be helpful to you if you have never before hired a Private Investigator.  It is paraphrased from the DPS web site:

Prior to contacting a P.I., the consumer should specifically identify what it is they want to know, what their expectations are and how much money they can afford to spend. Additionally, consumers may want to first check on the P.I. (or agency) using a consumer assistance group (such as the Better Business Bureau), researching reports on the internet, or examining other sources of business information.  

Once a P.I. is selected, talk to the investigator and discuss the case with him, to include what you want to know, what your expectations are and how much you can afford (total). The P.I. should readily provide options and inform you if your goals and finances are realistic for the case.  If the P.I. cannot provide this information, you may want to look elsewhere.  Once you are in agreement with a P.I., a written contract may be drawn up that specifically states what will be done, deadlines, fees, frequency of reports, estimated costs, etc, so that no significant issues are left unknown.  While a written contract is not required by law, the lack of such an instrument can prove detrimental for both the P.I. and the client if problems later arise.  Once the P.I. has completed the agreed upon work, the client is required to pay the P.I . (or as otherwise agreed upon) before the P.I. is required to provide a case report to the client.  The case report may be written or verbal.

Many times, consumers believe that their retainer will cover ALL of the costs for their case.  This simply may not be true. Consumers must be aware that a retainer is normally required before a P.I. will do any work on your case and that payment of a retainer in no way means there will not be further billing for services (unless it is specified in a contract).  Initial billing is normally deducted from the retainer and once that runs out, the client is normally notified.   Anyone seeking the services of a P.I. should consider obtaining a written contract that details what the consumer wants, what the fees will be, time limits and what the P.I .can actually perform.  No questions should go unanswered.

If you are comfortable with the P.I., verbal contracts are permitted and common, however, you may have difficulties if problems later occur and there is no written agreement.

Oftentimes, P.I.'s will bill consumers for phone calls, making copies, office consultations and in particular, "stand-by" time.  Stand-by time usually occurs when you are directing a P.I .to wait on your behalf for an event to occur, such as the subject of an investigation to go somewhere.  A P.I. at his office or home on "stand-by" may legally bill you for this time - make sure you and the P.I. understand what is expected.

Generally, every person performing P.I . services in Arizona must be licensed by the AZ DPS Licensing Unit, although there are a few exceptions.  P.I.'s are provided an ID card that shows who they are and when their license expires - ask to see their P.I. ID card and record the license number and expiration date.   The State of Arizona requires no prior experience for a person to become a P.I. and only three years of investigative experience to establish a P.I. agency.

P.I.s must provide their clients with a case report (written or verbal) at the completion of services, once final payment has been made (or other option has been agreed upon in a contract).  In some cases, you and the P.I. may have agreed that your case will be performed in sections and that each section will require payment at its completion, then the client will receive a report.  Other agreements may be established as well.  Regardless, know exactly what the terms are before you sign a contract or enter into a verbal agreement.  The final report should normally provide a detailed picture of what was done, when it was done, how much time was expended on your case, the results of the investigation and the cost of each component of the investigation, such as:  Time expended on surveillance, phone calls, stand-by time, photo and video processing, extra investigators, special equipment, etc.  If agreed upon by the client and the P.I., a basic verbal report is also appropriate.

Persons hiring a P.I. must be aware that cases will not always turn out the way they expect or hope.  Surveillance work, inheritance research, debugging and divorce asset searches are all classic examples of potentially expensive P.I. work that may prove fruitless for the client, however, P.I.'s may still legally bill you for their time and efforts and you are obligated to pay them.  Inability to obtain desirable or favorable results for a client does not legally justify disciplining a P.I.  For example, the Licensing Unit cannot discipline a P.I. for his inability to locate the person he was hired to find.

A  P.I. or P.I. agency may not perform nor advertise executive protection or body guard work unless they are also licensed as a security guard and/or security guard agency (except under very limited circumstances).  

If you are hiring a P.I. to perform work for you and there is a deadline for that work to be completed, ensure that the date is written into a contract!

A client may ask for evidence of work performed by a P.I.  This evidence could include photographs or videotape of a certain location or event, an audio recording, copies of documents, receipts, etc, to name a few.  For example, a client may want to know if a certain car is parked at a hotel in a city 100 miles away.  The P.I .travels to the hotel, locates the car and photographs or videotapes the car (while parked at the hotel) - this would constitute evidence that the P.I. performed the work.  As another example, a client may want a P.I. to watch a house to determine if any cars pull into the driveway and then videotape the car and occupants.  But what happens if the P.I. is watching the house and no cars arrive so the P.I. doesn't record any video?  There is nothing wrong with this if the client is comfortable with it, however, many P.I.'s will use a video or digital camera to record short (5-20 second) time and date stamped videos (or photos) of the location and offer them to the client as evidence they performed the work.  Consumers should be wary of P.I.'s that refuse to show evidence of work performed or at least explain what they have done.  Bottom line: Get this requirement in writing if it is important to you.

Generally, it is illegal under federal law (the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) for a person (or P.I.) to obtain account information from financial institutions (such as banks) unless the account owner gives their consent.