How To Get A Private Investigators License Florida

Not just anyone can put up a shingle and claim to be a private investigator in the state of Florida. Private Investigators are deemed credible people with serious responsibilities by the state of Florida and they must be licensed by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Licensing. Otherwise they could be prosecuted as criminals, if they act as professional private investigators anywhere in the state.

In most cases to become a private investigator to pass the license test a candidate will need to have taken a college course or a state licensing class. Also, often firearms licenses are needed so state certified firearms classes must be taken and a test must be taken and passed for that as well. Take a look at many of the duties that private investigators perform in the course of their work, and you’ll see why Florida takes Private Investigation Certifications and Requirements so seriously:

•  Work with law enforcement agencies: Private investigators can have investigations cross investigations with police or other law enforcement officials. In these cases, though working for a private citizen or firm, a private investigator can “compare notes” with an agency official in an effort to help the law enforcement official solve their case or whatever they are working on.
• Work with attorneys: Attorneys frequently hire private investigators to perform a number of tasks, from running background checks to literally investigating people or organizations an attorney may be building a case for or against.
• Work with private citizens: Many people hire private investigators for many reasons. Some of the most common include to track down lost friends and relatives a person has lost touch with over the years, or to help a person ascertain whether or not their partner is cheating on them.
• In some cases, be licensed for and carry firearms: Unfortunately some tasks that a private investigator performs can be risky or dangerous, and therefore they must be licensed to carry and potentially use a firearm.
• Conduct background searches on people and organizations: Companies and people hiring individuals often want to check a potential employee or contractor’s history before paying them good money and bringing them into their lives or businesses.
• Conduct character investigations and give character references: Again, attorneys, private citizens and companies may hire a private investigator to research a particular person’s character before hiring them or before calling on them as a witness in court.
• Investigate the credibility or potential witnesses: This can be crucial when it comes to testimony being affective in a court case. The witness must be credible.·      Investigate missing person’s cases: Sadly the law enforcement system only has so much time, money and manpower, and after a time the hard search for a missing person may die down. That doesn’t mean that family or friends are ready to give up, though.
• Investigate crimes such as theft and shoplifting: Loss prevention and control is a frequent task for private detectives, who know what to look for and how to catch thieves and prevent loss before it happens.

source https://fastinvestigators.com/how-to-get-a-private-investigators-license-florida/

How Private Investigators Help Attorneys

Attorneys have cases of all forms, and clients of all shapes and sizes from all walks of life and all classes, all with different needs. Often in the course of constructing or building a case, or even closing a case out, attorneys require the skills of a good private detective. Private detectives perform countless duties for lawyers, from digging up dirt in divorce cases to tracking down criminal activities in serious legal cases.

Private investigators are not law enforcement officials, but they are licensed and insured and trained in surveillance and detective skills. So while there are some things that private investigators simply can’t do for attorneys, there are plenty of things that they can do to help on a case. Here is a list of ways that private detectives assist attorneys on a regular basis:

 

• Background Checks: Information from credit reports, criminal records and past living addresses are investigated.
• Criminal Investigations: Private investigators, within the legal limits of the law, will follow clues and try and solve cases to the best of their abilities.
• Investigating a Digital Footprint: This is a big service in the modern digital age, where so much can be found about people through the Internet and social media. Cheating spouses can be found, threats, past instances of instabilities or even bigotry can be located in the digital footprint a person leaves.
• Records Searches: Private investigators can compile comprehensive records searches, from criminal backgrounds to even credit checks for potential high level employees or potential marriage partners. Attorneys represent many clients with comprehensive search needs for various reasons.
• Following Suspects: To a certain degree, as dictated by state law, private investigators can tail people or follow people. In fact, in divorce cases or corporate cases so long as someone who requests this service is on a title, private investigators can use GPS to track someone’s car or phone.
• Gathering Intelligence: There are a myriad of legal ways for private investigators to gather intelligence on potential lawsuit targets, potential employees, and even corporate competition for corporate clients.
• Surveillance: Modern technology has made the skilled private investigator much better at performing surveillance, if they know what they are doing and utilize the best technology available.
• Credibility investigations: What good is a witness in any case if their credibility is destroyed, no matter how great or truthful their testimony. Investigators are used to both verify and fine holes in a potential witness’ credibility.
• Tracking down potential witnesses: Sometimes witnesses leave a scene before they can be identified and they must be tracked down and interviewed to build a successful case.

source https://fastinvestigators.com/how-private-investigators-help-attorneys/

Who Do Private Investigators Work For?

Private investigators perform a number of important functions, from criminal investigation to simple background reports. Here are a number of employers who often need the services of a good private investigator.

 

• Celebrities: Living a high profile life is the stuff that dreams are made of, but it comes with many aggravations and responsibilities. There are overzealous fans to deal with, paparazzi, and people who simply want to get close to celebrities. They need a skilled buffer to guard and protect them, but they also need a security detail that protects their privacy and realizes that they, too, have lives. Sometimes they need VIP Bodyguards and they also need private investigators to tack down information on people who may be stalking or harassing them, or to find other information they may need.
• Attorneys: Attorneys often need private security detectives to follow up details for them on cases, to do background checks and sometimes to follow people (like in divorce cases) and to perform full investigative duties. Private investigators can help with criminal cases and civil cases alike, but they are not police officers, so there are legal limitations as to what a private investigative detective can do.
• Executives: Executive protection is a more common service provided by security guards and Private investigative officers these days. When a problem arises with someone bothering an executive or even a competitor needs to be investigated, however, business executives often turn to private detectives to help find the information that they need, from legal surveillance to criminal record checks.
• Private Citizens: Unfortunately problems arise every day for private citizens too, and they sometimes need the services of a good private detective. In many cases a spouse may believe that their significant other is cheating on them, or a divorce may already be in process and help may be needed to settle custody cases. There are many instances where private citizens need the help of a skilled private investigator.
• Insurance Companies: It would be nice if insurance companies can take claims at face value and people at their word but sadly the reality is they cannot. People make false claims and sometimes lie on claims, and often there is too much work to be done for insurance adjusters. This is where a great private investigator will come in handy.
• Retail Stores: Aside from patrolling and watching retail goods and inventory in a store and preventing retail loss, private investigators are often employed by retail outlets to perform follow-up investigative work on employees or customers who may have committed or may be committing crimes like theft. Private investigators can also help train on site staff to prevent retail loss.
• Corporations and Other Businesses: When new employees are hired, often management will hire a good private investigator firm to perform detailed criminal and background checks on potential employees. This is especially the case when it comes to positions of responsibility.

source https://fastinvestigators.com/who-do-private-investigators-work-for/

How Private Investigators are used to Complete Background Checks

There are many ways that private detectives check on employees and potential employees for companies, as these people will represent an organization and often will hold responsibilities to protect company property, funds or assets. Here is a list of some of the ways that private investigators can help with due diligence on employee candidates:

• Verify employee claims – Sometimes, when choosing a potential employee from a group of good candidates in a tight race, something a potential employee claims to have done, such as spending a summer abroad helping charities, is the thing that convinces a company to hire one person over another. But what if this is a lie? A PI can find the truth of any claim.
• Verify employee work history – Past work history is a main factor when it comes to hiring, so it is important to make sure that a candidate actually has the experience and work history that they claim to have.
• Verify educational history – Like work history, educational history is a big hiring factor. If someone needs a degree to attain a position and they didn’t really get the degree, then they are not suited for the position. A private detective can verify all educational records.
• Verify identity – Believe it or not, some people are not even who they claim to be. Perhaps they are criminals or illegal aliens, but it is imperative to make certain that the person you are hiring is who they claim to be.
• Check for a hidden criminal background – Just because a person doesn’t have an apparent criminal background, it doesn’t mean an incident wasn’t buried or dismissed. A PI can find any criminal issues.
• Check for past drug or alcohol issues – While someone may be clean now, they may have past addiction issues, and in some jobs, that may be a problem. If someone has to work with drugs, for example, and they have dealt with drug addictions in the past, these are simply things that need to be discovered.
• Check for credit history – Some employees must be bonded or must have good credit, and a credit history must be thoroughly vetted.
• Check for past insurance claims – Unfortunately some people have one or two or more past claims with insurance companies, and while these could be for completely legitimate reasons, they may cause companies problems with current insurance carriers.
• Check out references – Again, like verifying experiences, checking with the people a candidate claims to be a reference is a good practice. If a reference has bad things to say, a candidate can be eliminated right away.
• Search public records – Even if a candidate doesn’t have a criminal record, there may be public records that a private investigator can dig up that show a history of issues with a potential employee.
• Search social media and Internet footprint – In today’s world the digital footprint is a big deal, and some employees have been FIRED for things they have said and done on social media or online. It is best to check these things before the person becomes your employee, and your responsibility.

 

The Private Investigators at Fast Investigators (fastinvestigators.com) run excellent, cost effective background checks, and can help your company today!

source https://fastinvestigators.com/how-private-investigators-are-used-to-complete-background-checks/