Ian Harm

I wrote this article for my own blog a few months ago. I hope that someone will find the information useful and I hope nobody minds me reproducing it here.

Private Investigations
Investigations depend largely on the gathering and analysis of factual information. This gathering of Information is the main purpose of an investigation and it is a fact that no case could be solved, no assets recovered or missing person located without the investigator or detective successfully gathering information. There are many skills required in order to become a competent and skilful investigator for any type of investigation.

Private Investigators
The private investigator, or private detective, is often the last hope for many people and the modern-day investigator must learn to think and process information as a sort of sophisticated machine; recording and observing everything. Regardless of the case, the investigator wants and needs answers to the questions; Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. In the investigation profession we call it the ‘5WH Formula’. On some of the investigative interview courses I attended over the years the trainers used to impress the importance of ‘5WH’ upon us by illustrating the following quote:

“I keep six honest serving-men
They taught me all I knew;
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who”.

(Rudyard Kipling from ‘The Elephant’s Child’)

Three methods that investigators use to update information are:

Researching public records
Interviewing individuals who possess relevant information
Surveillance of individuals to learn about their behaviour

“It is essential that Investigators use one, two, or all three of these methods in order to obtain the information needed by the client. In order to be really effective an investigator must know how to do all three extremely well” (Rory J McMahon CLI).

What is an investigator?

In a nutshell, investigators are professional researchers and analysts that employ observation, enquiry, examination, experimentation and analysis to obtain evidence and information upon which to enable sound decision making. To achieve success as an investigator, certain basic guidelines must be adhered to.

When seeking information a good investigator will ask many questions. He/she will often repeat questions to uncover inconsistencies, following up with more detailed questions in order to as we say, ‘bottom the investigation’. It is a fact that you can never gather too much information; however you can ask too few questions. It is easy to eliminate non-essential information later on but takes more time and effort to revisit people if you haven’t asked enough of the right questions.

It is essential to recognise that suspects, criminals and other subjects under investigation come from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds and they are represented by all races, both sexes, and an endless variety of lifestyles.

When investigating never commit yourself to the guilt or innocence of anyone whom you may question. Remember, your purpose is to gather facts; analysis, evaluation and judgement will come later. Never be overconfident, be certain that you have gathered all the information before you deciding that you have come to the end of the investigation, ask yourself the question “is there anymore information I should try to obtain? Is there I anything that I have overlooked that could make a difference in the outcome of the investigation?”

Never take things at face value and never assume how much information is needed before you have started searching. Faulty premise and wrong assumptions often lead to the loss of important information and evidence.

Develop informants and sources of information before you need them. No investigator can get along without using information sources as sources, be it human or otherwise can provide shortcuts to many problems during an investigation.

Qualities of a good investigator
The following attributes are the special qualities that will help a good investigator achieve success:

Suspicion
Be cautious of things that are obvious and wary of people who are quick to provide alibis and identification. Look for verification and corroboration from different sources whenever possible.

Curiosity
You must develop your own curiosity and follow up on it. Have the desire for the truth. A deeply inquisitive mind is essential to the investigator.

Observation
Your five senses are very important assets so use them well. It may be important for you to remember unusual things about an individual (i.e. his posture or the way he dresses). Become skilled at observing details.

Memory
The ability to accurately recall facts and occurrences or the physical characteristics of suspect is an invaluable skill.

An unbiased and unprejudiced mind
Bias and prejudice will result in a poor investigation, unfairness to the subjects of investigations, and a shrouding of facts and information that need to be uncovered in an objective way. Some investigators hatch a theory and then look for evidence to support that theory, this is called ‘confirmation bias’ and this is not the correct way to operate. Where professional investigations are concerned you must keep an open mind. It is a must to not let personal feelings interfere with the process of investigation.

Playing a role
This skill is especially important for private investigators who work alone most of the time. Using your own identity can sometimes expose you to danger. The ability to assume believable identities is particularly valuable when carrying out activities such as surveillance, undercover activities, and a host of confidential enquiries.

Persistence and desire to work hard
Repeatedly, you will find yourself working late into the night to follow up a promising lead or question a particularly valuable source of information.

Ingenuity
An investigator has to be able to become accustomed to all types of stressful situations that may demand the skills of being able to improvise, adapt and ‘think outside the box’.

Ability to obtain the co-operation of others
Whilst investigating, you will make many contacts, such as clients, witnesses, suspects, and some will just be well-meaning members of the public who can provide information. It is critical that you obtain co-operation from as many people as possible to secure the crucial facts and information that you will need to bring an investigation to its successful conclusion. You need to have patience, good manners, diplomacy, and understanding. A suspect or witness who has been browbeaten, scared, or annoyed by an impatient investigator has no value to the investigation.

Interest in your work and pride of accomplishment
Real success in any profession is based on a sincere deep interest and pride in a job well done. The knowledge that your efforts can bring a criminal to justice, trace or locate a missing loved one or solve a particular problem for your client, can bring you enormous satisfaction.

Be Street Wise
You should have a shrewd understanding of the way the world operates and how people manoeuvre their way through it. This can be heightened and refined. The more time you interact at the street level and the more attention you apply to detail, the sharper your street- sense will become. This can be learnt and sharpened with experience in the investigative field.

Effective Communications Skills
You must be a good listener in order to effectively communicate. Moreover, in order to be good at interviewing people, you must be able to communicate effectively with the person to whom you are questioning. If you don’t have good listening skills, it will impair your real effectiveness as an interviewer. As a consequence, you will find it very difficult to be a successful criminal defence or corporate investigator. There is nothing more off-putting than someone speaking down to someone or using speech or language that is difficult to comprehend. You must be able to speak to anyone from a young person with a limited education to a professional person, in language that is appropriate and clear.

Understanding of body language
To know if a person is truthful in an interview situation, you must be able to read body language. As an investigator you may interview a potential witness for a short period of time. At the end of that time you must assess that person’s honesty and credibility as a potential witness.

Self-confidence
You need to believe in your own skill and ability to handle any situation. In my estimation if you have the above skills you will be successful as an investigator and, perhaps more importantly, as a human being.

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