10 Things Your Private Eye Won't Tell You

For many, the term private eye likely conjures visions of the solitary gumshoe tailing a cheating spouse. In reality, infidelity cases represent only about 10 percent of PI work, says Jimmie Mesis, a PI of 28 years. Today's "professional investigator" — the preferred nomenclature — tends to work for a company, not individuals, ferreting out insurance fraud and performing corporate intelligence and background checks.

Marlo Swan is an example of the new face of PI work. The 36-year-old former investigator with Horsemen Investigations in San Francisco primarily checked up on worker compensation claims. Armed with a camera, she might sit all day in her car waiting for the "gotcha" moment to disprove claimants' injuries and reports, often getting by on two hours' sleep. "It's not very glamorous, and it's not very fun," Swan says.

Even so, the PI industry is growing steadily. There are currently more than 52,000 PIs in the U.S., and the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an 18 percent increase over the next decade. The fastest-growing sectors: finance and mortgage fraud investigations, followed by identity-theft cases.

When it comes to police protection today, the thin blue line is fraying. Cities are scrambling to fill recruitment shortages — New Yorkneeds 3,000 officers; Boston, 1,000; and Washington, D.C., 300. The increased demands of post-9/11 terrorism prevention, not to mention the drain from officers serving in Iraq, has added to the strain. The upshot: Police departments are being forced tomake hard choices, focusing their energies on investigating crimes like murder, rape and robbery, while allocating fewer resources to fraud, larceny and even missing persons. "It's not that the police don't want to do their job," says private investigator Gary DiStefano. "Their resources are limited, and they need to prioritize."

Enter the private investigator. Mesis recalls a distraught client whose ex-wife had absconded with their son while he had full legal custody. Six years later neither the police nor the FBI had turned up anything; within 24 hours of accepting the case, Mesis says, he and his partner had located the ex-wife, had local authorities arrest her, and reunited father and son. As for the police department, he adds, "this was just another case amongst thousands of cases they have to deal with."

While many PIs have gone corporate, a good number still accept walk-in clients seeking anything from vetting a business partner to locating assets during a divorce. But for the average person, finding a reputable PI isn't easy. No national registry exists, since the profession is regulated by states, some of which have no licensing requirements. So how to find a PI? Not necessarily through an advertisement. Amy Gaff, controller of petroleum-services firm Gaftek, sought a PI after a $50,000 excavator was stolen from a construction site. She says she found the biggest, fanciest ad in the phone book and hired KMS Investigations, in Santa Ana, Calif. After six weeks and $3,500, KMS never located her property, Gaff says, though it twice charged her credit card $900 without her consent. Kevin Sianez, KMS's founder, says he doesn't recall the particulars of Gaff's case but that most people "don't understand the inner workings of how an investigation is done." (KMS is no longer in business.)

A better option: Ask your attorney for a referral, then meet the PI in person and request references. Also, verify that he's licensed and insured if your state requires it.

In 2005 William Berkeyheiser, 62, was shot to death on his porch in Upper Makefield Township, Pa., by a former coworker. Turns out the assailant, Stanford Douglas Jr., had hired A-Plus Investigations in Burlington, N.J., to track down his old supervisor. Douglas told the agency he was looking for an old Army buddy of his dad's. A-Plus never contacted Berkeyheiser to let him know someone wanted to find him — common practice for PIs, says Tyler Tomlinson, attorney for Berkeyheiser's estate: "It's the easiest way to prevent this." (Attorney Scott Tredwell, representing A-Plus CEO John Ciaccio in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Berkeyheiser's wife, says there was no reason to believe Douglas was going to harm anyone. The suit is still pending.)

Bruce Hulme, legislative director of the National Council of Investigation & Security Services, says this type of incident is rare and that there have been only four cases in 20 years of a client using a PI's services to commit murder. But Rob Douglas, editor of InsideIDTheft.info, says too many PIs' main concern is getting paid. "You have some people who wouldn't touch an inappropriate case with a 10-foot pole," but other "PIs who think, Hey, if I can get it, it must be okay."

When Paul Dank of Advanced Surveillance Group attended a PI conference earlier this year, he was dismayed by what he heard from some colleagues. "This discussion was about 'clients are morons,'" Dank says. "They talked about how they often charge hundreds of dollars for data they paid $10 for."

How to avoid getting taken? Try doing some investigating on your own. "A lot of things are public records you can find yourself," says Swan. To wit: Courts and government agencies offer troves of data. At the local level, you can get property-tax-assessor files, which bear the name of the owner, description of the property, its assessed value, sometimes even blueprints. State courts provide tax liens and judgments, while warrants, arrests and convictions are available at the clerk of court's office; go to www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks for bankruptcy records. Technology is also on your side: Computer-monitoring software Spector Pro ($100) records everything from e-mails and instant messages to Web activity and downloads. Digital cameras, video recorders and GPS come cheap as well — just Google "spy camera" for a multitude of options.