| A PI is trained to be very savvy with their | | | | goes into investigation. Aside from making |
| research methods. Despite film noir movie | | | | frequent phone calls, an investigator uses a |
| depictions of a PI as a man sporting a fedora | | | | great deal of internet searching, especially |
| and a 5 o' clock shadow in smoky office with | | | | for background searches. Investigators use |
| a bucksome blonde wanting their husband spied | | | | some diverse and available search sites. From |
| on, they are in actuality men and women who | | | | Social Networking sites like MySpace to city |
| spend a good deal of their time doing the | | | | records posted online, there is little |
| legwork from a computer. | | | | running around as a gumshoe anymore when the |
| | | | info is at the tip of the fingers. |
| The Bureau of Security and Investigative | | | | |
| Services give five points to what a PI does: | | | | Searching Locally: An Orange County Example |
| | | | |
| - Someone who investigates crimes | | | | There is quite a good deal of revealing |
| | | | information that is posted on local state or |
| - Investigates identity, whether it is a | | | | federal government sites. For instance, an |
| finding the person, finding the true | | | | Orange County private investigator can visit |
| character of the person, their occupation or | | | | the county's California Criminal index online |
| business | | | | to view any citations or criminal court |
| | | | proceedings that have been logged and |
| - Investigates the location of property, lost | | | | documented as far back as 1988. This gives |
| or stolen | | | | great material for background checks or |
| | | | finding patterns in habits or criminal |
| - Finds the causes of fires, losses, | | | | recidivism. Sites like these are often |
| accidents, damage or injury | | | | available to anyone online for free. |
| | | | |
| - Secures evidence for use in court | | | | They are not specific to government workers |
| | | | or licensed private investigators in Orange |
| Investigators work in various sectors so the | | | | County by example. There are layers of search |
| work can be very specific according to who | | | | levels the investigator can peruse through: |
| they do work for. For instance, detectives | | | | federal, state to county records; a private |
| who work for insurance agencies will often | | | | investigator in Newport Beach (within Orange |
| look into personal claims and the legitimacy | | | | County) can find information specific to that |
| therein. If someone is trying to defraud the | | | | city within a city records search. |
| agency then the detective may do some | | | | |
| surveillance on foot with a camera, or do a | | | | Also, with the advent of web 2.0 and social |
| background check to see if there was any past | | | | networking sites and blogs, the false sense |
| record of fraud. | | | | of privacy is often exhibited by the public |
| | | | at large who daily leave a cyber trail wake |
| There is a great deal of office work that | | | | that makes investigations less intensive. |