What is a Private Investigator?

A private investigator is a person who is paid to gather facts by individuals or businesses independent of the government. They conduct thorough, professional investigations and report their findings to their employers. They are also referred to as PI’s, short for ‘private eyes,’ a term coined by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, formed in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton in Chicago, USA. The first known agency, the Surete Nationale or National Security, was formed in 1811 in Paris, France by a former criminal and the father of modern criminology, Eugene Francois Vidocq. Both organizations practiced investigation for law enforcement agencies in...