Private Investigator

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Did you know that the first private investigation agency was started by a criminal? While conducting research over this particular topic I learned a lot of interesting information regarding the type of work done by private investigators, as well as the potential employment opportunities. This world is a crazy and deceptive place and it is up to us to get to the truth of everything. Becoming a private investigator will be a time consuming, potentially dangerous, yet extremely rewarding career path. (History of Private Investigations, 2013)

The opening sentence is true. The first private detective agency was created by a French soldier and criminal in 1833. His name was Eugene Francois Vidocq. The name of his agency was Le bureau des reseignments, (Office of Intelligence.) His office was fully staffed with other ex-cons. His firm was the first to do a plaster cast of a shoe impression. Police often attempted to shut his company down with no avail. He was arrested in 1842 in what he believed to be a set up after solving an embezzlement case. The charges were false imprisonment and taking money under false pretenses. Vidocq was sentenced to five years in prison and a 3,000-franc fine. He was released after he took his case to the Court of Appeals. (History of Private Investigations, 2013)

Vidocq is credited also with introducing many key tasks into the Criminal Investigations field. These important tasks include record-keeping, criminology and ballistics. He also had a printing company where he is believed to have created indelible ink and unaltered bond paper. Many of Vidocq’s methods are still used today by French authorities. (History of Private Investigations, 2013)

The first American private detective agency...

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...ons.com/history_of_private_investigations.php

N/A. (2013). The World of the Private Investigator. Retrieved December 19, 2013, from www.detectivetraining.com: www.detectivetraining.com/lesson1html/

Willingham, B. (2012). 5 Myths: What a Private Investigator Cannot (Legally) Get. Retrieved from www.diligentiagroup.com: http://www.diligentiagroup.com/legal-investigation/5-myths-what-a-private-investigator-cannot-legally-get/

Willingham, B. (2013). 10 Ways an Attorney Can Effectively Use a Private Investigator. Retrieved from www.diligentiagroup.com: http://www.diligentiagroup.com/legal-investigation/10-ways-an-attorney-can-effectively-use-a-private-investigator/

Yossarian, B. (2008, August 12). The Tools a Private Investigator Needs. Retrieved from www.articlesabse.com: http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/the-tools-a-private-investigator-needs-519629.html

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