WHAT IS A PI'S MOST COMMON TYPE OF CASE?

I would like to thank the two individuals who submitted questions for our new Ask a PI column.

Here is the first question and answer.

Q: What is your most common type of case?

I think the most common PI case, at least for most private investigators or agencies, involves cheating spouses. While we do our share of those cases, they only represent about 5% of our business in our five California offices and casework throughout the United States. Our most common case at Martin Investigative Services involves clients throughout corporate America that retain us to determine who is stealing time, money or product from them. The clients are usually companies, corporations – even small businesses. This is a specialized service and there is limited expertise in this genre throughout the private investigative industry.

Nearly all of these cases involve the use of investigators who are trained in the art of professional interviews and interrogation. It doesn’t take long to determine who the “bad guys” are within a business – when one rat jumps ship, they all do.

These cases typically take between 80-120 hours to complete, and include a comprehensive report and recommendations for procedures that will reduce (if not eliminate) recurrence of internal theft.

Following closely behind our work in small and corporate businesses, are the locating of friends and family, background and asset searches and electronic eavesdropping detection sweeps (bug sweeps) for homes, vehicles and businesses.