Book summary “The Complete Idiot's Guide to Private Investigating”: summary

Introduction

You likely picture private investigators as trench-coated operatives dodging bullets in high-speed car chases. Television and movies reduce a meticulous trade to glamorous fiction, hiding the endless hours of paperwork and library research. You face a starkly different reality if you want to enter this profession or hire a practitioner. Steven Kerry Brown demonstrates in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Private Investigating that true investigative work relies on methodical document review, careful observation, and strict legal compliance.

Private investigation is not Hollywood glamour but a rigorous information business built on methodical research, lateral thinking, and meticulous documentation.

You will discover how to transition from an outsider to a licensed professional equipped for fieldwork. The book guides you through state licensing rules, surveillance tools, public records, and court procedures.

• How do you obtain a state license and liability insurance?
• What equipment do you need for effective surveillance?
• How do you locate missing persons using public databases?
• What techniques uncover the truth in family law and background checks?

1. Licensing and Business Realities

You must look beyond Hollywood portrayals to understand real detective work. Actual investigations consist of driving long distances, sitting on stakeouts, and maintaining meticulous documentation. Novelist and former PI Robert Bailey notes that nobody wants to get up early to drive 93 miles to check on a disability claimant, yet that unglamorous work is what actually pays the bills.

Operating a professional investigative agency requires navigating complex state licensing frameworks, liability insurance, and targeted niche marketing.

Licensing Requirements

Most U.S. states regulate private investigators, requiring specific documented experience, business licenses, and in many cases passing an examination or holding multiple permits. In 41 U.S. states, documented experience is required for a PI license, while 9 states only require a business license. Twenty-three states require passing an exam covering weapons, privacy laws, and legal procedures.

To qualify for a regular investigator license in Florida, an applicant needs at least two years of investigative experience or a Bachelor's degree in criminal justice plus one year of experience. Certain states like Florida can require up to six different licenses and permits depending on agency ownership, investigator status, and weapon carry.

• Check with your state's appropriate licensing authority or regulatory body before applying for a job or license
• Verify state requirements regarding exams, training, and multiple permits

Many specialized niches within the investigative field do not require a formal private investigator license. Document retrievers can make several thousand dollars a month pulling records from courthouses with little overhead, and in rural areas they can earn twice as much as in urban areas.

Building a Profitable Agency

Private investigators must protect themselves with liability insurance or bonds, which are often required by states or corporate clients. California requires $1 million in liability insurance if a PI carries a firearm. South Carolina requires a $10,000 bond, and Georgia requires either a $25,000 bond or a liability policy with a $1 million minimum.

• Check your own state regulations regarding bond or liability insurance before getting a license
• Obtain comprehensive general liability coverage protecting against bodily injury, false arrest, defamation, and privacy violations

Successful private investigative agencies avoid failure by specializing in a specific market niche and executing steady, aggressive marketing rather than trying to be generalists. The Brown Group Inc. billed between $80,000 and $90,000 a month in the early 1990s by heavily marketing insurance surveillance work and staffing booths at worker's compensation conventions.

• Find a specific investigative specialty niche where there is a need
• Identify the target markets that require that specialty
• Market the niche aggressively through industry conventions and specialized web pages

A private investigator can achieve a lucrative six-figure income by operating an agency with multiple employees, focusing on high-volume low-cost niches, or handling high-dollar low-overhead cases. Processing high-volume skip tracing cases netting $35 profit each at 500 cases a week yields a gross profit over $900,000 a year, while doing three due diligence adoption searches a week at $700 net profit yields over $100,000 a year.

• Run the business yourself and build up a team of 6 to 12 investigators
• Use a make-it-up-in-volume strategy for high-volume, low-cost services like skip tracing
• Target high-dollar, low-overhead cases like due diligence adoption searches

2. Essential Equipment and Surveillance Gear

Professional fieldwork relies on neutral surveillance vehicles, quality optical tools, and strict adherence to evidence preservation rules.

Tools of the Trade

Selecting the right surveillance vehicle requires balancing discretion and performance, avoiding flashy or police-resembling cars in favor of practical, neutral automobiles. Television PIs like Thomas Magnum driving a red Ferrari would instantly be recognized by subjects, whereas real-life PIs avoid sports cars entirely.

• Choose a four-door, eight-cylinder, gray or earth-tone automobile
• Consider pickup trucks and SUVs for suburban and rural surveillance
• Avoid red sports cars, police-lookalike cars, black windowless vans, and tinted black SUVs

A quality digital single-lens reflex camera and a specialized video camera are core tools for documenting subjects, injuries, and crime scenes with evidentiary clarity. Digital SLR cameras with interchangeable lenses, high megapixel counts, and powerful optical zoom lenses remain standard, supported by high-capacity storage media and stable tripods or image stabilization. 95 percent of private investigators use video in surveillance operations.

• Buy the best 35mm digital SLR camera you can afford with high optical zoom capabilities
• Use an all-in-one card reader with a USB 3.0 transfer rate to download photos
• Choose video cameras with a one-eye viewfinder rather than a flip-out side screen to prevent interior illumination during night surveillance

Video Preservation

Preserving video evidence for court requires maintaining original file formats and capturing accurate time and date stamps without altering digital files. A clever defense attorney can challenge altered video files by questioning whether other modifications, such as removing damaging movements, were made during editing.

• Copy your video directly from the camera to a standalone DVD burner using cables and analog output
• Avoid using computer programs that require manual time reinsertion to prevent altering the original file format
• Dictate significant activity times into an audio log while reviewing surveillance video to allow fast-forwarding to relevant segments in court

3. Skip Tracing and Locating Missing Persons

Locating elusive subjects requires leveraging proprietary databases, historical records, social media reconnaissance, and courthouse files.

Skip tracing demands systematic research when subjects do not want to be found. You should query old friends, relatives, and associates to gather initial clues. Obtain and analyze the target's past phone records or bills. Call recurring numbers from historical records to find contacts who know the target's new whereabouts.

Steven Kerry Brown used a phone number from an old cell phone bill to contact a friend in New York, getting a new cell number and an address in Cabo San Lucas within 15 seconds.

Log on to social networking sites and search for the target's full name or variants. Review friends lists on private profiles to find mutual connections or public associates. Send a message or friend request tailored to elicit a response.

Before spending hours searching for elderly individuals, check the Social Security Death Master File or genealogy websites for the subject's name and middle initial. Obtain the deceased person's Social Security number and plug it into a pay database. Review past residences and associated individuals to find surviving relatives.

Database and Courthouse Research

Commercial databases often mask the first five digits of Social Security numbers due to security breaches. You can bypass this truncation using alternative government records and specialized subscription services.

• Use the Death Master File if the subject is deceased.
• Visit the county clerk's office personally to view complete biographical data in official records.
• Use PI-friendly subscription databases that do not truncate.
• Check local DMV records using statutory private investigator exemptions.
• Cross-reference the last four digits from PACER with the first five digits from another database.

Select databases based on job requirements and geographic coverage. Compare pricing models, such as monthly minimums and no hit, no fee searches. Maintain subscriptions to at least two or three databases with different strengths.

Search major search engines for the local county property appraiser website using state and county keywords. Avoid top paid search engine results and click URLs ending in .US, .gov, or state name extensions. Search property records by owner name, parcel number, or address. Review official records at the county courthouse for deeds, liens, and judgments.

Identify whether the local jurisdiction uses circuit, superior, county, or district courts for higher and lower matters. Visit the office of the clerk of the court to review civil files, divorce decrees, and restraining orders. Search criminal court indexes for pending charges, bad check warrants, and misdemeanor or felony histories.

Register online at www.pacer.gov and wait to receive the system password by mail. Use the PACER Case Locator to conduct a national index search of district court cases. Download and review specific federal civil, criminal, or bankruptcy files as needed.

Skip Tracing Tactics

Check line types using online phone validators to distinguish landlines from cell phones. Run reverse searches on specialized look-up sites. Deploy a pizza delivery survey pretext to ask for confirmation details and a physical delivery address.

Dial *67 before entering the target phone number to restrict caller ID display. Use an online caller ID spoofing service to substitute originating numbers with recognized local numbers. Compare toll-free bills and request provider logs to identify unknown callers on toll-free lines.

Use voicemail probe services like SpyDialer to access cellular voicemail messages without ringing the handset. Deploy tracking applications such as Find My iPhone on target devices where legally permitted. Engage certified forensic experts to perform logical or physical acquisitions on seized handsets.

4. Interviews, Interrogations, and Neighborhood Canvases

Reviewing the complete case file directly at the client's office before an interview yields vital clues and generates additional business.

Inspect case files personally because you recognize obscure details that clients might overlook. Visiting the client's office provides face-to-face contact that frequently leads to more case assignments from attorneys.

• Go to the client's office and review the entire case file before beginning the investigation.
• Write a list of the topics you need to cover before leaving for the interview.

Emotional connection and friendship are vastly more effective than logic for getting a witness to cooperate.

Witnesses rarely care about helping lawyers or insurance companies. Greet them warmly and establish genuine emotional bonds so the witness wants to invest time and help you.

Steven Kerry Brown used a scarlet macaw walking around on a couch to win over a couple during an interview by interacting with the bird first.

• Greet the witness with a smile and genuine warmth upon knocking on the door.
• Survey your surroundings immediately to ensure safety and find common ground or hobbies.
• Engage with children or pets to quickly build trust with the interviewee.

Engaging suspects in sympathetic conversation during long car transports often produces ironclad confessions without coercion.

Showing genuine interest in a cooperative suspect's life and frustrations allows you to find a redeeming side. Suspects often blame outside forces rather than themselves, leading to full admissions of guilt.

While working for the FBI in Phoenix covering the Pima, Maricopa, and the northern part of the Papago Indian reservations, Steven Kerry Brown regularly drove suspects a two-and-a-half-hour drive back to the Maricopa County jail, obtaining confessions on every ride so that none of those cases ever went to trial.

Criminals driven by a belief that they are smarter than the investigator can be manipulated into making admissions of guilt.

Street-smart criminals often want to demonstrate their superior intellect. Exploit this self-image by remaining silent or nonchalant about specific deceptive actions, provoking the suspect into explaining their cleverness.

After arresting Daniel Black for a stolen motor vehicle and assault, Steven Kerry Brown ignored Black's completely shaved head during an interview. Black boasted that he shaved his head so witnesses couldn't identify him in a lineup, providing an admission of guilt used to convict him and send him to federal prison for an eight-year sentence.

Interview Techniques

Investigators must take copious notes on a legal pad, initial and date them, and preserve the originals in the case file.

Original handwritten notes are admissible in court as documents produced in the normal course of business. They carry substantial weight when a witness changes their story years later or when memories fade.

• Record as much as possible of your interview on a yellow legal pad or notebook.
• Initial your original notes and date them.
• Place the original notes in the case file after writing your report.

Recording interviews requires explicit witness permission and a standardized verbal opening to ensure admissibility. State that recording saves you the trouble of taking handwritten notes to maintain a low-key approach.

• State your name and occupation.
• State the date and location where the interview is taking place.
• State the witness’s name and explicitly ask for verbal confirmation of permission to record.
• Indicate the subject matter of the interview.

Recorded and signed statements provide crucial testimonial evidence that protects against witness memory loss and allows for impeachment in court.

Witnesses often change their stories years after an incident or under family pressure. A recorded statement lets witnesses listen to their own voices to refresh recollection.

Steven Kerry Brown describes a child custody case where a waitress who previously admitted serving alcohol to an alcoholic father recanted on the witness stand, illustrating the danger of failing to secure a recorded statement.

• State your name, today's date, and the witness's name at the start of the recording.
• Obtain a verbal yes confirming that the witness knows they are being recorded.
• Obtain a verbal yes confirming that you have permission to record.
• Ask the witness to state their name, address, telephone number, date of birth, Social Security number, employment, and work hours.
• Allow the witness to speak freely without interruption.
• Go back using your notes to ask clarifying questions and elicit more details.
• State the time and note if the recorder is turned off, and reconfirm permission when resuming.
• State the time and note that the interview is concluded when finished.

Neighborhood Investigations

Thorough neighborhood investigations involve door-to-door interviews near a crime scene to uncover critical leads and getaway vehicle information.

Burglars and criminals rarely park directly in front of a target. Canvas areas up to several blocks away and speak with every person who was home, keeping in mind that police in some jurisdictions will not respond to a home burglary below a $5,000 threshold.

While doing a neighborhood investigation for the FBI, Steven Kerry Brown encountered a woman who kept a pair of binoculars and a lined pad recording 45 license plate numbers of cars that visited her vacant neighbor's house.

• Knock on every door in the immediate area as soon after the incident as possible.
• Establish the approximate time frame of the offense using victims and immediate neighbors.
• Identify points of entry and exit, prioritizing neighbors across back fences where a criminal might have climbed.
• Get phone numbers of each home visited so you can follow up with residents who were not home.

5. Surveillance Tactics and Risk Management

Stationary and moving surveillance demand tactical discipline, lateral problem-solving, and strict adherence to privacy boundaries.

When direct surveillance fails, you must employ lateral thinking and creative problem-solving. Step back and take a look at the big picture when faced with an impossible investigative problem. Think outside the box, sideways, laterally, or upside down to attack the problem from a new angle. When investigating a malingering shipyard employee named Richard who hid behind an 8-foot privacy fence, the author rented access to a second-floor apartment in an adjacent complex for $25 a day, capturing clear video of Richard carrying 50-pound shingles up a ladder.

Stationary and Moving Surveillance

Fixed surveillance utilizes permanent structures, while fixed-mobile surveillance uses temporary mobile platforms. To prevent a suspicious subject from spotting an occupied van, you can use specific maneuvers:

• Drive the surveillance van into the subject's street and park with a clear view of the residence.
• Have the driver exit the vehicle and walk away out of sight, or raise the hood to simulate a breakdown.
• Keep the video investigator safely hidden in the back cargo area with the camera running.

Approach any curious neighbor in a nonthreatening manner with identification in hand. Tell a male neighbor you are working on a divorce matter or watching a wayward wife if investigating insurance fraud, and vice versa. Leave the area immediately if someone discovers you inside a van and makes a commotion. During stakeouts, keep hands visible on the steering wheel or out the window when police arrive with flashing lights. Be polite and maintain a professional conversation, explaining your state license. Refuse to reveal the identity of the subject or client unless required by exigent circumstances.

Effective one-man and foot surveillance requires strict discipline and planning:

• Know in advance where the subject is going by talking to the client or checking appointment schedules.
• Follow the other person involved if the primary subject is a difficult driver who makes U-turns or runs red lights.
• Plan your exit by anticipating which route or neighborhood exit the subject will take.
• Always keep something between you and the subject, such as other pedestrians in a mall.
• Change your appearance using extra hats, jackets, scarves, and glasses stored in your car.
• Don't get in front of the subject so they cannot memorize your clothing, physical traits, or walk.
• Carry an iPad or tablet computer to appear to be reading a book while secretly watching and photographing the subject.
• Use 5-watt handheld walkie-talkies for discrete communication without exterior antennas.
• Practice broadcasting in the blind when separated from the team by obstacles.
• Alternate the lead vehicle so the subject does not repeatedly see the same car in their rearview mirror.
• Keep two to four cars as a cover screen between the subject and yourself.
• Slow down if your cover vehicle passes the subject or turns off, letting another car pass you.
• Play the lights by evaluating traffic signals two or three blocks ahead to anticipate whether they will be red or green when the subject arrives.
• Avoid backing into parking spaces in a way that draws attention or makes you look like you are waiting to pounce.

Legal Boundaries and Countermeasures

You must assess whether observed activity is visible from a public area or an area open to the public. Obtain a legal opinion first if there are serious doubts about the legality of an investigative action. When dealing with volatile domestic cases, deny that you are following the person who confronts you. Don't identify yourself as a private investigator, and never reveal the identity of your client or your subject. Leave the area as quickly as possible without appearing to flee, and stop the surveillance for the day to let things cool off.

Technology in the field requires strict legal compliance:

• Check your state laws regarding the use of vehicle-tracking devices before investing or installing them.
• Verify vehicle registration to ensure the client is on the title before installing a tracking device.
• Mount GPS devices discreetly inside locations like fiberglass bumpers to maintain signal access.
• Search under every bed and behind every piece of furniture using a flashlight.
• Examine every wall phone jack for extra wires not going directly to a telephone.
• Physically run your hands along the wires from the wall jack back to the phone.
• Check the garage, closets, attic, and exterior crawl spaces or under porches for hidden recording boxes.
• Check the specific statutes in your state rather than relying solely on general lists, as state laws are subject to change.
• Verify whether your state operates under a one-party consent rule or an all-party consent rule before recording conversations.

6. Specialized Field Investigations and Court Procedures

Family law cases, background checks, and criminal defense work require specialized evidence gathering, diligent documentation, and courtroom impartiality. You must manage these complex fields with meticulous care.

Family Law and Runaway Cases

Domestic relations cases form the foundation of private investigation. You must document cohabitation, infidelity, and child custody issues objectively.

Proving cohabitation or custody violations requires systematic multi-day observation and objective evidence rather than emotional claims.

An investigator was hired by a client named Lori to investigate her ex-husband Mark, who had custody of their children and was living with a 17-year-old girl named Charity. Mark was 25, while Lori was 15 when she became pregnant with their first child. Mark had 4 arrests in the last five years for offenses like burglary and domestic violence.

Charity signed a statement detailing how Mark shot Roxy and morphine into his tattoos and physically abused his children, which the investigator presented to the judge during an emergency custody hearing.

When searching for missing persons or runaways, you must gather specific identifiers quickly.

• Find the most recent picture you have of her.
• What was she wearing when she left?
• Does she have any tattoos, piercings, or other identifying marks?
• Where did she run to before?
• Is the same boy or friend involved? Get his or her address and phone number.
• How did she make her escape?
• If she has a car and it is gone, write down a description of the car and the license plate number.
• Does she have a cell phone? What is the number? Did she take it with her? Get the last month’s bill for her cell phone.
• Does she have credit cards or ATM cards with her? What banks do they draw on? Write down the account numbers.
• List all her friends, even if there are 50. Include their names, telephone numbers, and addresses.

Report the runaway to your local police or sheriff’s office as a runaway/missing person. Insist that the police give your child’s name, date of birth, and description to the NCIC. Include any tattoos or other identifying marks in the record.

Legal Presentation and Courtroom Rules

Courtroom testimony demands absolute integrity and adherence to legal rules. You must maintain complete impartiality.

Private investigators must remain strictly impartial, gathering all facts rather than only what the client wants to hear.

Investigator Thomas submitted a surveillance report claiming no activity on June 22 for a woman named Sarah, but checking with the apartment manager and Sarah herself revealed she had spent that entire day moving out with a pickup truck.

When you take the stand or give a deposition, protect your files.

• Do not take the report sent to your client with you to court or to a deposition.
• Do not refer to your report in your deposition.
• Take notes instead if you need to refresh your memory.
• Answer opposing counsel's questions straightforwardly and truthfully.
• Do not hesitate while trying to phrase your answer in the best light possible.

10 Key Ideas

1. Private investigation is an information business built on methodical document review, careful observation, and strict legal compliance rather than Hollywood glamour.
2. Operating a professional agency requires navigating complex state licensing frameworks, liability insurance, and targeted niche marketing.
3. Professional fieldwork relies on neutral surveillance vehicles, quality optical tools, and strict adherence to evidence preservation rules.
4. Locating elusive subjects requires leveraging proprietary databases, historical records, social media reconnaissance, and courthouse files.
5. Establishing genuine emotional bonds and rapport during interviews is vastly more effective than logic for getting a witness to cooperate.
6. Thorough neighborhood investigations involve door-to-door interviews near a crime scene to uncover critical leads and getaway vehicle information.
7. Stationary and moving surveillance demand tactical discipline, lateral problem-solving, and strict adherence to privacy boundaries.
8. Proving cohabitation or custody violations requires systematic multi-day observation and objective evidence rather than emotional claims.
9. Private investigators must remain strictly impartial, gathering all facts rather than only what the client wants to hear.
10. Courtroom testimony demands absolute integrity and adherence to legal rules, requiring investigators to protect their files and answer opposing counsel truthfully.