Policing as a business: The organisation and structure of private investigation

This paper, based on an empirical study, considers the characteristics of private investigation as a business enterprise. It reveals that private investigators most commonly work in small, autonomous units with very little centralisation and a largely informal structure that has changed little since Victorian times. There is currently no statutory regulation, little available training and recruitment is often based on knowing the right people. The article reports on how investigators are recruited and the types of professional experience that are valued, the age and size of businesses, and the steps taken to safeguard both their own interests and those of their clients. It ends by suggesting that most private investigation agencies can be classified as either ‘home‐based’, ‘high street’, ‘regional’, or ‘prestige’ and that despite their autonomous structures and the need to compete with each other, they can and do combine to offer clients a national and even international service which is rarely available from another source.