They got rid of the 3 yr experience requirement provided you pass a test on the law. So you can create your own agency and be armed, with the above training/certs you mentioned.

I think you guys are right about getting under an agency first though, to get my feet wet.

Someone should tell the WA legislature about that experience waiver.
https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.165.050

Have had at least three years' experience in investigative work or its equivalent as determined by the director. A year's experience means not less than two thousand hours of actual compensated work performed before the filing of an application. An applicant shall substantiate the experience by written certifications from previous employers. If the applicant is unable to supply written certifications from previous employers, applicants may offer written certifications from professional persons other than employers who, based on personal professional knowledge, can substantiate the employment.

From what I've researched, you can either have experience, or take a principal test..

Dedicated thread to TW's inclination to pursuing PI work?

https://www.indeed.com/cmp/DigiStream-I ... ker_emails

I wonder if P.I. work is really for retired police who have a background in investigations.

The key word here is "investigation".

Doing a real investigation is not fun, nor is it glamorous. It can be tedious...VERY tedious.

There are a couple of things that you are going to have to be VERY good at...

1. Articulation in detail.
You have to be able to describe, in detail, absolutely everything you see, everything you did, everything that was done.
2. Keep meticulous records.
3. Learn how to talk to people--and how to get them to talk to YOU.
The main challenge of your job is to gather timely and valuable information--and to do that, you must get people to talk freely to you.
4. There is a BIG difference between interview and interrogation...know what that difference is, and when to switch over.
5. Document, document, document. Keep exhaustive case files. Learn how to chase down leads, and how to use obscure information.
6. Become well versed and adept in using OSI--Open Source Intelligence.

Can you make a name for yourself? Absolutely...but you have to be good at what you do. VERY good at what you do.

Best of luck to you!

Law enforcement, and other criminal justice agencies regard PIs as bottom feeders, usually with justification. They are susually trying to schmooze LE so as to get an inside source for information. If they get one, that often quickly blows up and the source is hosed with his agency. The only really successful PIs I saw were those who had the up-to-date, expensive electronic surveillance equipment and the ability to deploy it. That all said, there is always a niche for those who are good at it, similar to any other profession.

What is the value-add, in terms of task completion, of a PI over LE?
Surveillance.
Cops are not sitting on/following/recording (legally) a subject for hours/days. PIs can. However, stakeout duty, especially solo, is not for everyone. Plan accordingly.
* full disclosure, my last PI work was the Ivan Boesky case.

Whoa. Hi, I'm Jennifer, and I was...*thinking* well, definitely not very old when that case broke, but damn did it make economics suddenly very interesting. Wow. And you just dropped that like it wasn't a thing. Damn, warn a woman before you go all "yah, so the last time I did X was on Y famous case".

Anyway. Moving on. TW, I would think that going solo as a PI would be very expensive--one would need all kinds of insurance, plus it seems like a capital-heavy industry, where you need to sink a lot of cash into a lot of things all at once to even gain a toehold. And that's not including things like advertising, storage, etc. Even the small things, like the ability to take credit cards, cost money.

My only experience with PI's is a sort of distant memory of my parents hiring them, each parent trying to gain (more) dirt on the other. Not a pleasant childhood memory. IIRC my mother actually ended up hiring one from the same service as my father. My father was a bit more clever--he hired a woman from the service, who posed as some kind of psychic energy healer. My mum was very into that whole New Age crystal horoscope nonsense, and told this woman all kinds of things.

So maybe another question would be, do you really want to be one of the bad guys in someone else's childhood memories?

If the industry econmics are still the same, the majority of your PI income is going to be from insurance companies/well-heeled law firms, rather than direct hires by spouses. Unless you are a tv PI...

Have you thought about being an insurance adjuster? I know, not the same, but you get a regular paycheck and they send you out to investigate the veracity of claims. It could give you some experience into being PI.

The most likely path to financial stability is to just get a regular job, work hard at it, and get along with everybody there. First, pay off bills, get the truck fixed, get a place to live, and look after your medical and dental needs. Then save your money in case of emergencies. Then consider a better or different job, such as a PI.

Not a glamorous approach, but it works.

My cousins husband started as an insurance adjustor.
Got a degree in criminology, became the lead arson investigator for the Oregon state police.
Went back into the private sector, retired from Safeco as an executive VP.

Yup. Most definitely works.


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