Q & A - All About Private Investigators

The following responses are typical of the many questions asked about investigations and our founder. The questions below were answered by Rick Crouch during one of many interviews.

Q. Are private investigators in demand?A. In South Africa , private investigators are in very high demand due to poor police work and high crime. .

Q. What are the working conditions? A. Private detectives and investigators often work irregular hours because of the need to conduct surveillance and contact people who are not available during normal working hours. Early morning, evening, weekend, and holiday work is common.

Q. How should a private investigator carry out an investigation? A. Private Investigators should carry out investigation based on the client's instruction and information. The Private Investigator is required to know the 4 Ws- Who, When, Where, Why and How to commence the assignment. Private Investigator can conduct surveillance, background check, interviews and act as undercover and/or informant to accomplish the task.

Q. Is the client required to reveal his/her particulars to the Private Investigator before engaging the service? A. Client need not reveal his/her particulars unless he/she has decided to engage the service officially.

Q. In what circumstances will a Private investigator reject a client's request? A. Private Investigator can reject a client's request to carry out illegal operation such as telephone tapping, using of unlicensed equipment, cyber crime, stalking, trespassing etc. Any client who engages a Private Investigator to carry out illegal operation can be charged.

Q. What cases have you been involved in that we may have heard of? A. My tenure as an investigator goes back eighteen years
1.) Michael Jackson case (Criminal and Civil)
2.) Scott Peterson [Accused of killing his wife and unborn baby in Modesto California]
3.) Hambarian Civil case [Accused of defrauding Orange County California out of 10's of millions of dollars.
4) Fred Astair family and trust
5) Tylo Hunter
6) Brittney Spears
7) Charlie Sheen

Q. What types of services do you provide on a typical case? A. Most of what I do is after-the-fact investigations. I am are typically hired by criminal-defense attorneys to identify, locate, and interview witnesses; review depositions, police reports, photographs, and other discovery material; visit crime scenes; independently verify forensic evidence; and interview law-enforcement investigators. We are also hired by family's who are unhappy with a police investigation and by defendants who have been wrongly accused and / or convicted.

Q. Do you spend a lot of time out on stakeouts? A. I spent years and years doing surveillance—I once spent three days in a car during a high-profile domestic case.

Q. How many cases might you work on at any given time? A. Hundreds at a time; more than a thousand a year.

Q. What's the biggest misconception the public has about private investigators? A. That you can solve a case in an hour, like they do on TV, and that following people and getting information is easy and simplified. It isn't—it's a very tedious task.

Q. Care to dish any dirt about a celebrity you've crossed paths with? A. That wouldn't be beneficial to me. I'm with celebrities on occasion, and they like their privacy. For me to publicize who I associate with would not only be contrary to my obligation to them, but contrary to the code of ethics.

Q Is it hard to keep that really juicy gossip under your hat? A. It's one of the hardest things about the job. I know a ton of information that I can't reveal. And, of course, you'd love to talk about it—especially when you've done a great job—but you can't.

Q. What are some of the tools of a great private investigator? A. You have to be extremely detail-oriented, be up to speed on new legislation, stay abreast of new resources and technology, and be very creative.

Q. Ever come close to losing your life? A. Early in my career, I was a bail enforcement agent, and I got into several situations where my life was in danger. I've had weapons pulled on me—knives, guns, even bats. I'm not a strapping six-foot-eight, 300-pounder, so I tend to use my ingenuity to get out of bad circumstances. But on some occasions, I've had to show a weapon.

Q. What's your all-time favorite detective series on television? A. I was partial to "The Rockford Files," and "Magnum PI", even though they were somewhat unrealistic.

Q. Has your work made you lose faith in people? A. Sadly, yes. I'm much more cynical now than I once was. Documenting and reading discovery reports and police reports—nothing shocks me or surprises me anymore.