P.I. crossing state lines and police info sharing

I'm in Michigan and I have a friend who is licensed as a PI in, IIRC, both Mich and Ohio (or possibly it's Mich and Indiana, can't recall for sure now).

The point being, I've heard of PI's who maintain a license in more than one state if they believe their business is likely to cross state lines on a regular basis.

I have no idea if this is common or not.

Collin123 said:

Hello,

I'm writing a novel about a Florida licensed and based P.I. who is contacted by a client in Georgia about a cold case in Georgia. The client heard about the private investigator via word of mouth and feels that a decade-old murder in the private investigator's city may be connected to the cold case in Georgia. my question is how does the law apply to the investigator working across state lines? I did speak to the Florida board of investigation and they advised me that this would not be a situation of reciprocity. I called the Georgia board of investigations but they have not returned my call or email.

I'm also wondering if the Florida police would share information and files with a private investigator on a cold case. he was not hired by the Florida victim's family and I imagine the police would want to keep some details of an unsolved murder secret from non law enforcement.

any help would be much appreciated! Thank you for reading!

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Police absolutely keep details of unsolved cases secret, as a matter of course, pretty much. They don't, won't and generally can't just share information with members of the public - stuff in case files can be not for public consumption in a number of ways, it depends.

Mostly whether a cop will talk to a PI depends on whether the cop feels like it.

Does your PI have someone the cop knows, to vouch for him or her? That could help, especially if the voucher knew someone attached to the cold case?

Private detectives are like lawyers and engineers. They get a license to practice in one state, and they have to confine their activities to that one state. They can get a license for another state, but that means more travel, more expense, more studying, more details to keep track of, etc. Most don't bother.

In this case, your PI would have to work for a Georgia firm to even talk to the client, much less work on the Georgia case. State regulations specify that licenses must go to companies, not individuals. On the other hand, a Florida detective can work in Georgia for up to thirty days on a case that originated in Florida (and vice versa).

Despite what you see on TV, I can't imagine a PI getting confidential info about a cold case in any state, unless he was hired by the family of the victim or other concerned party.

None of which helps with your story. A federal agent could work in any state, of course, and ask the police for help. A private citizen would have to get creative. A PI could claim to be working on the Florida case, but one phone call would unmask him and probably get his license suspended.

To make this work, I'd give the PI some connection to the Florida case. It could be a friend in the police or a link to the victim's family. All you'd need is someone to vouch for him when the authorities in Georgia call.

I am a Florida Licensed Investigator. There are some States that have reciprocity with Florida Georgia being one. That said, to cross state lines there are certain provisos, the first being that the case had to be started in your home State (The attached link from the Florida Division of Licensing explains this). A Florida PI must work for an Agency and Agencies can sub-contract with other agencies. For example I do many cases in different States but for legwork or surveillance I use a local agency who normally discounts their rate. In your case I think it would be easy enough to start with the case in Florida which then leads to Georgia.
Unless you know a cop who is willing to share info with you all you would get on the case would be what is in the public domain.

Again, there is nothing to stop that PI from Door knocking and searching out original witnesses. Hope this helps?

Link: http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Div...nvestigation/Private-Investigator-Reciprocity

Steve Collins said:

A Florida PI must work for an Agency and Agencies can sub-contract with other agencies. For example I do many cases in different States but for legwork or surveillance I use a local agency who normally discounts their rate.http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Div...nvestigation/Private-Investigator-Reciprocity

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This. Every PI agency I know here in Florida uses local investigators out of state, and vice versa. And yes, if you start the case in Florida, then move to Georgia, you should meet the reciprocity rules.

As for single-person agencies, I guess it's possible but I don't know any who do. Being a PI is enough trouble without going it alone. I worked for a PI a long time ago and all I did was serve papers and work as a gofer. We had another woman who just did all the skip tracing. The agency was run by two retired officers, who did the "real" investigative work.

Jeff

Collin. Yes, many PI's have an "A" License and are one man bands, obviously they need a C License as the A License stipulates you must have a C or M License to manage an Agency.