Investigations
Types and authority
Private-sector investigators are not police. You have no arrest power and no right to search a person or a locked desk without consent or a policy that clearly authorizes it. You are not required to give Miranda warnings, but coercion, false imprisonment, and defamation create real liability. Know the three case types: criminal (theft, fraud), civil (harassment claims, contract disputes), and administrative/internal (policy violations).
Process and evidence
Preserving evidence comes first: secure the area, photograph, log who handled what, and maintain an unbroken chain of custody from seizure to disposition. Document interviews contemporaneously. Interviews are fact-finding and voluntary; confrontational or accusatory techniques carry legal and HR risk and generally need policy authorization. Union employees may have representation rights (Weingarten) in investigatory interviews; check the labor agreement.
Reports and coordination
Write factual, first-person, chronological reports covering who, what, when, where, how, and what was said, not conclusions or opinions. Involve legal counsel early when termination, litigation, or a law enforcement referral is possible. Know standards of proof: preponderance of the evidence (civil), substantial evidence (employment), beyond a reasonable doubt (criminal).
Traps
- Treating an internal interview as a confession session.
- Breaking chain of custody with an unlogged handoff.
- Hearsay and opinion creeping into reports.
- Searching a personal bag without consent or policy authority.
Worked example
Cash disappears from a register. Preserve the video and point-of-sale logs before reviewing them, log chain of custody, then conduct voluntary, non-accusatory interviews with a witness present. Refer to law enforcement only after legal review; the report states facts and quotes.