Criminal Law Fundamentals and the New York Penal Law in Investigations
No PI exemption
New York Penal Law applies to private investigators. A license is not a defense to trespass, assault, bribery, or eavesdropping. Know the mental state: many offenses require knowing or intentional conduct, while others require recklessness.
Offenses that arise in investigations
- Trespass and burglary: entering or remaining unlawfully, even without damage, can be trespass; entry into a building with intent to commit a crime can elevate the charge.
- Criminal impersonation: pretending to be a police officer or public servant to obtain information or compliance.
- Computer trespass and unauthorized use: accessing a device, account, or database without permission.
- Eavesdropping and unlawful surveillance: intercepting communications or recording in private places without legal authority.
- Tampering with evidence, bribery, perjury, obstruction, and hindering prosecution: conduct that crosses from aggressive investigation into criminal liability.
- Harassment, stalking, and menacing: repeated unwanted contact or threats.
Arrest and force
CPL 140.30 gives a private person only narrow arrest authority, chiefly for a felony or an offense committed in the person's presence, and it does not make the PI a police officer. Justification under Penal Law Article 35 permits only defensive, proportional force. Retreat and deadly-force rules are strict.
Worked example
A PI investigating a workplace injury enters a fenced, posted commercial lot, opens a gate, and photographs equipment. The lot is not open to the public. Even without damage, the knowing entry can be trespass. If the site is open during business hours and the PI enters as a customer would, an implied license may exist, but cameras and locked areas change the analysis.
Traps
Recording every call because New York is one-party consent; arresting for any offense; and assuming no force means no crime.