Private investigative services are instrumental in helping an enormous amount of individuals in need. The services can range from surveillance of cheating spouses, background checks of prospective employees and caregivers to fraud investigations of individuals and entities involved in multi-discipline transactions and business ventures. They fill the void, inability, budgetary restraint, etc that sometimes handicaps law enforcement’s capacity to perform services because of their requirement to prioritize resources and allocate them according to impending demands. Herein the private eye is necessary to be an advocate and resource for his/her client and provide investigative services with the objective of possibly finding answers, enhancing due diligence and providing clarity to questions of concern.

Private Eyes are professionals that provide private investigative services for remuneration. The competency to deliver these services are usually developed over a career in law enforcement or other disciplines which facilitates the PI’s ability to orchestrate the investigative process utilizing the case parameter, client’s budget and drawing from professional knowledge and experience to augment performance and the handling of the case. Being private individuals and not law enforcement officers they have to be resourceful in their methods of data gathering, but ethically and remain within the parameter of the law if they are professional licensed private investigators. Private eyes are legendary for their ingenuity and craftiness in unraveling cases and finding answers to questions. This is a result of the individuals attracted to the profession and the professional development that occurs through being involved in the discipline. The innate abilities are not prerequisites to professional competency for they can be nurtured by being immersed in the industry, but having them beforehand as an intricate part of one’s makeup facilitates the refinement of their effectiveness, expansion and adaptability to various scenarios and case demands with less on the job training; trial and error.

The private eye can be considered a prototype for the quintessential entrepreneur. The private eye "gumshoe" operates in a domain unknown or misunderstood by most people unrelated to the industry. They have the flexibility of the cases they accept, the hours worked and the way their practice is structured. Their practice may be formalized in some regards to add structure and manageability to induce profitability, but the tenacity of the art is pure and unfettered and truly practiced by some "old school" private eyes. The kind that desires to maintain the grit of nostalgic gumshoes, however without being adverse to progress in the industry in the areas of professionalism. Progress has its place and is a part of the evolutionary process in life and business. It is sometimes enhanced by technology and innovative methodologies which improve the effectiveness and capacities of various entities. However, the advent of these means is tools not replacements for the street savvy of the knowledgeable and experienced private eye. These tools may be used to enhance the private eye’s proficiency but can never be more valuable than intuition and excellence developed through submergence in the c raft.

Forever changing, the image of the private eye is a work in progress. Its characteristics and imagery are reminiscent of a nostalgic era which has been rebranded for a contemporary environment. They bring skill sets that have been honed throughout time and became hallmarks of the profession and these professionals provide essential services to their clients unfulfilled by other governmental, quasi-governmental, corporate or private entities.