Private Investigation in New York, NYC, Manhattan, NY

Posted on: May 29th, 2014

Regulations For Private Investigators

Our advice is that, before you sign a contract with a private investigator, you should first check if they abide the law and regulations. If you’ve come across someone who does not respect the law you risk coming across information that cannot be used in a trial or, worse, being fined or arrested.
Here are the basic regulations that every private investigator from Manhattan, New York City, NY should follow:

  1.  The PI needs to be licensed by the SIA (the Private Security Industry Act). In fact, everyone who works in a field that involves the obtaining of information about a particular person has to have an SIA. This includes managers, employees, supervisors, employers and even partners of private investigation companies.
  2.  The PI is not allowed to enter someone’s property without their consent
  3.  A Private Investigator will never use a badge, as this is forbidden by law. If they do wear a badge, people might be misled into thinking that they are police officers of representatives of the government.
  4. A PI should present a liability insurance if they carry guns. A PI can only carry a concealed firearm if they have a BSIS firearms permit and a concealed weapons permit.

However, there are some activities which do not require having an SIA, namely:

  • Running a credit check of a person
  • Investigating a person or a group of persons with the purpose of market research
  • Investigation activities that are performed with the accept of the person that is being investigated
  • Professional activities of practicing accountants, solicitors and barristers, journalists and broadcasters

If a private investigator fails to abide to these regulations or investigates someone’s past or whereabouts without respecting the above-mentioned factors, they risk going to jail for 6 months and up to 5 years.

Remember: the license of a private investigator becomes delinquent 30 days after its expiration.

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