Investigations In Virginia

What is involved in private investigations in the state of Virginia?

Here's how the state’s agency guidance describes the work of a private investigator:

“A private investigator means any individual who engages in the business of, or accepts employment to make, investigations to obtain information on crimes or civil wrongs; the location, disposition, or recovery of stolen property; the cause of accidents, fires, damages, or injuries to persons or to property; or evidence to be used before any court, board, officer, or investigative committee.”

Let's go over three of these fundamental things one by one.

Crimes and Civil Wrongs

In many private investigator cases, something happened that somebody declared not to be kosher. Maybe it's a legal gray area, or the local police force and/or district attorney doesn't have either the will or the means to respond. In that case, hiring a private investigator is a way to advance a case until it becomes (more clearly) a legal priority for law enforcement.

For example, there may be a family law matter that triggers a private investigator operation, in order to provide evidence for a court. In other cases, there may be an allegation of some criminal behavior, but again, law enforcement is dragging its feet or unwilling to investigate.

Here, private investigators play a crucial role in supplementary work to uncover evidence of these types of behavior and issues.

Disposition of Property

Again, local law enforcement does not always respond to every single case of theft with the same zeal and enthusiasm. There may be mitigating factors involved. Private investigators fill in the gaps, and help to, again, provide that evidence that establishes a benchmark for further action.

Accidents and Fires

This is a different type of private investigator case.

These types of cases often apply to commercial real estate. Here the private investigator is looking at any action or activity that could have been done to defraud an insurance company or secure money for accident compensation in a fraudulent way.

As you might imagine, these cases take a good deal of legwork and research. Private investigators will pay attention to what's happening around a given case to get those elusive data that will trigger a more major investigation in the future.

Let East Coast Investigations help with investigations around Virginia Beach, VA, and surrounding communities, or elsewhere in the state. We take the right steps and invest in appropriate resources to maintain private investigations that are up to the state standard, and provide real assistance to clients. Ask us about how we can help.