Criminology: Professionalization of Investigators Essay

Investigators are people whose career is specialised around the domain of crime; he therefore assembles data and relevant information about a specific crime in order to determine the accuracy and truth behind the information after which the analyzed information is forwarded to the judicial system, individuals or businesses. Thus they can work in a wide range of fields ranging from legal, financial to matters that are personal in nature. Therefore apart from criminal investigations they can also investigate civil matters for instance, insurance and fraud matters. For one to become an investigator, there are several requirement that he/ she must have. First of all, there are no formal education requirements for a majority of the investigator jobs but all should possess a post high school degree in addition due to the diverse demands of the work it is usually advisable for one to have undertaken classes in criminal justice and relevant criminology studies however it is not mandatory (Cranston 1995).

From the above mentioned qualifications of an investigator there are several qualifications that should be cross checked with what qualifies as a profession. However there are some criteria that are stipulated down which provides the guideline on what constitutes a profession or not. For a career or any job to become a professional it must be vocational and requires specialised training and education to the people involved. Traditionally, people have considered a profession to be any career that requires a person to have a degree in the relevant field. In addition one has to have adequate practical and literary proficiency in addition to the academic qualifications (Desty 1887).

In addition the job should not be general or cover a wide range of divergent services but should be highly specialized making the professionals experts in their field that the practice. The work should also consist of high morals, motivation and ethics by a person towards the professional while putting the interests of the people or clients first while at their service, therefore there should be no bias or malice while serving the community. It is therefore vital that one has accredited academic qualifications which are highly specialised for instance doctors attend medical schools and attain a degree in medicine and so they become professionals in the medical field, the same case applies to lawyers who attend law school to specialise in law thus becoming professional lawyers (Hazard & Dondi 2005).

Additionally, there are stipulated codes of conducts that are laid down by various professional bodies that govern how the professionals who practice under it must behave in their line of business as well as the repercussions a member of the professional body who breaks the code of ethics has to face which may include penalties such as suspensions, fines or even complete expulsion from practicing the profession in future. These professional bodies govern how a specific profession will be carried and constantly make new laws and regulations which make it mandatory for the members to adhere to. Hence professions have a lifetime body that works towards improving the profession unlike other careers whereby regulations stops with the attainment of academic qualifications. Thus profession careers should be carried out with due diligence owing the duty of care to the clients or public in order to avoid mishaps that occur due to negligence (Peppet 2008).

Also apart from adhering to the laws of the professional body, members are also required to adhere to the natural law of the land as any criminal conducts by the professionals attracts stiff penalties or taints the public reputation of the given profession. Whereby the public views professionals as people of high esteem, accomplished, earn high salaries, are autonomous and proud of their work and thus trust them with their various interactions with them. In addition professional expertise matures with the amount of time one puts into the practice, hence apart from the academic work, practical’s are essential in the specialised field (Won-je 2010).

Hence as depicted above, the criteria of an investigator does not fully qualify as a profession. The academic qualifications for an investigator are not stringent as that of a career profession. For one to become a certified profession, one should posses an accredited degree in a given discipline while on the other hand, it is not mandatory for investigators to have college/ university degrees but only high school degrees (Internal Revenue Service 1972).

However apart from the academic qualifications, the other criteria’s for making an investigators work a profession are quite similar. First a profession is a field that requires one to be specialized in a particular field. Investigators are usually specialized in various disciplines of investigation as investigators are trained to carry out different types of surveillance and investigations. There investigators specialized in computer forensics who deal in cyber crimes, legal investigators who deal with matters of the legal fraternity, corporate investigators who deal with internal investigations of a corporate entity (Madinger 2006).

Investigative work can sometimes be risky and taxing. This is because it is mostly based on “work alone” theory, which sometimes involves direct confrontation, though in some cases especially on surveillance or when following a subject others might be involved. This with no doubt adds a requirement in investigator’s work: self defence. Unlike other career whose professionalization is entirely formal based, most of investigator’s qualification requirements such as self-defence mechanisms are not necessarily formal. Nevertheless, just like the duties of a profession is determined by the needs of a client, so are the duties of an investigator whereby a clients requirement may be long term (insurance investigations) just like the relationship of a lawyer and his client be

Investigative work entails a lot of research and compiling of data on a given subject. (Hess & Orthmann 2009) notes that “this requires the investigators to spend much of his time outside their offices doing surveillance or conducting interviews.” Nevertheless, it sometimes calls for the investigator to gather and compile their information from the office through phone calls and computer researches. This means that the investigative work is characterised by environmental divergence calling for a “know how” approach from the investigator. (Sonne 2006) notes that “when dealing with a certain case for instance, the investigators may be confronted with an environment ranging from plush boardrooms to seedy bars; requiring concrete intelligence to distinguish which part of the case requires what type of environment.

It is important to note that training and education constitutes a significant segment of studies in investigators. Private investigators for instance need training in police science and criminal justice courses despite the fact that there are other related experiences that are vital in requirement. In this field, police investigation experience is considered appropriate to term one as a profession in private investigation field. In addition, private investigators need to posses experience in other fields. Their profession is mostly based on their experience from previous work in other fields according to Sonne (2006), “many investigators enter the field after serving in law enforcement, the military, government auditing and investigative positions, or Federal intelligence jobs.” For example, private investigators are mostly in their second career, after having retired from such fields as law enforcement officers, accounting, investigative reporting and government agencies among others. Their experience from their previous work regarded with importance in conducting their investigative works (Brian & McNeil 2003).

On the other hand, it calls for bachelor’s degrees mostly in related felids such as business as well as law or business administration and a master’s degree to qualify on as a corporate investigator profession. This is because their role is significantly extensive which according to Turvey (2008) include “internal investigations such as drug usage in the workplace, ensure that expenses are not abused, determine whether the employees are stealing the assets, merchandise or information; and external investigations which attempt to thwart criminal schemes from outside the corporation, such as fraudulent billing by suppliers”

Siegel (2008) notes “investigators professionalization in computer forensic work requires at least a degree in accounting or computer science which in these field are considered to be of greater help that a degree in criminal justice.” These degrees however do not complete the profession qualification in this field, but rather just provide a foundation whose complete construction relies with investigative techniques learned in the job thereafter, hence just like other professions, experience is vital. Despite the fact that formal education is vital; it only acts as a starting point after which experience and adherence to stipulated professional guidelines gradually bring about the profession. Most of investigators learn their role while working for their enforcement agency. New investigators despite their formal qualification will first be initiated to database usage in information gathering depending on the type of the firm entitled. This will for example constitute observing senior investigators performance, learning to recognise computer fraud, as well as ‘learning in doing’, where through practice in real operations they get equipped. Gradually they gain skills which qualify them as professions in private investigation field (Turvey 2008).

Just like many other career professions, investigator profession will require a license to operate. Most nations’ legal systems call for licensing of investigators since they are involved with activities that involve private and public issues. Some of the licensing requirements in profession establishment for investigators are; the investigator should be 18 years and above, have a combination in formal education criminal related fields and most probably a significant period of experience. These are requirements like just any other profession careers and that gives it the professionalism it deserves. In addition, licensing for investigators may require a credit in criminal history background to the investigator involved. This is a proof of the investigators cleanliness in terms of moral conduct and respect of the law.

Just like the requirement of other career professions which requires respect to their associated fields’ rules and regulation, investigators career is as well attributed to respect of the law. Being entrusted with confidential matters and investigation of law-breakers, they themselves should show a higher degree of adherence to the law. Determination of their ability to respect the law is based from their criminal history background where cases of conviction may disqualify one as a profession through denial of licenses. They also receive a crediting based on qualifying score from written examination that covers laws and regulations which tests their conversancy with the existing laws (Won-je, 2010).

In other cases, investigators acquire official recognition from professional departments to exhibit proficiency in their field just like other professions have bodies that govern their practice. According to Hess & Orthmann (2009), “the National Association of Legal Investigators confers the Certified Legal Investigator designation upon licensing investigators who devote a majority of their practice to negligence or criminal defence investigations.” These and other requirements make investigation a professional.

Hess & Orthmann (2009) notes “professional Certified Investigator certification is also provided by security industry trade organization known as ASIS International.” To qualify as a profession in this field, ASIS International recognizes only those with high school diploma or other equivalent, experience in investigation of at least 5 years, management of investigation for a period of 2 years and must pass a written test. Regardless of the field of investigation, the investigators should hold a clean record of national law compliance. Also he/she should have a high degree of conversancy of his/her field regulations and law as well as a faithful disciple of the same.

The screening process of prospective investigators can therefore be attributed to his criminal history background. It is through this knowledge where one will be deemed as a qualified investigator. This is because the investigators’ career is highly based on his ingenuity, persistence, and assertiveness. In addition, other major characteristics that make a profession are attained through research and investigations in a particular field, so do investigators work whereby there also acquire traits through investigations and research in a given area, such traits include; boldness during a confrontation, ability to think critically and quickly, as well as communication skills (Turvey 2008).

Morals, integrity and ethics just like in professions dictate how investigators will conduct themselves during an investigation which provides a guideline to the investigator on how to behave and uphold the professionalism of his work. Respect to others rights and beliefs is an aspect embraced in interrogation and dialogue which are vital since the facts presented before jury are the bases through which the judge will base his judgement. Any altered or assumed information will significantly affect positive outcome. As a result, investigators’ ability of “bias avoidance” and effective investigation constitutes their profession (Sonne 2006).

As mentioned in several cases, professionalism in the investigative field is enhanced through post-degree learning. Profession is mostly attained through ‘Professional training’ an ‘on-the-job’ training. Professional training, which is according to Internal Revenue Service (1972), “an accredited training as contributing towards a university qualification, or formal training courses provided or funded by the agency” can range from one-day information sessions or seminars to learning from fellow workers termed as ‘learn as you go.’ As mentioned in several cases, professionalism in investigative field is enhanced through post-degree learning. Profession is mostly attained through ‘Professional training’ an ‘on-the-job’ training. Professional training, which is according to Madinger (2006) “an accredited training as contributing towards a university qualification, or formal training courses provided or funded by the agency” can range from one-day information sessions or seminars to learning from fellow workers termed as ‘learn as you go.’ Integrity agencies are one of the major providers of high-quality informal training. This provides the investigators with good foundational information pertaining “the all about” investigation hence asserting that investigators too are professions. Professional training therefore gives rise to investigation staffs that are professionally qualified. Professional training brings about transformation of staff from ‘prior taking up their current role’ to ‘once taking up their current role’, a transformation that converts formal trained investigators to professions investigators.

Just like any other professions, investigators can be considered profession through the process of learning (both formal and informal) they undergo.

Criminal field is a wide area with segmented sub-fields. Through specialization in specific field such as, professionalism is acquired. Thus, through specialization in their field as investigators they can be considered as profession. In addition, just like any other career profession, whose professionalism is dictated by their professional conduct and duty of care, investigators acquire profession through the same. Like other professions, they are provided with guidelines on how they should conduct themselves and their operations with limitations and rights (Brian & McNeil 2003).

Thus apart from university degrees which is a criteria for a job to be considered as a profession and the self defence skills an investigator has to possess, as depicted, investigators should be classified to as a profession as they meet all the other criteria that constitute a profession.

Reference list

Brian, B & McNeil, B. (2003). Internal corporate investigations. Washington, DC: American Bar Association.

Cranston, R. (1995). Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Desty, R. (1887). The Supreme Court Reporter, Volume 7. Washington DC: West Pub. Co.

Hazard, G. & Dondi, A. (2005). Legal Ethics: A Comparative Study. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

Hess, K & Orthmann, C. (2009). Criminal investigation. New York: Cengage Learning.

Internal Revenue Service. (1972). Criminal investigators. New York: U.S.G.P.O.

Madinger, J. (2006). Money laundering: a guide for criminal investigators. Clermont: CRC Press.

Peppet, S. R. (2008). The ethics of collaborative law. Journal of Dispute Resolution, Forthcoming, Vol 7, 1-31.

Sonne, W. (2006). Criminal Investigation for the Professional Investigator. Clermont: CRC Press.

Siegel, L. (2008). Essentials of Criminal Justice. New York: Cengage Learning.

Turvey, B. (2008). Criminal profiling: an introduction to behavioral evidence analysis. Durham: Academic Press.

Won-je, S. (2010). Prosecutors launch investigation into illegal surveillance. The Hankyoreh, Vol 5, pp.12.