# How do I become a Private Investigator?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-private-investigator/323401>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 26, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-private-investigator/323401 "2005-09-26T00:07:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-private-investigator/323401/1 "2005-09-26T00:07:40Z")

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Man, I think thats the job for me. But I can’t find any college courses or training. I’m told that its mostly ex-police that become P.I.'s. Can anyone help? Is anyone here a private eye?

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-private-investigator/323401/2 "2005-09-26T00:44:41Z")

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> [@bubastis](#):
>
> Man, I think thats the job for me. But I can’t find any college courses or training. I’m told that its mostly ex-police that become P.I.'s. Can anyone help? Is anyone here a private eye?

You don’t tell us where you’re at, so how, exactly, do you expect an answer? The regulations for investigators differs greatly from state to state.

I have a Private Detectives license in 3 states, but the type of work I do probably isn’t what you’re fantasizing about. (I’m a security consultant. It’s very lucrative, but for the most part, rather boring). I was a P.I. briefly in college. After graduation I worked as a patrolman for a small city for a few years. I left that & went into security consulting (I also took a patrolman job with another police department, part-time, to keep my certifications. I still have that job). Between those times the regulations changed for getting a license, but mostly hinged on passing a written test & background checks, both giving by the state.

Some states require you to work under another investigators license for several years, some don’t. Some states allow you to carry a firearm, some don’t. Some allow you to carry a badge, some don’t. Training and education requirements differ state by state.

It’d be a lot easier to give you an answer if you told us where you where.

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**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-private-investigator/323401/3 "2005-09-26T07:13:31Z")

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> [@pkbites](#):
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> It’d be a lot easier to give you an answer if you told us where you where.

Ireland

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-become-a-private-investigator/323401/4 "2005-09-26T14:52:13Z")

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> [@bubastis](#):
>
> Ireland

:smack: D’oh! Sorry, can’t help you. I have no knowledge of what it takes outside the U.S… My company doesn’t even have an office in Ireland (that I know of). We have one in England.

My advice to you is to find a P.I. where you live and talk with them about it. They might be able to steer you in the direction you need to go over there. Good Luck.🙂