# What Did "House Detectives" Do, And Are They Still Around?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-house-detectives-do-and-are-they-still-around/470913>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 3, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-house-detectives-do-and-are-they-still-around/470913 "2008-11-03T19:44:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-house-detectives-do-and-are-they-still-around/470913/1 "2008-11-03T19:44:11Z")

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Hotel house detectives show up in old mystery stories.

Does this post still exist? Or have they been replaced by/retitled as simply security officers?

Was there any difference in the training, sophistication, job responsibilities of a “house detective” versus whatever his modern counterpart is?

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-house-detectives-do-and-are-they-still-around/470913/2 "2008-11-03T19:49:54Z")

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This was asked a few months ago, but I can’t find the thread. Essentially, the job has been folded into “Hotel Security.”

There were difference, but that was due to the difference in what “security” entailed. House detectives in the past did sometimes deal with couples who checked in together without being married, but most of their duties were pretty much the same as hotel security does today.

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**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-house-detectives-do-and-are-they-still-around/470913/3 "2008-11-03T20:15:40Z")

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Here are [two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=387644) previous [threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=378460) on this subject.

They are short, and the first thread links to the second.