Should Private Investigators Be Regulated?

In 2005, the government launched the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to regulate the growing private security industry in the UK. The security industry, which includes manned guarding and 'bouncers' had developed a rather unsavory reputation, which included links to criminality. In order to raise standards, ensure a basic level of training and eliminate crime from the industry, the SIA set up a number of training courses and licensing requirements, enforceable by law.

The changes brought by the SIA along with the support of the vast majority of companies and individuals involved, has seen a significant improvement in the industry, which continues to grow despite the ongoing recession. In October 2010 however the Government announced that the SIA would no longer be a Non-Departmental Public Body. A phased transition to a new regime will take place however the industry will continue to be regulated.

At present, Private Investigations are not covered by the SIA however the inclusion is due to be reviewed as part of the development of the new regulatory framework which begs the question, should Private Investigators be regulated?

Private Investigators have received bad press of late following the revelations into abuses by certain media outlets and an expose by Channel Four which saw covert film of private investigators offering personal data on people that legally, they should not have been able to get hold off. Information from the DVLA and banks featured in the Channel Four expose, raising questions of data security or money being handed over for information. Along with claims of providing support to police forces (which was denied by Police) investigators were filmed offering all sorts of information which they should not have been able to access under UK Law.

There will always be pressure to get that 'golden nugget' of information, the more information the better. Clients go away happy thinking they have got something they couldn't have got themselves and have 'one over' their adversary. As competition in the industry grows, this pressure increases, however the answer is not to break the law. It is not to hand over a bank statement for a personal bank account as part of a business due diligence piece. It is to compile legally available information, collate it, analyze it and then report it. It is to make sense of the information which is available and to come to some conclusions, allowing your client solid information on which to base his decisions, not a list of information he has to work out the meaning of. As with other areas of the security industry, it is the few who gain everyone a bad reputation, however the vast majority of the industry operates with integrity and provides a valuable and effective service for both businesses and individuals.

So should the industry be regulated? In terms of insuring a level playing field for firms and individuals, ensuring a basic standard is applied across the industry, educating clients about what can and cant be done and restoring trust within the industry, its hard to find an argument against regulation. Whilst it will not be without its problems and critics overall, the SIA has helped improve the security industry. With the lessons learned from the introduction of the original regulations, the process should prove smoother and should not be something existing investigators fear.

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