A Richmond Private Detective referred to a civilian employed by a Richmond BC Private Detective company to investigate "Subjects" on behalf of a client.
In Richmond, the client is the term used for the customer.
The "Subject" typically refers to people or groups but can also include Richmond businesses. The client can be an individual, corporation, or Canadian government agency.
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Use of Richmond Private Detective Term
A regular person performing investigations in Richmond is no longer referred to as a Private Detective. Rather, the term used now for a local investigator is a Richmond "Private Investigator."
Last Known Record of a Richmond Private Detective
The last known record of a civilian investigating on the behalf of clients being referred to as a Richmond Private Detective is from a 1960s amendment to what was called The Private Detectives' Licensing Act.
Today's Use of the term: Richmond Private Detective
The current act governing Richmond civilians no longer allows the use of the term Detective:
A person engaged in a security business must not, to describe or identify the person’s business or services use the word "detective", "law enforcement", "peace officer" or "police", either alone or in conjunction with other words.
What Case Files Did Richmond Private Detectives Work on?
The area of work for Richmond Private Detectives was a broad range of different types of investigations, same as today.
However, Private Detectives in Richmond focused on providing provincial insurance firms with information and evidence regarding insurance. These insurance firms were the largest provider of investigations in the past and now.
Despite being ordinary citizens, Richmond Private Detectives did not have BC government investigative privileges; however, they possessed the authority akin to any other Richmond resident, albeit with the added capability to provide investigative services to clients due to their specialized expertise in the field.
Richmond Private Detective Clientele
Private Detectives in Richmond had commonly served
insurance companies
law firms
private corporations
Richmond citizens
Private Detectives undertaken for these entities often revolved around insurance claims and often provided surveillance as a service to these claims.
Today's Richmond agencies can also offer Cyber Investigations in conjunction with surveillance to better serve these clients. Obviously, technological limits made Richmond Private Detectives of the past unable to offer this service.
Additionally, other clients in Richmond had sought comprehensive information to facilitate the adjudication or administration of insurance claims.
Many of these case files, or just files, had been resolved through the engagement of a Richmond Private Detective, who had utilized both surveillance and non-surveillance methods.
Of course, 1960s non-surveillance methods were much more analog. Richmond investigations had typically yielded information more expeditiously compared to legal procedures like discovery, thereby furnishing the clients of the Investigators with enhanced data for decision-making.
The Private Detective's clients would ask for investigations in Richmond on a wide variety of topics such as,
Locates, Skip Tracing, or Missing Richmond Persons Investigations
Interviewing and Statement-Taking
Theft Investigations in BC
Due to the progress of technology, Richmond agencies can now offer more investigative services such as,
Network & Data Cyber Security
Former Richmond Private Detective Legislation
Most people would have thought that Richmond Private Detectives were given extra provincial BC legislative powers; however, this was not entirely true.
A local Richmond Detective was just a civilian but developed more tools than the general public and was more skilled and aware of how best to have leveraged those tools.
Furthermore, in Richmond, Private Detectives had the legal right to perform surveillance. This meant that a Richmond Private Detective could not have been accused of loitering, same with agencies in the present.
Make no mistake, Private Detectives in Richmond had legal means and methodologies that made them as effective as the civilians performing investigations of today. In contrast, the police had access to vastly more verifiable information, such as BC provincial wide data bases only accessible by law enforcement. For a Richmond Private Detective, much of the time, was spent establishing and verifying information.
Richmond Investigations Today
Today, the term "Richmond Private Detective" has evolved reflecting the changing landscape of investigative work. While the focus and technology have shifted, the core mission remains the same:
to provide clients with reliable information and evidence.
Despite the lack of governmental investigative powers, Richmond Private Detectives of the past were skilled professionals who played a crucial role in serving the needs of insurance companies, law firms, corporations, and individuals. Their legacy lives on in the modern investigative agencies that continue to provide a wide range of services to the Richmond community.
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