Most private investigators are ex-law enforcement and start interviewing witnesses.

 I, James Ellison did the same thing. I was a police officer in Miami Beach, Florida.

A lawyer retained me to conduct interviews on witnesses to auto accidents. 

Later in life, I focused on working in surveillance only. 

I found I could teach a person how to follow in traffic, blend in, and video the claimant’s alleged injury. It was difficult to train someone to conduct interviews because of the questions missed while interviewing the witnesses.

Most private investigative agencies do no training at all. 

They place ads for an investigator and hire the agent based on their resume, which might not be accurate. 

Over the years as an agency owner, I found that agents in the field rarely had a trainer in the field giving them advice or showing them separate ways to work surveillance. 

The agent ends up with unhealthy habits. 

An example: The agent leaves the surveillance to buy a meal or drinks, or go to the restroom. They have no clue if the claimant departed the residence while they were away because the claimant’s vehicle is parked in the garage. 

Most private investigators do not follow a claimant into a business, restaurant, or gym to obtain the covert video. They just relax in their vehicle and wait for the claimant to return. They miss the opportunity to obtain thirty or more minutes of covert video of the alleged injury.  

The private investigator in the field should use a tripod every time when videoing the claimant, but most do not. They just hold their camera in their hand and start videoing. 

This is alright if the video length is 2 minutes long. 

What happens if the claimant with a left leg injury stands in the parking lot talking with a friend for forty minutes?  Expect bounce and shake movements in the agent’s video.