Essential Tools Of the Sleuthing Trade For Part-Time PIs

So you want to be a gumshoe, huh? Hunt down leads? Learn the truth that is being kept from you? Well, it’s going to take a heckuva lot more than just your brains and your mitts  to uncover the kind of information you want to get. Being a PI is going to require some good equipment and the kind of resourcefulness that that only comes through working knowledge of what it takes to make it in the field. If you want to be a good amatuer private investagtor, here are four tools you will need to know and use every single day.
As always, use these tools responsibly and make sure you check state laws before you go all Magnum PI on someone.

1) Public Records

As a private investigator, it’s your job to uncover secrets. And there are hundreds of secrets that can be uncovered by reviewing public records. Since no government functions without a healthy bureaucracy, the feds, the state, and even cities keep records about crimes, addresses, and birth dates. The easiest way to get access to these records is through a service like Instant Checkmate LLC. For a monthly membership fee, you do as many searches as you like on as many names as you have in your case file. You can find out if your target has committed crimes in the past, what their current addresses are, and even if they are a registered sex offender.

2) GPS Data Logger

Sometimes, where somebody is actually going is a whole lot different than where they say they’re going. If you want to find out someone’s true location, the most important tool in your arsenal is a GPS Data Logger. All you have to do is stick one of these babies on your target’s car, and it gives you information on where they travel, how fast they drive, and how long they stay at certain locations. It’s like trailing them wherever they go, except you save a whole lot on gas.

3) Video Camera and Audio Recorder

They might not be cutting edge, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less essential. If you have a conversation with someone you’re investigating, you’re going to want to make sure you have it on tape. If you’re on stakeout and your target makes an appearance, you will want to make sure you have proof. All the confessing and incriminating actions in the world won’t matter if you aren’t able to provide evidence to back up your claims.

4) Bionic Ear

Your target is spilling the beans a block away, completely cracking your case and giving you all the information you need. But how do you listen in without tipping them off to your eavesdropping? The easiest way is to use a bionic ear. This is a device that works like binoculars for your ears, allowing you to hear things from a great distance. You just point the bionic ear at what you want to hear, and it’s as if they are right next to you.
Miller Brady is a blogger living in San Clemente, California.  He writes about tech gadgets, online research, and online dating.