detective

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Detective on the observation

A detective (from the Latin detegere "discover, uncover") or private detective (Germany) or professional detective (Austria) is a private investigator who documents findings and information in the context of gathering evidence and / or providing emergency evidence through observation , research , legendary interviews and the like and in particular collects evidence that can be used in court .

In American police units, the designation detective is also used as a functional designation for an investigator in the criminal investigation department and is placed in front of the actual rank, e.g. B. detective sergeant .

designation

The term private detective is derived from the translation of the English private investigator , private detective or detect . Since the designation detective in English-speaking countries is a grade or a functional designation in the police authorities , the addition private emphasizes the difference to the civil servant.

Today the term private detective is understood more as a distinction from the so-called business detective. A detective can work independently or in a detective agency or law firm as an employee .

Associations in Germany

In the course of industrialization and the growing demand for business information about potential business partners, the job description of the detective developed based on the English model. One of the first detective agencies was the investigation office founded by a broker in 1860 to protect commercial interests for Szczecin and the Pomeranian province . Building on this, a civil interest developed alongside economic ones. The first German association, the Reich Association of German Detective Institutes , was founded in 1896 and was the central national agency throughout the First World War. With the rise of the National Socialists and their political ideology, the demand for detectives fell, but this rose again after the Second World War and the passage of the law securing the right to freedom of trade . Various established detective associations have been founded since then. One of the larger associations is the Federal Association of German Detectives .

initial situation

Germany

In Germany , the job title is detective, whereby here private detectives, business detectives and u. a. Insurance detectives u. are meant. In Germany, detectives do not enjoy any special rights or sovereign powers and do not have a state license to practice the profession. However, they do not explicitly require an examination of § 34a GwO of the IHK, since they are not assigned to the security trade , but to the investigative trade . They work with everyone's rights , especially the arrest of everyone ( Section 127, Paragraph 1, Clause 1 StPO ), and are normal traders who, according to Section 38, Paragraph 1, No. 2 of the Trade Regulations , are assigned to the trade requiring surveillance (trust trade). The job title detective is not protected as such. A detective is usually self-employed or employed as an investigator in a detective agency or law firm (note here: special rights of the detective as an assistant to the legal profession, e.g. the right to refuse to give evidence).

The Federal Court of Justice basically allows the taking of evidence to be monitored by a private security company, unless GPS is used. This would not affect a person's fundamental rights in Germany.

Austria

In Austria , the job title is professional detective; the employees of professional detectives are called professional detective assistants. The trade falls under the regulated trade and requires an official qualification test, compliance with the statutory obligation of confidentiality and special reliability. The rights and obligations for professional detectives are regulated in the trade regulations (Austria) (§§ 94, 129, 130 GewO 1994), (GRNov 2002), (Federal Law Gazette of 23 July 2002).

commissioning

When hiring a detective, there is usually a service contract between the customer and the detective in accordance with the German Civil Code . This means that detectives do not owe success because it cannot be guaranteed.

In some cases a detective is hired as an alternative to contacting the police or prosecutor . The client does not want to involve the state institutions in order to retain more control over the results of the investigation. Then he has to decide later about switching on.

However, the detective is mainly commissioned in areas in which the state law enforcement authorities are originally not or are not allowed to be active. These are usually civil law cases , for example illegal work despite a doctor's certificate of incapacity for work.

Field of activity

Private clients usually use private detectives to investigate partnership , custody , inheritance , maintenance or other family matters, i.e. in civil law matters.

Companies tend to use commercial detective agencies that specialize in investigations, research and observation in the commercial sector. These include human resources and competition matters , debtor reviews and investigations into working time fraud. Detective agencies are increasingly investigating patent infringements . Not to be forgotten are forensic investigations into computer crime and eavesdropping as a countermeasure to industrial espionage.

Often the detective is equated with the shop detective or department store detective, who, however, originally performs a surveillance task. In this respect, department store detectives also legally belong to the guards, as they also need an official guarding permit in order to carry out their work . Other detectives do not need such a permit.

In Great Britain , detectives have quasi-sovereign tasks such as delivering judicial letters. In Germany this is reserved for bailiffs . Because of this, British detectives enjoy a far better reputation than their German counterparts.

In Austria , the legislature has regulated the field of activity of professional detectives in the trade regulations ( § 129 GewO).

A trade license for the trade of professional detectives (§ 94 Z 62) is required for

  • 1. the provision of information about private relationships,
  • 2. conducting surveys of criminal acts,
  • 3. the gathering of evidence for purposes of judicial or administrative proceedings,
  • 4. the investigation of missing or hidden persons, the authors, writers or senders of anonymous letters, the authors or disseminators of defamation , suspicion or insults,
  • 5. the observation and control of the loyalty of employees,
  • 6. the observation of customers in business premises,
  • 7. the protection of persons ,
  • 8. The detection of devices for the unauthorized transmission of image and sound, of electronically stored data and the associated protective measures Z 2 remains unaffected by this provision.

The following areas of activity arise from this catalog of powers:

  • Address inquiries
  • Preservation of evidence
  • Credit information
  • Theft and vandalism
  • Threats and extortion
  • Inheritance matters
  • Maintenance matters
  • Search of people

education

Germany

In Germany , the training to become a detective has not yet been regulated, as the Vocational Training Act does not know the designation and thus the profession of detective. A legal regulation of the training is currently neither planned nor recognizable. All efforts by the industry in this direction have so far failed. This is not least due to the fact that the professional associations have not yet succeeded in forming a joint campaign.

In 1986 the vocational training plan for detectives was drawn up, which, with the support of the professional associations BDD , BID and DDV, flowed into the Central Office for Training in the Detective Industry (ZAD). In addition, all knowledge bases were developed on the basis of the professional code for detectives in Germany, to which various German associations have subscribed as a professional code.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other institutes offer advanced training courses held in the form of weekend seminars over a period of several months up to two years. In addition to seminars that prepare you for a job as a department store detective, there is also the term Certified Detective.

The courses of different duration are carried out by the Central Office for Training in the Detective Trade (ZAD), by Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and private educational institutions.

Austria

In Austria there are no legal regulations for training either, but professional associations and individual companies offer one-year training to become a professional detective assistant. Detective is a training or further education that is regulated by internal regulations of the course providers.

Detectives in literature, film and television

Examples of well-known fictional detectives are master detectives such as Sherlock Holmes , Nick Knatterton , Hercule Poirot, and Philip Marlowe . Mickey Mouse often works as a private detective in European, especially Italian Disney comics . There are also amateur detectives who solve crimes out of personal inclination without really being interested in wages: Miss Marple , Detective Conan , Father Brown and Paul Temple . For a list of detectives from crime literature, see the list of literary detectives and investigators .

Superhero comics combine influences from horror, comedy, detective novel, science fiction, fantasy and others. Some superheroes partially take on the role of investigators: Batman , Iron Man , etc. Most of them rarely fight organized crime directly. The Vigilant Daredevil works as a lawyer under the name Matt Murdock .

Junior detectives often appear in books for young people, young people who form a gang and fight the crime of their own accord: The three question marks , TKKG , The Knickerbockers Gang , Emil Tischbein and the Six Sniffers .

Other investigators often appear in the media and television: Lord Peter Wimsey , Jessica Fletcher , Thomas Magnum , Josef Matula , Jim Rockford , Lenßen & Partner , Die Trovatos , Rorschach , private detective Anthonsen , Adrian Monk , Shawn Spencer , detective Kogoro Akechi, Kalle Blomquist , Jan Helmer , Mick St. John , Vicki Nelson , Remington Steele and Laura Holt , The Mentalist , and Carsten Stahl.

Games

Detectives are also needed in some party games. See:

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Detective  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations