One of the great benefits of being a private investigator is all of the great gadgets and toys available on the market.
A person doesn’t have to be a private investigator to buy these investigative tools, but it makes for an excellent excuse. From counter-surveillance equipment, to handy disguising devises, to high tech listening devices – a successful private investigator has it all!
Of course, no private investigator would be complete without a badge. A variety of private investigator badges are available through mail order and online catalogues, but the gadgets and tools available to private investigators move beyond simple badges.
One great example is diversion safes. A private investigator might find the need to hide valuable objects. Or, bugs and other recording or monitoring devices might need to be hidden, then placed inside a home or business. A wide variety of diversion safes for this purpose are available. Some of these safes are well-known novels that are hollow inside. Other examples are hollowed out brand name food containers, soda cans, and cleaning products that can be opened from the bottom. These safes allow for the covert placement of investigative devices just about anywhere.
But what sort of investigative devices can go inside these diversion safes? For the private investigator that needs to videotape evidence, tiny color video cameras – smaller than a dime – are available. Tiny listening devices are also available.
On one hand, a private investigator might need a large listening device that allows for eavesdropping into conversations from far away. Shotgun microphones and parabolic microphone systems are great for this purpose. The most highly regarded parabolic microphone system is the Gibson. This microphone is known around the world for its ability to transmit and record the sounds of a bird one mile away.
On the other hand, listening to a conversation might just require eavesdropping through a wall. For this purpose, private investigators use contact surface microphones. These microphones look similar to a doctor’s stethoscope. When one end is placed against a wall, faint sounds can be heard through almost any solid surface.
In other cases, gaining and recording information might require talking to the person who is under investigation. Or, it might involve talking to people who are close to the person under investigation. Of course, these people are unlikely to agree to their conversations being recorded. So, no private investigator’s toolbox is complete without a body microphone system or tie clip microphone. These devices can be attached discreetly to the private investigator’s body or tie and can pick up sounds up to 1000 feet away.
Telephone conversations can also be easily recorded by the private investigator. Devices are available that turn any standard tape recorder into a telephone tape recorder. These devices are easily plugged into phone jacks. They begin recording as soon as the telephone headset is picked up, then stop recording when the telephone is set back on the hook. This is helpful for a private investigator that wants to record his own telephone conversations. Or, the device can be placed discreetly on the phone jack of the person being investigated to record incriminating phone conversations.
For the private investigator that completes phone calls through his computer, he can purchase a digital telephone recorder instead. These recorders tape and save digital conversations. They also record the name and address of the caller for future reference.
On the other hand, a private investigator might want to block others from recording his conversations. For this reason, tap detectors and guards are also available. These detectors and guards alert the private investigator if someone is attempting to tap into his conversation.
Other phone guard devices can alert the private investigator if a secondary extension on the phone has been picked up. Better still, these guards can be installed on all extensions and the extension picked up by the private investigator will automatically disconnect all other extensions, guaranteeing a private telephone conversation.
For the private investigator using special powders that detect ultraviolet (UV), or blacklight, rays, a multitude of UV detecting kits are available. These range from palm sized UV flashlights to pens. Special UV marking pens are also available. When an object is written on with one of these pens, the markings are undetectable. But, shining an UV light on the writing will bring it instantly to view.
Often, a private investigator will need a regular flashlight, too. These are useful when snooping through dark rooms. But, large flashlights can be too cumbersome for the private investigator to carry. For this reason, tiny flashlights smaller than a ballpoint pen are available. Despite their small size, these flashlights are often brighter than standard flashlights.
Another great tool for the private investigator is vehicle-tracking equipment. Through high tech satellite and Internet technology, the private investigator can track everywhere a vehicle goes. These handy gadgets have one component that can be attached magnetically to the car of the person being investigated. This motion-activated component sends information back to the private investigator. Here, the information can be downloaded and reports can be generated, including maps of where the car went and the routes it took. Some of these tracking devices are even small enough to fit in the palm of the private investigator’s hand.
Private investigators have a wide array of gadgets and tools available to them. With these tools, no case is unsolvable.
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