private detectives
Licensed civilian sleuths
Private detectives are investigators who work outside law enforcement, hired by individuals, attorneys, or businesses to gather information.
They conduct surveillance, locate missing persons, investigate fraud, and dig up evidence for legal cases.
Also called private investigators or PIs: She hired a private detective to follow her husband.
- piCircle's fundamental ratio
- hired gunPaid outside specialist
- operativeCovert field agent
- sleuthPrivate investigator
- gumshoeInformal term for detective
skip tracing · hardboiled fiction · missing persons · cold case · paper trail · background checks · corporate espionage · surveillance · flatfoots · agents · undercover · shadowing · Sam Spade · noir · pulp fiction · mystery novels · stakeout · unmarked car
- union opponentsstrikebreakers, scabs, Pinkertons, goons, goon squads
private detectivespolice officers
Sworn law enforcers
law enforcement · federal agents · FBI agents · state police · cops
private detectivespublic figures
Prominent societal personalities
celebrities · politicians · press secretaries · publicists · spokespeople
private, detective, privacy, privately, privatize, privatization, privation, deprive, deprivation