When you think of private detective, you may think that it is a non-existent profession that only appears in action or mystery movies, that is, that it is a profession that is not real. But nothing is further from reality, being a private detective is a profession that in our country they do no less than 3.712 people according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), almost nothing!
If when you read detective books or watched movies or television series where detectives were the main protagonists and you liked what they did to such an extent that you imagined yourself being a detective too ... what are you waiting for to make your dream come true? Being a detective is possible and making a living from it, too.
First, you should know that a private detective does not spy on people, but investigates and everything he has to do to collect information for his clients must be within the law. He will not do anything that is illegal for a case, but rather the opposite. A private detective must understand the law and know what is correct and what is not.
Requirements to be a private detective
According to the Federal Association of Private Detectives of Spain, there are some requirements that you must meet if you want to be a private detective and also be able to charge for it.
- Have more than 18 years
- Have the nationality of one of the Member States of the European Union or of a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
- Having good physical and mental aptitude to be able to practice as a private detective, you will not be able to suffer from any disease or disorder that prevents you from working as a private detective.
- Not having a criminal record or having been convicted in the 5 years prior to applying to be a private detective.
- Not having been sanctioned in the previous two or four years for a serious or very serious safety infraction.
- Not having been separated from service in the Armed Forces or in the Security Forces and Forces.
- Not having exercised control functions of the entities, services or actions of security, surveillance or private investigation, nor of their personnel or means, as a member of the Security Forces and Bodies in the two years prior to the request.
- Pass the necessary knowledge and training tests.
- Have the title of Bachelor, Senior Technician, Technician in the professions to be determined, or other equivalent for professional purposes, or higher.
- To be in possession of a private detective diploma, recognized for these purposes in the manner determined by Order of the Ministry of the Interior and obtained after taking the programmed teachings and passing the corresponding tests.
Likewise, it is important to know which universities are those that admit the training of private detective, on this list, you can know what they are. During the three years of these studies, future private detectives will take different subjects to be able to obtain knowledge about law, criminal sociology, legal medicine or legislation, among others.
Functions of the private detective
Before enrolling in the University to be a private detective, the first thing you should also know is what the functions of a detective are, only in this way will you be able to know if your work really likes you and you want to do it or not. You may have distorted thoughts of what a private detective can really be and therefore, it is important to know exactly what their functions are. According to the Federal Association of Private Detectives of Spain we can know.
Detective functions
Private detectives, at the request of natural or legal persons, will be in charge of:
- Obtain and provide information and evidence on conduct or events of a private nature (those that affect the economic, labor, commercial, financial, personal, social or family life).
- Investigation of prosecutable crimes only at the request of those legitimated in the criminal process.
- Surveillance in different public or competition areas.
But in addition to the functions it is also important to keep in mind that private detectives will also have some prohibitions that they will not be able to perform in any of the ways:
- Private detectives will not be able to carry out investigations into offenses that can be prosecuted ex officio, and they must report immediately to the authorities.
- In no case may they use personal or technical means for their investigations that violate the right to honor, privacy, self-image or confidentiality of communications.