Become a Private Investigator in Alaska
To become a Private Investigator in Alaska does not require a specialized Alaska Private Investigator's license.
You don't even need to take an Alaskan Private Investigator course. or official state Private Investigator training.
Furthermore, the state of Alaska does not even issue PI licenses.
Private Detective Aptitude Test
Alaska PI City Requirements
However, to become a Private Investigator in all of Alaska, some cities will have Private Investigator requirements and will require you to have a PI license to operate in their city jurisdictions (see below). After learning how to perform investigations, you can simply work as a Private Investigator in Alaska. It is recommended that you first learn how to perform investigations relevant to the PI industry. The fact that Alaska does not have licensed state Private Investigators does not mean that the quality of investigations is less in Alaska than in other states. In fact, due to poor state industry standards, having a PI license does not make you a qualified Investigator. The poor industry standard come from the non-relevant experience most, if not all, states require of you to become a licensed Private Investigator. This non-relevant experience can be education degrees and non-PI investigative experience.
Alaska PI experience
An industry standard flaw most states have is regulations regarding law enforcement experience. Most states allow you to obtain a PI license if you have law enforcement experience. Some states also accept non-PI investigative experience to obtain a PI license. The problem with states requiring previous investigative experience is that there is no such thing as equivalent Private Investigator experience. Sure, a career in law enforcement will gain you some transferable skills to bring to the PI world. However, an investigative career outside of PI work will not provide you the skill-set to perform what we do the most: single person surveillance for insurance fraud investigations. Furthermore, PIs typically obtain all evidence via quality and litigious video. This is uncommon for most other investigative careers. Being a police officer will not make you a good PI the same way being a PI will not make you a good police officer.
PI Licensing Courses
Some states also require you to take an approved PI licensing course. However, these courses typically focus on what laws you need to be aware of. This is of course useful, but new Private Investigators still need to learn how to perform investigations. The required courses do not focus on what we do most: single person mobile surveillance. Often, these courses do not not even mention single person mobile surveillance. If you are becoming a PI, you need at least 100 hours of surveillance experience to be able to perform safely and meet client's high standards.
Another requirement issue is the acceptance of post-secondary degrees. These degrees that are accepted for PI licensing are typically in the criminal justice field. However, some states accept any post-secondary degree. The issue is, having an educational degree will offer almost no help to you in the Private Investigation industry.
Alaska Private Investigator Requirements Summary
Be 18yo or older.
Be a U.S. citizen.
Be legally allowed to work in Alaska.
Novel Data Investigative Learning offers the only Private Investigator education courses that focuses on mobile surveillance and understanding the PI industry. For more information on PI education, click here.
State of Alaska Business License for Investigators
The Alaskan cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks require you to be licensed in their city jurisdictions. However, the requirements to obtain these two PI licenses are minimal.