Become a Private Investigator in Idaho
To become a Private Investigator in Idaho does not require a specialized Idaho Private Investigator's license.
Furthermore, the state of Idaho does not issue Idaho PI licenses.
You won't even need to take an Idaho Private Investigator course or official state Private Investigator training.
Private Detective Aptitude Test
After learning how to perform investigations, you can simply work as a Private Investigator in Idaho. It is recommended that you first learn how to perform investigations relevant to the PI industry to become a Private Investigator that can perform. The fact that Idaho does not have licensed Private Investigators or no Private Investigator requirements does not mean that the quality of investigations is less in Idaho 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.
Idaho 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 License 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.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.