What is the History of Private Investigators?
Private investigators first known agency, Le Bureau de Renseignements Universels pour le commerce et l’Industrie, was founded in 1833 by French soldiers Eugene Francois Vidocq Who was also a criminal and privateer. This private investigator agency hired ex-convicts who carried out investigations and other private detective duties but were frowned upon by the official law enforcement who tried to shut down the operation on many occasions. On one occasion in 1842, after solving a case of embezzlement, Vidocq was arrested by police for suspicion of unlawful imprisonment and taking money on false pretences.
He was sentenced to five years imprisonment and fined 3,000 francs; he was later released by the Court Of Appeals. At the time Vidocq was doubtful of the conviction and felt that he had been set up. Despite his negative past his attributes include introducing record keeping, criminology and ballistics into criminal investigations.
Along with making the first plaster […]