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Preferred term

private detectives  

Definition

  • Private detectives are people who undertake police-like activities without being part of the police service but customarily work within the private sector on an individual or freelance basis, or more likely as part of a specialist company. Initially, private detectives were involved in work that supplemented activities of the state, when the reach of the latter was still insufficient to complete its various requirements. [Source: The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encylopedia; Private Detectives]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/private_detectives

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