Private detectives are out of control in Britain

The reputation of the private investigation industry has taken another turn for the worse this week. News that the detective firm Southern Investigations had placed the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens under surveillance has been greeted, quite rightly, with indignation. The notion that the most powerful police chief in the land can be spied upon by private eyes – and remain completely unaware that this was happening – throws into stark relief the sheer audacity of private detectives in Britain.

Last July I presented a Radio 4 documentary called Crouching Low, Hidden Camera, about the shadowy world of private investigators. Over a period of some months I intensively researched the industry, speaking to detectives both on and off the record, and even joining a team from an agency called Answers Investigation on a surveillance operation. What I discovered was rather shocking. In Britain, there is no regulatory system for private detectives. Yes, you read that right. Private eyes are free to do as they please.

This creates an odd scenario in which police are required to go through a Byzantine process of admin and legal wrangling before they set up a surveillance operation, while private investigators can snoop around at will. In some cases, police forces are happy to liaise with private detectives, since they can get results in a far cheaper and easier way.

Many companies make their money from the messy business of infidelity. Some – such as the simultaneously horrifying and absurd UK Honey Trap – ensnare spouses by way of a seduction routine, and record their responses on video. But there are between 5,000 and 10,000 private eyes in Britain, and many specialise in a greater order of offence.

Some detectives told me that they are often called in by victims of crime to re-open cases that the police have kicked into the long grass. James Harrison-Griffiths of Aitch-Gee Investigations, an ex-policeman who went private some years ago, has even investigated suspected murders that the police, squeezed by limited resources, have hastily ascribed to suicide. He has also investigated mid-level corporate fraud and missing persons, both of which are low priority for the police. Another detective I interviewed, Charley Hill, specialises in art crime and has helped recover paintings worth many millions of pounds; another, Cliff Knuckey, focuses on money laundering and counter terrorism financing.

Harrison-Griffiths, along with most of the detectives who were willing to speak to me on the record, seems to be above board. However, Nigel Parsons, the director of Answers Investigation, confided that in his estimation, around 90 per cent of private detectives in Britain are up to no good: bugging, phone hacking and bribery take place as a matter of course.

I was surprised by the ubiquity of surveillance on our streets. For as little as £54.50 per hour, we can instruct a detective to snoop on anybody we choose, taking pictures, recording their movements, and even posing as deliverymen and construction workers. Andy Cross, who works for Answers Investigation, showed me a pizza box with a hidden camera that he had used while pretending to be a delivery boy. James Harrison-Griffiths gave me a tour of the anonymous white van that he uses on surveillance. It contained a Jerry can in which he would urinate, and an official-looking yellow vest that he used for disguise. Nobody questions a man in a yellow vest, he explained.

Many detectives operate a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy when it comes to the reason behind their operations. But more than one detective admitted that they had been asked to track somebody down by a client who seemed intent on doing that person harm. Not wanting to play a part an honour killing or revenge attack, the detectives I spoke to declined the business. But they were exceptions to the rule: most of their peer group would have happily taken on the job regardless.

Given that the industry is out of control, we should not be surprised when senior police officers find themselves victims of surveillance – which after all is not against the law. Nobody wants more regulation, particularly now the Tories are beginning to slash red tape in education and planning permission. Nevertheless, it cannot be right that any member of the public can buy a pair of binoculars and a listening device, design a website, and set themselves up as a private eye with no prior experience or qualification.

Think about it. If somebody is watching you now, there is no way of knowing, and nothing you can do about it. It's high time this state of affairs was addressed.