What Does a Private Detective Actually Do?

Patrick Kurtz from Kurtz Detective Agency Zurich in an Interview with XING Switzerland

Surely you have also seen exciting crime shows on television, in which the private detective solves a mystery just before the end of the film, saving the victim from death. How accurate the depiction of a detective’s work in these films really is, you can now find out for yourself. This week, the editorial team of XING Switzerland interviewed Patrick Kurtz. He works as a private detective and is the owner of Kurtz Detective Agency in Zurich. Play detective yourself today and learn more about a detective’s professional daily routine in the interview:

What kind of cases do you take on?

We accept assignments from private individuals, companies, organisations, as well as from government institutions. The most common cases revolve around fraud – whether it is infidelity in private life, sick leave fraud in companies, or social welfare fraud against the public. Property offences such as embezzlement, misappropriation, or theft also fall within our areas of expertise.

What training did you complete to work as a private detective?

I completed a six-month full-time training as an "IHK Detective Specialist" at the Security Academy Berlin. Unfortunately, there are no nationwide prerequisites in Switzerland or Germany to practice this profession. For this reason, individuals without any prior knowledge often harm the reputation of the industry.

Most long-standing detectives in Switzerland have a previous career at an investigative authority, where they could learn the essential skills for this profession. I consider this a meaningful career path to start working as a detective under optimal conditions.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

You might be surprised: it is very "desk-based". As I am now predominantly occupied with the administration of Kurtz Detective Agency, my main workspace is the desk. From here, clients and prospects are advised, investigation reports are reviewed, operations coordinated, invoices issued, and so on. But even fieldwork often requires endurance, as a typical day of a detective consists of surveillance that often involves long periods of waiting. Patience and perseverance, especially mentally, are required day after day.

Can you tell me about one of your cases?

Several years ago, we contributed to a family reunion. My client was looking for his daughter (21). He had not seen her since separating from his then-wife. "I am getting old," he told us, "and you start remembering mistakes you later regret. I now finally want to meet my daughter before it is possibly too late for me, and for that I need your help."

As a first step, we conducted an online search, which yielded a large number of results but made it almost impossible to identify the correct contact without further exclusion criteria. From previous maintenance payments, my client knew his ex-wife’s bank account, which we checked the same evening. However, there had been no transactions for over three years, so we could not research a current address this way.

After various investigative measures, we approached the current tenants of the last known address – a retail store. The shop owner remembered a woman matching the description who had a daughter of that age. However, he could not provide further information. Similarly, questioning the landlord yielded little additional information.

Meanwhile, the result of a database request we had commissioned became available. It produced a number of other addresses. One of our private detectives visited the most recent of these addresses to check it on site: nowhere on the doorbells was there any indication of the mother’s or daughter’s names. Only the landlord at this address knew the sought persons. He reported that he had already prepared the rental contracts for them, but shortly before moving in, they withdrew and cancelled the apartment. Why they did so and where they had gone, the landlord did not know.

Since the previous investigations had generated a whole list of previously unknown residential addresses, we repeated the initial online search with the new search parameters. We hit a result: an obituary from 2012 created by a person with the name of the sought daughter. The deceased bore the name of the daughter’s grandfather, i.e., the client’s former father-in-law. With the newly obtained information, we now knew that the client’s daughter must have lived at address XY for at least a certain period. Following this clue, we found a very informative social media profile of the daughter – and were able to inform our client that he had in the meantime become a grandfather.

By indirect means, we finally obtained the daughter’s phone number and – after consulting with her – were able to pass this important information on to her father. A few days later, he reported that he had immediately contacted his daughter and arranged a meeting.

How the story continued, we do not know. But at least they had the opportunity to see each other again.

Where do you see the advantages and disadvantages of your profession?

The profession is extremely varied, versatile, and independently executable. I can participate in human destinies through this job and ideally positively influence them. Due to the diversity of clients – which includes not only people from different social backgrounds and regions, but also sometimes key decision-makers from politics or large corporations – I learn a tremendous amount that is hidden from the public. This is incredibly exciting and makes working as a private detective very special.

However, what can be considered a particular feature of the profession also counts among the disadvantages. As a private detective, one encounters a lot of suffering and human abysses, which are not always pleasant to see. If someone values a secure job with a precisely calculable monthly income, they should look elsewhere. Many traditional detective tasks have disappeared due to new digital possibilities, and therefore the future prospects of this profession are, in my assessment, unfortunately very uncertain.

Hinweise

The original article was published on XING. Kurtz Detective Agency Zurich thanks XING Switzerland for the interest and the well-made contribution.

The highlights (bold text) and links on this page may differ from the original.

Kurtz Investigations Zürich and Switzerland

Max-Högger-Strasse 6

8048 Zürich

Tel.: +41 (0)44 5522 264

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-schweiz.ch

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-schweiz.ch/en

Google: https://g.page/kurtz-detektei-zuerich-schweiz