Private investigators believe they can do many of the same jobs
as police just as well and more cheaply, a new study has shown.

The Australian Institute of Criminology report said investigators, who in NSW outnumber
police by some 2,000, believed they should gain greater access to confidential government
information to allow them to track down witnesses and debtors.

The profile of the private investigation business, prepared by criminologist Dr Tim
Prenzler and investigator Michael King, said investigators believed they could provide
greater justice to crime victims if they were allowed greater access to government databases.

The study said there were some 25,000 private investigators across the country, compared
with 44,922 police. In NSW there are 13,614 police and 15,800 investigators.

Forty investigators were interviewed for the study and all strongly favoured doing
more work in the public sector justice system.

"Many argued that they could do a range of tasks, such as searching for missing persons,
conducting surveillance, executing search warrants, attending burglary scenes or investigating
traffic accidents, just as well and more cheaply than police," the study said.

Dr Prenzler and Mr King noted that the industry had changed dramatically over the last
few decades, moving away from divorce work to concentrate on insurance.

That was facilitated by a new willingness of the insurance to fight dodgy claims and
widespread use of video cameras.

But the 1992 inquiry by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption uncovered
a thriving trade in illicit information.

Private investigators acting for banks, insurers and finance companies paid substantial
sums to public servants for unauthorised access to information from confidential computer
databases.

That prompted toughening of procedures for accessing such information and penalties
for improper disclosure.

But one third of the study respondents indicated non-compliance remained widespread.

They called for formalised access. Dr Prenzler and Mr King said that was worth considering
in both the interests of justice and to reduce demand for illicit information.

"One possible argument is that at present the law is weighted in favour of people avoiding
legitimate legal process," they said.

The investigators conceded they had an image problem, even though the industry had
lifted its game enormously over the last 20 years.

"I think public perception is that 80 per cent of us are dodgy but in reality it's
probably less than 0.5 per cent," one said.