On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 15:23:40 -0400, greg caires <xxxxxx@gmail.com>
wrote:

>So how would that work? Most PIs in literature are former police.

Yes, many are, and some who weren't actual municipal cops had similar jobs
in e.g., the military - but not all of them; one of the most famous,
Sherlock Holmes, was not, for example; neither was Jessica Fletcher, of
_Murder, She Wrote_ fame. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, were the Harts
of _Hart to Hart_, or Remington Steele. So, while it's quite common, it's
not universal.

Also, I can safely say from talking to co-workers who are cops (I'm a
civilian computer geek for the NYPD) that even ex-cop literary PI/PDs have
had to develop skills that just don't happen with ordinary police work,
even if you're a 'deep undercover' cop, simply _because_ even as an
undercover cop you've got to be very careful not to operate even 'grey' -
it taints any evidence you may gather, which kills your case when it comes
to trial.

The PI/PD is less constrained, in that respect; his cases aren't criminal
investigations that are going to trial, and where the client is taking the
case to civil court later, the same level of rigor isn't required, as long
as the PI/PD hasn't clearly broken the law.

So, yes, as I said, there's overlap - and admittedly a good amount of it -
with the police detective, but it's only overlap, not synonymy.

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