Private Investigator Answers PI Questions | Tech Support | WIRED

Private investigator Mike LaCorte joins WIRED to answer the internet's burning questions about the profession of private investigator. How often are the people they're hired to watch cheating on their partner? What are PI's allowed and not allowed to do on the job, legally? Has anyone ever caught him investigating them? Answers to these questions and more await on Private Investigator Support.


Director: Anna O'Donohue
Director of Photography: James Fox
Editor: Richard Trammell
Expert: Mike LaCorte
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Brandon White
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark
Talent Booker: Nicholas Sawyer
Camera Operator: Neill Francis
Sound Mixer: Mark Cheffins
Production Assistant: Jack Haynes
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Additional Editor: JC Scruggs
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell

0:00 PI Support
0:14 The most interesting case you’ve ever solved
1:26 How often are spouses cheating?
2:04 Has anyone caught you?
3:20 What’s legal and what isn’t?
3:50 The fiancé test, apparently
4:13 What are your outfit, weapon, and vehicle?
5:00 The most bizarre task
5:39 Why become a PI?
6:02 The most fun case I’ve ever worked on
6:47 How are private investigators legal?
7:19 When just observing isn’t going to cut it
8:24 Must have apps for PIs
9:10 What if two private investigators followed each other?
9:34 Hardest part of being a private investigator
10:24 What do real private detectives usually investigate?
10:58 But why a private investigator?
11:36 How can I tell if my car has a tracking device?
12:05 Critical skills
12:35 How to hire a private investigator
13:03 You too can be a PI
13:26 Has being a PI changed your view of privacy?
14:05 The most shocking case
14:43 UFC 308: Holmes vs. Blanc
15:21 Your typical day and your coolest case


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[sarahfranklin]

I will never get tired of these people reading out the twitter handles so seriously

[xSimonTan]

Very misleading title. He answered more than 3.14 questions

[alix]

watching him pause as he tried to think of a way to explain certain situations without breach of contract was so funny

[ingen_nate_kenny]

The fake tourism media interview to get the infidelity confirmed is so awesome and brilliant I love that.

[phibs]

I like that he specified that his view on how many spouses are actually cheating is scewed by the relatively small number of suspicious spouses who hire an investigator

Also respect for the 'where is the trust?' callout to the insane fiance test

[justsomeguywithatophat]

PI in movies: "huh, another murder case, with the same MO"

PI in real life: "This is the 15th infidelity investigation this month"

[csmith]

4:52 “if you want to change your appearance completely, never forget your shoes” I finished an espionage novel today in which the protagonist identified an assassin because she wasn’t wearing the same shoes as all the other maids. 😂

[Omar-wqdz]

For some reason, even though I know they still exist, I always envision a PI wearing a hat and trench coat like they do in movies

[BusyBodyVisa]

You know when your spouse is cheating. People just hire a PI for confirmation and to gather damning evidence for the divorce proceedings.

[WoodlandT]

Thank you for stating that one shouldn’t “test” their partner! This seems to be a thing that’s becoming more common and it’s a terrible idea. If you haven’t established a sufficient level of trust then you should not be getting married. Prenuptial agreements on the other hand are an absolute must, even if you are entering the marriage with approximately equal assets, you still need an infidelity clause. You cheat you get nothing!

[justayoutuber]

The best way to go unnoticed as a PI is wear a Hawaiian shirt, a Detroit ball cap, and drive a red Ferrari.

[jon]

To be clear, that's 70% to 75% of those who suspect their partner is cheating strong enough to actually go out of their way to hire a PI, that figure does NOT reflect the rate in the overall population. Moreover, even if the people that are that sure something is going, around a quarter to a third are wrong.

[DrWais]

Even if there is no infidelity, reckon once you hire a PI, that relationship is done

[marianatraductoraargentina]

"my oh sh*t moment was for a bathroom supplier company" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[Demonsta]

Love that he clarified that the percentage of cheating couples is biased due to prior suspicion. A lot of people especiallly in the manosphere love to take those kinda of stats and say "75% of spouses are cheating!!" When in fact its "75% of spouses who suspect cheating so strongly that theyre willing to pay money to confirm it, turn out to be correct".

[BionicDirector]

I love his answer to the Sherlock Holmes vs Benoit Blanc question! He took the question seriously and gave positive traits to both characters in reference to real-world skills!

[McCallEdwards]

I saw him in the thumbnail and was like "he's definitely British" I don't know why

[rhaabi]

"honey I'm sorry I know I said I'd be back for dinner but I'm in paris..."

[kittybee]

i played luigi’s mansion for 36 hours straight when my fiancé went out of town

[Palvader]

I'm here for the, "he wasn't cheating, he just had a warehouse full of supercars" story.