Trained professional detectives in Münster

Our private detectives in Münster hold the IHK certificate “Fachkraft Detektiv”. This qualification can be obtained in two ways: through a six-month, in-person course at the Sicherheitsakademie Berlin (SAB) or via the 10–22 month distance-learning programme of the Zentralstelle für die Ausbildung im Detektivgewerbe (ZAD). Because the detective profession in Germany is not regulated by statute, the IHK certificate represents a valuable alternative to a sadly absent state apprenticeship. Above all, it teaches prospective investigators the essential legal foundations of their work.

Decades-long Efforts to Regulate the Detective Profession by Law

Various detective associations have sought legal regulation of the profession since the Weimar Republic. In the Federal Republic of Germany these efforts intensified and culminated in the early 1990s in a draft law which, despite pressure from the associations, has still not been debated in the Bundestag. German investigators in general, and our Münster investigators in particular, therefore often find their hands tied: we are neither politicians nor a sufficiently large and influential industry to exert pressure on decision-makers.

So what was left to promote the qualification of detectives and to prevent unqualified snoops from sullying the profession’s reputation? Two of the largest professional associations — the Bundesverband Deutscher Detektive (BDD) and the Bund Internationaler Detektive (BID) — supported training initiatives of their own. Since 1986 the resulting Central Training Office for Detectives has issued an IHK certificate. The ZAD’s course is aimed mainly at commercially active, i.e. self-employed, detectives and those who want to become so. In 2008 the Sicherheitsakademie Berlinintroduced its own programme, which — compared with the ZAD course — places a somewhat greater emphasis on the security industry; as a result, fewer SAB graduates go on to work as detectives and more frequently enter security roles (including retail security). These two routes endeavour to ensure that commercially active detectives in Germany at least possess basic knowledge and understand the legal framework of their activities — a cause our predecessors fought for over many decades. Naturally, a certificate alone does not automatically make a competent professional.

By the way: Patrick Kurtz, owner of Kurtz Detective Agency Münster and of offices now in all 16 federal states, is a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kriminalistik (DGfK) and completed his detective training at the Sicherheitsakademie Berlin.

What the Courses Can and Cannot Deliver

Both training providers teach the fundamentals of the detective profession — especially the legal aspects, which are crucial. While an SAB participant spends six months in classroom instruction with practical exercises, the ZAD course requires disciplined self-study using the institute’s course materials, regular examinations and multi-day in-person seminars. A trainee who conscientiously completes one of these programmes and, during or after training, accompanies an experienced colleague on a few surveillances can reasonably be expected to tackle initial “lighter” cases: mainly private matters such as investigating suspicion of infidelity or conducting surveillances with a foreseeable procedure.

However, a novice should not take on economic crimes without an experienced partner. Complex corporate assignments are generally solved satisfactorily only by a team (exceptions prove the rule). Each team member brings different strengths and qualifications; the average age among German private investigators is high and most reputable detectives have prior training and careers in various fields. Those diverse skills combine to form a professional investigative team — such as our detective team in Münster — capable of jointly resolving complicated case constellations and sensitive offences. What detectives from different backgrounds do need in common are the basic competencies taught in the IHK courses. Even a long-serving chief detective who later becomes self-employed and who might be expected to possess excellent legal expertise can, without attending the course, act negligently and thus cause harm.

Quality Shortcomings Due to Government Employment Policy

As already emphasised, these detective courses represent an important achievement of the associations in the view of Kurtz Investigations Münster. Yet not everything that glitters is gold. At the SAB, for example, participants have the opportunity to meet numerous experts in person, unlike at the ZAD; however, the participant structure often includes many people who are effectively parked there by the Jobcentre rather than genuinely aiming for a detective career. Many unemployed persons are steered into the SAB course by the state as a “measure” without a realistic prospect of employment. Because such trainees are temporarily removed from unemployment statistics, this practice cosmetically improves the figures while consuming public funds (the SAB course costs roughly €7,000 gross). By contrast, the ZAD course costs about €4,650–4,780 gross and is not covered by the Jobcentre or Employment Agency; as a result, the ZAD’s participants are generally of higher quality since those who enrol either pay themselves or are sponsored by an employer expecting tangible results.

ZAD and SAB: Different Pros and Cons — Which Course Is Right for Me?

The choice between the two courses depends on many personal factors, for example:

• Can I devote myself fully to training and therefore attend the SAB’s daily, roughly eight-hour classroom sessions, or am I so professionally bound that only the time-flexible distance course of the ZAD is feasible?
• Do I value direct exchange and contact-building with future colleagues during the ZAD’s occasional in-person seminars, or do I want to meet numerous experts in person and daily at the SAB in fields such as surveillance, technical counter-measures, patent law and IT forensics?
• Can I afford to move to Berlin for six months (if not already resident there), or must I complete the course from my current location?
• Can I finance the differing course fees? Am I eligible for a training voucher from the Employment Agency or Jobcentre?
• Do I want to focus directly on becoming a commercially operative private detective (ZAD) or would I prefer a broader education with security-industry specialisms (SAB)?

This decision is a personal one. Our corporate investigators in Münster do not give a general recommendation in one direction or the other. Our team includes graduates of both the SAB and the ZAD.

Perspective Check: Training — and Then?

The market value of the IHK certificate “Fachkraft Detektiv” is hard to assess. Will it open the door to an investigative team in a large corporation? Probably not by itself. As an additional qualification, yes, but alone it is insufficient. Does it enable entry into the independent detective trade? Definitely. Our industry urgently needs qualified newcomers due to the age profile mentioned earlier. Many senior experts are nearing retirement or are already retired; notably numerous excellent specialists enjoyed a criminology education in the former GDR, which has not been available in the Federal Republic for many years. The true value of training is the knowledge gained and the contacts made, rather than the IHK certificate alone as a supposed job market key.

Patrick Kurtz, owner not only of our Münster private detective office but of branches across all 16 federal states, remains glad to have entered the detective profession via the SAB. He still keeps in touch with three fellow graduates from his cohort: one joined training at a correctional facility (JVA) and is now a civil servant, another founded his own security company and makes a living from it, and the third has since worked in the security industry as an employed retail security officer. For these three the retraining bore fruit. As for the much larger share of participants who never intended to pursue detective work, we have no knowledge. The three mentioned were among the few who invested effort, showed consistent interest and pursued clear goals; most others merely served out the training period.

In summary: those who attend detective training with commitment and clear objectives will benefit from the course — whether at the SAB or the ZAD.