You are testifying about a surveillance file. How may you use your notes on the witness stand?
Ontario Private Investigator overview
Ontario Private Investigator: Interviews, statements and reports
Preparing for and conducting interviews, taking and correcting a witness statement, confessions and youth interviews, writing objective surveillance reports, correcting notes and using notes when you testify.
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Study reference: Ontario Private Investigator Study Guide (ontario.ca, October 2021), Ch. 5 Investigative techniques — Interview techniques, Statements, Report writing, Reports as evidence
All 14 questions in this test
Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.
You are testifying about a surveillance file. How may you use your notes on the witness stand?
- With the court's permission, as a memory aid
- Hand them to the judge instead of testifying
- Read them aloud word for word without asking
- Not at all, because notes are always hearsay
Before signing, a witness asks to remove a sentence from her statement. How is the change made?
- Strike a line through it; both of you initial the start and end
- Leave it in and add a note on the last page
- Use correction fluid on the sentence and have only the witness initial it
- Rewrite the whole page and destroy the original
How should the witness's account of events be written in a statement?
- Verbatim, word for word as the witness tells it
- Summarized in the investigator's own words
- Rewritten in legal terms for the court
- Shortened to the points that help the client
When should you write your investigative report after an interview?
- Immediately after the interview
- After the case goes to court
- At the end of the week with other reports
- Only if the client asks for one
At the start of an interview with a witness, what should you do?
- Start recording secretly before saying who you are
- Ask your hardest questions before any greeting
- Tell the witness all confidential facts of the case
- Greet the witness, identify yourself and show your licence
A statement you are taking may amount to a confession. What must you avoid?
- Letting the person read the statement first
- Asking the person to initial each page
- Writing down the time the interview ended
- Any threat or promise of immunity
Reviewing your notes, you find a wrong licence plate number. How do you correct it?
- Draw a line through the error and initial it
- Tear out the page and copy the notes again
- Leave it and fix it only in the final report
- Erase it completely and write the correct number
After the signatures on the last page of a statement, what is common practice?
- Staple a blank page for the lawyer's notes
- Draw an x through the rest of the page
- Leave the space blank for later additions
- Write the client's name in the remaining space
Once a witness starts talking freely, what is the recommended practice?
- Do not interrupt, and take notes discreetly
- Correct each error the moment you hear it
- Stop them often to summarize what they said
- Show disbelief so they add more detail
Why should you not rely only on a digital recorder for surveillance notes?
- Recordings of your own voice are inadmissible
- Clients will not pay for transcription time
- Batteries can drain and the device can malfunction
- The PSISA bans recorders during surveillance
You need a statement from a 16-year-old witness. What is industry practice?
- Wait until the youth turns 18 before taking a statement
- Have the youth's teacher sign in place of a parent
- Get a parent's or guardian's permission and let them be present
- Interview the youth alone so that their answers are not influenced by adults
According to the study guide, what is the key to a successful interview?
- Knowing the purpose of the interview
- Holding it at the investigator's office
- Keeping it under ten minutes long
- Recording it on video from a hidden camera
What is the key purpose of taking a witness statement?
- To keep an accurate record of the witness's recollection
- To get the witness to agree with the client's view
- To replace the need for the witness to testify
- To test whether the witness will take a bribe
Which detail should open every standard surveillance report?
- The investigator's opinion of the subject
- A summary of the subject's guilt
- The subject's name, file number, date and time
- The client's billing rate for the file
Interviews, statements and reports: key rules to remember
Our summary of what the official handbook says on this topic, in our own words. Read it before or after the practice questions above, then check the original chapter. Read the official chapter ↗
Interview techniques
- Good sources include former spouses, relatives, neighbours, business competitors, employees, employers, business associates and landlords.
- The key to a successful interview is knowing its purpose.
- Be prepared: review what you know, prepare questions, bring notebook, pens, recorder, enough tapes and new batteries.
- Make an appointment when the witness is expected to cooperate; a "cold call" may be better in some cases. State your business truthfully without revealing confidential information.
- At the start, greet the person, identify yourself and show your PI licence; formal or informal approach depending on the person.
- Once the person talks, do not interrupt; take notes discreetly; control your emotions and never react.
- End courteously so future cooperation is likely; write the investigative report immediately after.
- Syllabus: interviewing differs from interrogating; narrative vs cognitive and civil vs criminal interviews; assess credibility, reliability and suitability of a witness.
Statements
- Purpose of a statement: an accurate record of the witness's recollection of an event.
- Typical content: witness's full name, date of birth, ID, employment, contact information and address, place and date of the interview, start and finish times, the PI's name and company, an introduction, the witness's account word for word (verbatim), and a closing paragraph.
- The closing paragraph confirms the witness read the statement, finds it accurate and was told they could change any part before signing.
- Changes: draw a line through the removed item; the witness and the PI initial at the start and end of the correction.
- Initial or sign every page; after the signatures on the last page, draw an "x" through the rest of the page.
- A prepared questionnaire can keep a wandering witness on track.
- Record that the witness gave the information of their own free will.
- If the statement may be a confession, make no threat and no promise of immunity; coerced confessions are inadmissible.
- Lawyers may cross-examine every witness at trial, so statements must reflect the truth.
- For a youth under 18, industry practice is to get permission from a parent or legal guardian and let them be present.
- The study guide says the most important things to document are the value, credibility and honesty of the information, and refers to the Ibrahim rule (a statement must be free of duress to be admissible).
Report writing
- Reports must be objective and standardized; types include legal and insurance reports; reports can be used for audits or as evidence.
- Basic elements: date, time, location, actions/behaviours, descriptions of people, observations, time of completion.
- Record notes and observations as soon as possible; a digital recorder can help but should not be relied on alone (batteries, malfunctions).
- If a critical detail was left out, add it when you remember it; for an error, draw a line through it and initial it.
- Write the final report from personal notes and review any video to check accuracy.
- A standard surveillance report starts with the subject's name, file number, date and time, and other details per company policy (weather, video equipment, neighbourhood).
- Syllabus: an objective report sticks to facts, is written in the third person, avoids emotional terms and introspection, and is clear and concise.
Reports as evidence
- A PI may receive a subpoena and testify; thorough, accurate notes are essential.
- On the stand the PI may refer to notes only with the court's permission; notes are a memory aid, not something to read from.
- Before court, review all notes carefully.
Study the Interviews, statements and reports rules as flashcards →
Other topics
- The PI industry and getting licensedWho needs an Ontario private investigator licence under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005, who is exempt, the six licence types, eligibility (age 18, clean criminal record, right to work, training and testing), the 50-hour training syllabus, approved training providers and the licence term.
- PSISA rules, Code of Conduct and complaintsCarrying and producing your licence, the undercover exception, the ban on badges and on words such as detective and officer, the Code of Conduct (O. Reg. 363/07), public complaints and facilitation, refusals and appeals, work a PI may not do, and the penalties for breaking the Act.
- Privacy law: PIPEDA, FIPPA and MFIPPAHow PIPEDA's consent rules limit what personal information an investigation business can collect, use and disclose, the exceptions for publicly available information and investigations, access to government records under FIPPA and MFIPPA, and industry practice on expectations of privacy, hidden cameras, audio and GPS trackers.
- Evidence: types, Evidence Acts and chain of custodyDirect, circumstantial, hearsay, documentary (illustrative), real, trace, opinion and unsworn evidence, admissions, business records under the Ontario Evidence Act and Canada Evidence Act, and the six core steps for containing evidence and keeping a chain of custody.
- Trespass to Property Act and other statutesOccupiers and authorized persons, the three ways to commit trespass, notice by voice, writing, signs and red or yellow markings, arrest and handover to police, the $10,000 maximum fine, and the other Ontario statutes the syllabus names, including the Highway Traffic Act on surveillance.
- Criminal Code: arrest, force and offencesWhy a PI has only a citizen's powers, arrest without warrant under section 494, delivering a person to police, use of force under sections 25 to 27, defence of person and property, Charter rights on arrest and detention, and the offences the study guide names: theft, false pretences, fraud and kidnapping.
- Courts, intimidation, harassment and civil lawThe Canadian court system, burden of proof in criminal and civil cases, intimidation under section 423, criminal harassment under section 264, interception of private communications under section 184, tort, libel, slander and perjury, and the parties to a civil action.
- Locating, research and surveillanceSetting a justifiable mandate, basic locator techniques, public records and research sources such as PPSR searches, the purposes of covert surveillance, what to know before you start, standard equipment, detection, and solo versus team surveillance methods.
- Undercover work, email monitoring and serving documentsWhen undercover operations are used, briefing and supervising an operator, conduct that protects credibility in court, monitoring employee email, and serving civil documents under Ontario's Rules of Civil Procedure, including personal service, substituted service and the Affidavit of Service.
- Ethics, communication and self-managementEthical decision-making, duty of care, prejudice and the Ontario Human Rights Code, clear and unbiased communication, tactical communication, and managing stress, time, teamwork and changing conditions on assignments.