PROCESS SERVER vs INVESTIGATOR

Let’s take a general look at some of the things that Process Servers do and compare them to how an Investigator doing the same job may go about accomplishing the same task. Here is an of a job that both professions do in their job capacity.

Example: People Search

Process Server – Process Servers look for people for the purpose of serving them with legal documents. This can be a complex assignment. Process Servers use skip tracing tools to locate a person’s address. The P.S. will go to the most current address to serve the documents, but what happens when that person no longer lives at that, and the address is vacant. The P.S. is normally out of luck.

Investigator – An investigator with a law enforcement background will use the same databases to locate that same person of interest information, but is not discourage or lost when they find out that the most recent information in the database is incorrect. The investigator will use his or her law enforcement experience to search for a workplace address, motor vehicle records, door to door canvasing and more.  Relatives and friends information along with social media can give clues. Process Servers don’t have access to some of those things, but most importantly, P.S. are not trained to perform at an investigative level.

In most states process servers are not allowed to do surveillance and could be fined and arrested for stalking when it comes to watching a person’s workplace or residence. What if a person comes out of either location, and jumps in the car and speeds off? Will the process server give chase and cause the pursued to cause and accident trying to get away from the process server? The law would hold the process server and whoever contracted that process server to be at fault or in jeopardy damages and even death that may occur from the process servers’ action.  An overly zealous process server could put everyone’s career at risk.

It would be good practice to go with a trained experience professional to complete your assignment.