New `Private Eye¿ School Spits Out Gumshoes

HOUSTON - This recession is prompting a lot of reevaluation and some folks are opting for a second career as a private detective.

A brand new class, here in Houston, helps people get their private investigator’s license in record time.

’During the time you are with us, for the five months (of instruction) it's very condensed,’ says Dr. Scott Belshaw. He’s with the University of North Texas, which offers the course. ’And it's hands-on.’

Sure you’ll learn how to pull off video surveillance. But you’ll also learn to do it without crossing the line into criminality, says instructor Clyde Burleson, who’s also an attorney.

’For example, if they're out in public you can film them,’ says Burleson. ’If, however, you're peering through someone's window, you're now committing a crime.’

The curriculum also covers more mundane ways of gathering information using online databases and social networks.

’Private investigators don't carry guns, by and large,’ says Randy Kildow, the outgoing president of TALI, the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators. ’They carry laptops and smart phones.’

But what’s unique about this particular PI certification program is that it allows you to sit for your licensing exam immediately, bypassing the mandatory three-year internship.

’With this class,’ says Burleson, ’you can go straight into business once you've passed the exam so it would save you approximately two, two-and-a-half years of your life.’

But is it a good idea to fast-track private gumshoes?

FOX 26 News posed this question to Randy Kildow, whose organization is setting up for its semi-annual conference this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, in Houston.

’You've got Ph.D.s in control of the program,’ says Kildow. ’It's got the highest of standards, the curriculum, the professors. (Students) get a very good overview of our industry in a very concentrated period of time.’

It’s an industry that is misunderstood, says Burleson, thanks to pop culture.

’What you see on TV is the `Magnum PI’ glamorous job and that's not what this is. Really, it's hard work.’

About 20 students are now entering their second week of classes, here in Houston.

The course costs $2895 and it will be offered again in the spring.

For more information, click here:

http://legal.pdi.org/private.html