Can I Get My Private Investigators License with A DUI?

Licensing Criteria For Private Investigators

Before looking at what could result in the Security Industry Authority turning down your application for an investigator's license, it's important to first know what is expected of you.

Why Would The Sia Deny You A Private Investigator License?

Technically, not meeting any of the above criteria is reason enough for the SIA to deny an applicant a private investigator license. However, while most of the criteria are straightforward and easy to assess, it's much harder to tell if a person is an upstanding member of society.

Some of the reasons why they may decide not to give you a license include:

• Having a long history of criminal offences
• Having a criminal record and still showing evidence of being tied to past criminal elements
• Serving a sentence for a crime
• Being convicted of crimes that are very serious or crimes that are very closely related to the investigative work you intend to do
• Have a record that's still quite fresh

Quite often, a criminal record will have less bearing on the outcome of your license application after a number of years have passed. However, this may not be the case depending on the nature of the record in question.

Apart from good character, it's also not always easy to tell whether a person has a serious mental health issue that may impact their work. The SIA may look at whether the applicant has been forcefully detained for such conditions in the recent past. A DUI may seem harmless enough but in some circumstances, it may reveal that an applicant is either reckless or has a mental health problem that could impact their work negatively. For example, an applicant with multiple DUIs on record may be demonstrating a level of recklessness that could endanger lives or give the license a bad reputation.