How many companies with security problems use their own internal resources to investigate employee theft, industrial espionage, etc. ? I think the answer would probably be; “the majority”.
HR Departments have traditionally been the ”go to” people within corporations to conduct interviews. Proprietory security personnel have also been used for these tasks. My question is; “what specialized training or experience have these folks received that equips them for such roles?
Having conducted interviews totalling in the thousands around the world, I can share with you that it takes many years and probably thousands of hours of interviewing to develop not only a certain comfort level, but the ability to be able to pick up on things like eye movement, breathing, body shifting, hesitation, etc.
What experienced investigators know is that simply talking to a person and taking notes is not enough. The interview process begins way before that. A good investigator will conduct research and prepare questions before the interview ever begins. They know that there are a number of important factors to consider, such as planning on where the interviewee will sit. Have you previously considered this?
Some other questions to consider are; “do I know the right questions to ask?”, ”what are the signs of stress?”, “how can I make a person tell me what I need to know?”, “how do I follow-up?”. Unfortunately, you won’t find all the answers you need in a blog or a book. It takes time, training and putting that training into practice.
Corporations should not feel like they have to “do it all”. In-house security personnel may be quite capable of taking care of many of the day-t0-day security tasks that arise, but they probably should not be asked to conduct investigations involving employee theft, sexual harrassment, workman’s comp, fraud cases etc., where extensive interviewing is needed.
Credentialed and experienced professionals can not only save a company millions of dollars in lost revenue and or litigation/law suits, but protect their reputation from being tarnished and damaged. The question then becomes; “what value do you put on your reputation?”. 
