Witness Statement

A witness statement is a very important part of many private detective case assignments. Locating and interviewing witnesses on the record is crucial to document their version of an incident. These signed statements should be performed as soon as possible after a claim is made, to preserve an accurate memory and written account of the circumstances of the incident.

What is a Witness Statement?

Signed statements are taken orally with the investigator leading the witness through a series of general questions about the nature of an accident or incident. The investigator writes the signed statement as if the witness was writing it themselves. The statement will cover the who, what, when, where and why incidents might have occurred and will put on the record the witness’s official account of the events which transpired. Signed statements must be given freely and should not be done in exchange for monetary compensation (which may call into question the validity of the facts contained therein) or under coercion (which is illegal and unethical).

Signed statements are important since they commit the witness to exactly what they saw and make it very difficult to change their story later on without obviously contradicting themselves on the record. Generally, signed statements are hand written by the investigator with the witness signing and dating at the end and the investigator notarizing their signature.

Reasons for a Witness Statement

There are so many uses for a signed statement from a witness. The most common applications of this versatile investigative tool include:

* Insurance investigations, such as personal injury cases, maritime investigations, slip and fall cases, work injuries, car accidents, industrial accidents, fire investigations and construction accidents.

* Slander and Libel investigations.

* Criminal investigations of all types.

Advice on a Witness Statement

I have been involved in taking countless signed statements during my private investigation career. The worth of a quality statement can not be overestimated, since the witness’s words are locked in for the record and the investigator gets a real opportunity to judge the creditability, memory and personality credentials of the witness in great detail. This is always useful if the case goes forward to trial. Signed statements deter witness tampering and bribing in many cases, since it is difficult to recant a well worded statement at a later time. The main problem I see with many statements is simply the time line involved… Many insurance carriers do not get quality statements from their own in-house investigation staff and only authorize a private investigator to pick up the slack many years later… This allows witnesses to disappear, change their minds about cooperating with the investigation, or worse yet, bribery and tampering to occur…

To learn more about taking or giving a signed statement as a witness to an event under investigation, contact a professional investigator near you.

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