Private investigators must operate openly under their real names, says veteran trainer – many fear being branded their town’s ‘Columbo’

A new private investigator training course launching in Central Ostrobothnia this autumn marks Finland’s first formal effort to professionalise an industry long shrouded in secrecy and stigma.

Jari Salmela, who has worked in the field for more than four decades, says the biggest obstacle to legitimacy is the public’s lingering association of private eyes with salacious tabloid cases and small-town gossip.

“Many investigators fear being labelled the local Columbo,” Salmela said. “If you want to succeed, you have to do the job openly under your own name.”

Finland currently has roughly 100 licensed private investigators, according to Salmela, a former investigator turned trainer. He bought a private-security firm a decade ago precisely to shake off the industry’s cloak-and-dagger image and raise professional standards.

The new course, offered in Central Ostrobothnia, will cover surveillance techniques, cybersecurity basics, criminal psychology, Finnish law, cooperation with authorities and even firearms recognition. Students will also learn how to alter their appearance and spot deception.

Salmela’s own company, Nordic Turva Security, already handles a steady stream of international assignments—about 40 percent of its caseload—mostly for banks and insurers investigating fraud, missing beneficiaries or suspicious insurance claims.

“Clients come from abroad when they need someone to verify whether a person actually exists or whether goods were ever delivered,” he said.

Domestic work includes uncovering retail theft, vetting business partners or assessing employees’ fitness for duty. About 30 percent of Finnish cases involve suspected infidelity, though Salmela no longer takes those assignments.

“Let someone else sit in a restaurant nursing a zero-percent beer,” he said.

The course is open to newcomers as well as veterans. Salmela hopes to attract applicants from diverse backgrounds and age groups; participants so far range from 30 to 40 years old, with women making up the majority.

Success, he says, depends on diligence and psychological insight rather than a specific résumé. Former police officers and military personnel have traditionally dominated the field, but Salmela wants to broaden the talent pool.