But the work of even the "national" agencies is not of the
kind which the novel-reading public generally associates
with detectives--that is to say, it rarely deals with the
unravelling of "mysteries," except the identity of passers of
fraudulent paper and occasional murderers. The protection of
the banks is naturally the most important work that such an
agency can perform.
The National Bankers' Association has eleven thousand members.
"Pinkerton's Bank and Bankers' Protection" also has a large
organization of subscribers. These devote themselves to
identifying and running down all criminals whose activities
are dangerous to them. Here the agency and the police work
hand in hand, exchanging photographs of crooks and suspects
and keeping closely informed as to each other's doings. Yet
there is no official connection between any detective agency
and the police of any city. It is an almost universal rule
that a private detective shall not make an arrest. The
reasons for this are manifold.
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