ABSTRACT
I. The History of the Modern Fact-Finder Through the ages it has been the citizen who has had the responsibility for protecting himself and investigating crimes committed against him. During the reign of the Roman Empire, citizens frequently conducted their own investigations and when appropriate brought charges against the alleged offender. The Romans of the fifth century were more practical; they employed questors or trackers to help them solve crimes. The first organized investigations as we would recognize them, however, were conducted in the eighteenth century by thief takers, paid servants of the king who sought out and arrested thieves on the urban streets of southern England. They gave rise to the Bow Street Runners of London, who sought out and caught highway robbers and took rewards in exchange for the criminals they caught. They operated from 1749-1839 and were the forerunners of the famed Scotland Yard.
