How exactly does a person go about becoming a detective?
- Thursday Dec 3,2009 08:51 AM
- By diddy
- In Others
What do I need to do to get into a good college that will help? What colleges offer and education for being a detective? How many years of some other job would i have to complete before being able to apply for a detective position? How do I know what steps to take?
Are there any colleges you can recommend?
Colleges, Detective, Education, Good College, Job
6 Comments
You must first get hired by a police department as a police officer.
Then, you must spend at LEAST 3-5 years as a patrol officer learning the basics of police work.
After that time, when an opening in the Detective Bureau comes up, you may apply for the transfer/promotion. If you are the best qualified candidate for the spot, then you get to be a detective.
College will help (it will never hurt) but your on the job performance will mean a lot more than where you went to school or what you studied.
EDIT-
What I’m trying to tell you is it doesn’t MATTER what college you go to. Any accredited college will work fine. It also doesn’t matter what you study. Police Departments don’t care what your degree is in. Business, psychology, criminal justice, art history, economics… any degree will work as well as any other.
Detective jobs are usually part of the seniority process. If you qualify as far as education and time with the department, you can apply when the job is open.
Not to be a jerk or anything, but if you want to be a detective and can’t find information on being a detective, maybe that is the wrong career choice for you.
However, I am feeling a bit generous sooooo, here goes.
Private detective -
http://www.einvestigator.com/links/license.htm
Police detective -
http://www.ehow.com/how_4486905_become-police-detective.html
PS, it wouldn’t hurt to read Sherlock Holmes.
Police work is an ability, not a learned trade.
I have been a cop 15 years and have seen LOTS of really smart folks not be able to do the job, regardless of their education level.
I have spent time on patrol, supervising patrol officers, in the detective bureau and supervising detectives.
What citicop speaks is truth. You could have a Masters Degree in Tactical Toilet paper Rolling with a Minor in Catching Criminals and it doesn’t mean you will make the grade as a detective, or even a uniformed patrol officer.
It don’t take books and slide rulers, it takes deductive reasoning and abstract problem solving abilities, which you have or you don’t.
Most PDs don’t require a college degree. Criminal Justice will give you a background but most of the time it is nothing that you won’t get in Cadet School. For most officers, college is a good background to have in case you change careers.
Find employment and put in your time on the street. Let them know your ambitions is to be a detective and then get really fat, irritable, jaded, begin chain smoking and very effective in using profanity. It shouldn’t take long after that to get placed behind a desk. If that doesn’t work then you will most definitely go into Training.
I agree that there are some basic attributes that must be present in an aspiring peace officer. However, there is much to be learned to be optimally effective, particularly as a detective who must have a breadth of knowledge and the learned ability to know where to seek out knowledge to address a particular situation.
To become a police officer, the standard requirement for most major police agencies seems to be a minimum of 60 undergraduate hours, although some allow substitution of military service, and a Bachelor’s degree may be preferred (generally required for federal special agent positions). Some agencies have age limits, for federal jobs it is 37. Any major is acceptable, but Criminal Justice, Sociology, or Psychology may stand you in better stead. Smaller agencies may have a high school requirement. The agency normally provides training, but some states may have private academies (like TX). There are more applicants than there are positions. Those meeting the minimum requirements may not compare well to the best qualified applicants. Many agencies have increased pay levels for higher education, and higher education facilitates promotion.
To be a detective or tactical team member, first you have to be a regular patrol officer for a certain number of years, which varies by jurisdiction. Generally, you may have to meet qualification requirements, may have to pass the exam (physical and firearms for tactical), and will need recommendations from supervisors. A bachelor’s degree may provide an advantage.
I recommend that individuals major in psych and minor in CJ (even though I majored in CJ, BS & PhD). Any bachelors degree is acceptable for federal investigative agencies, GPA, work experience, ability to communicate orally and in writing, and graduate degrees are what determine who gets hired for federal positions. And, there are always more applicants than positions.
A Bachelor’s degree is required for federal special agent positions (very few exceptions). Any major is acceptable, but Criminal Justice, Sociology, or Psychology may stand you in better stead. Those meeting the minimum requirements may not compare well to the best qualified applicants. The FBI likes lawyers and accountants, but they hire from various backgrounds (http://www.fbijobs.gov/). Other federal agency job announcements should be available at https://my.usajobs.gov/login.aspx; acceptance of applications is cyclical, and not always open.
You must have no felony arrests, and many misdemeanor arrests are also disqualifying. And, a domestic violence conviction will be disqualifying. Any prior drug use of any sort may be disqualifying, although exceptions are possible in some agencies. There may be a written exam, polygraph test, physical fitness test, drug test, minimum eyesight requirements, psychological evaluation, oral board examination, and full background check. As I said, there are always more applicants than there are positions, so it may take many application submissions to get an acceptable job (at least it did for me). Contact the agency directly or look for their website, which will list their employment qualifications and requirements.
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