going to college to train to be a homicide detective...i've got a question

[dismalisland]

hello! i asked something on the board yesterday but i've got a question thats been swirling in my head for awhile. i know that before you work your way up to being a detective you have to work as a cop first. i've heard some people say that is takes 3 years and i've heard some people say more or less. i just wanted to know if there's anyway i can shorten my years of working as a cop. i have basically no interest in working as one. does anyone know how? thank you!

[bolt.]

I assume every police department is different.

 

I would also imagine that an interest in police work, plus experience and competence in police work would be an essential component of what it takes to actually do the job of a police detective. (It sounds odd to hear someone say that they are interested in one and not the other -- like someone wanting to become a lifeguard with "basically no interest" in learning to swim.) Are the tasks of police work and acting as a police detective really not that closely linked?

[mamaraby]

I would also imagine that an interest in police work, plus experience and competence in police work would be an essential component of what it takes to actually do the job of a police detective. (It sounds odd to hear someone say that they are interested in one and not the other -- like someone wanting to become a lifeguard with "basically no interest" in learning to swim.) Are the tasks of police work and acting as a police detective really not that closely linked?

This. First of all, I can guarantee a law enforcement agency is not going to promote someone to detective who does not show an interest in being a patrol officer. They're not going to hire you if you admit that in the interview and it's not exactly something you can hide while on the job. It will show and it will not reflect well on you. The agencies I know hire those positions from within. It's a bit like Sheriff's Offices that don't have Correctional Officers. Every new deputy starts out in the jail. Don't want to be a jailer? Tough cookies.

 

Secondly, the jobs are closely linked. Patrol officers do a great deal of investigative work in their day to day jobs. Likewise, detectives are going to need to have basic police work skills in order to do their jobs. If one has no interest in working as a patrol officer, then it's best to find a different job. It's a tough job with crazy hours and high stress levels. It is not a job you only "do" so you can do something else.

[Katy]

I'm not a cop, but my dad was a police chief, many of our family friends were cops, and I dated a few before finding DH. Having experience in Military Police with an Honorary Discharge, an undergraduate degree in something like Criminal Science, Criminology, or Forensic Science, and potentially working toward a graduate degree (depending on your jurisdiction) will help.  Most government jobs are decided on a points basis.

 

Military experience = automatic points.

4 year degree in the field = more points.

scoring well on detective exam = more points.

Any other extra certification you can earn in your state = more points.

Not being a jerk, playing the political games involved, stepping up without complaint when more work or responsibility is required = no points, but not doing these things may get you blackballed from the promotion.

 

Also, if you meet the age requirement, see if the police department or sheriff's department in your area accepts citizen volunteers, and if so, sign up for that.  Volunteer service may count towards your experience to some extent on a points scale.

 

Some states (Florida) make it easier to get on if you've already been trained by working as a prison guard first.  Talk to some police in the area you want to live and see what they say about if that will help in your area or not.

[Katy]

ETA:  Also, be careful accepting "promotions" to an elected office, like the Sheriff's office.  You might take it because you can make more money, but politics can get in the way when you must choose someone to help campaign for, and choose the losing candidate.  Then you'll find that you'll be demoted to a traffic deputy again with no notice at all.

 

If you cannot tolerate games (political, mind games, and using finesse in general), it is not the career for you.  It isn't like television.  It's drudgery and manipulation, and lying to try and catch people in lies, and waiting months for lab results.  If you're not charming and good with handling manipulators without letting it bother you, you should probably get a chemistry or forensics degree and work in a lab, not interacting with criminals.  I heard many cops say they figured they were either going to be a criminal or a cop, and they chose cop.  Those are the kinds of people you are working with, while simultaneously dealing with some of the worst aspects of humanity every day.  Especially since we got rid of federal funding for mental hospitals, many people get no care at all for their diseases until they get arrested.  It can break your heart to send someone to jail who you know would be better served in a hospital.   You may find yourself bringing someone to your home to take a shower and giving them clothes out of your closet.

 

Also, there will be a certain attitude of needing to pay your dues.  If you strike the chief as someone who has no interest in doing the drudgery of police work because you're obsessed with the idea of being a detective because of some TV show you watched or some novel you loved, you might VERY WELL spend more than ten years as a street cop working the worst shifts and the worst neighborhoods. If you're obsessed with a romantic idea of it but don't want the drudgery and paperwork and endless waiting followed by life-threatening moments, you'd probably be better off learning to plot detective fiction and becoming a novelist or TV writer.

[Katy]

One more thing:  Police work is not what you imagine it to be.  More than one person I know did it for a few years, hated it, and went back to school for something else.  They thought it would make them feel helpful and powerful, and that the work would be meaningful and important.  And while it is meaningful and important, more than anything it tended to make the people who quit feel helpless. That they interacted with the worst and most horrible aspects of life every day, and they were helpless.  And the rest of it was mostly boring drudgery or paperwork or waiting.  I'm not saying it's not important and meaningful work, it absolutely is.  But examine why you want to do this, and what you think it will make you feel. Will you still want to do the work if it doesn't make you feel like you want to, at all?  To some extent you can choose your feelings, of course, but it's a challenging field for a young woman especially.  Think a lot about why you want to do this job, what you think you'll get out of it, and what other jobs might give you the same feelings.

[G5052]

Yes, you have to pay your dues first. The only people who are fast-tracked to detective are the ones that excel in the field first.

 

Locally, nearly every cop I know with a patrol job has a 4-year degree and started out in a security job or working in a prison or jail. They have a lot of applicants and have to send you to the academy first, so they're not going to take a risk on someone with no experience. One guy I know started at the local college because they send their officers to the state police academy for security officers, which was a big plus on his application.

 

A detective lives down the road from us. It's a lot of paperwork and frustration, but he likes it.

[Scarlett]

If you like detective work maybe go into the medical field working in labs.

[scrapbookbuzz]

Have you considered a degree in forensics instead? Or finding out the requirements for being

a CSI (Crime Scene Investigator)? You don't need a degree to be a cop.

I have a law enforcement degree and it has never helped me break into law enforcement.

And before you spend all that money on that degree, I highly recommend interviewing various 

law enforcement personnel you know. Also, call your local department and see if they do "ride alongs":

a citizen is able to ride with a cop on patrol to see what they go through on a daily basis.

Ask yourself first WHY you want to be a homicide detective. Then talk to people in that profession and ask

about riding along. It may or may not be what you think it will be. (All this advice comes from my own experience.)

 

Hope that helps!