When a crime must be solved or potential suspects identified, law enforcement agencies, such as municipal police departments, turn to their criminal investigators, who are also called detectives. These professionals put together puzzles with pieces that may be separated by time and location, and are empowered to arrest lawbreakers.
Law enforcement investigators determine the motives, suspects, victims and methods involved in a crime by collecting and analyzing evidence, talking to witnesses and observing suspicious activities. Due to the variety and scope of their field, many detectives specialize in such issues as narcotics, gangs or homicide. They communicate their work progress by filling out daily reports and may be called upon to testify in court. They are typically assigned a specific case, and work on it until it is solved or dropped. Although they have full-time schedules, their shifts can cover all hours of the day because crime can occur at any time.
The opportunities and tasks for investigators can range as wide as the crimes they investigate, far beyond municipal police departments. For example, in the national Missing Persons Database, professionals correlate information from state clearinghouse, medical examiner and coroner offices, and victim assistance groups. For the National Institute of Justice’s program on Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety, they combine police reports with geographic information to determine where and why crimes happen. Every law enforcement agency has cold case files, which represent unsolved crimes. Investigators may use new technology, such as DNA, to resurrect these cases and catch suspects many years after the perpetration of the crime.
To enter their required police officer training, detectives must usually be 21 or older, be U.S. citizens and have at least high school diploma or equivalent. Those working for federal agencies must have a bachelor’s degree. Applicants must then pass several written, physical and background tests before they are admitted to the police academy, where they receive paid training for several weeks or months. Courses covered include law, physical fitness, firearms, self-defense, emergency response and ethics. Upon graduation, they must obtain experience as a police officer before they can take exams and be promoted to a detective position.
The BLS expects jobs for all police and detectives to increase by 7 percent from 2010 to 2020, which is half the expected 14 percent growth rate for all jobs in all industries. The best positions will go to those with bachelor’s degrees, military experience or bilingual ability. Law enforcement investigators earned a mean $75,720 per year, or $36.41 per hour, as of May 2011, states the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over 40 percent of the 111,930 detectives worked for local government to receive a mean $62,900 per year, or $30.24 per hour. Another 39 percent were employed by the federal government to average $96,680 yearly, or $46.48 hourly, which were the best wages for the profession.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: What Police and Detectives Do
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Work Environment for Police and Detectives
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: How to Become a Police Officer or Detective
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2011, Detectives and Criminal Investigators
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: U.S. Wages
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Job Outlook for Police and Detectives
- National Institute of Justice: Law Enforcement Investigation
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