A Brief Guide for Becoming a Detective
Many people think becoming a detective would be really exciting and interesting, but few people really understand what is involved in the profession. Unlike in the movies, the detective’s main tool is not the gun but the notepad, and the typical workday involves asking people questions not exchanging bullets with a bad guy. It takes a particular type of personality to make for a good detective.
So what do you need to become a detective?
A College Degree
These days, police departments are looking for detectives with strong science and analytical thinking skills. A detective needs to have knowledge of everything from statistics to DNA in order to do his or her job well.
Becoming a detective also requires you to communicate well. Detectives spend the majority of most days interviewing witnesses and suspects and piecing these interviews into a coherent narrative of the events surrounding a crime. The detective’s ability to flesh out these narratives, even when some interviewees may lie about or improperly remember the events surrounding a crime, is vital to prosecutors as they decide whether to proceed with a case.
Since there is suck a high premium placed on communication, candidates for detective should also take courses that allow them to improve their communication skills while in college.
Becoming a detective requires you stay active in college as well. Being a detective is not just about cracking the books. You may find it helpful to join an athletic team. You want to stay in good running shape and build your stamina.
Many colleges now have departments of criminology. It is often useful to major in criminology if you are interested in becoming a detective, although you want to make sure that you still work hard at your science and communication skills.
Getting a Job on the Force
The next step is to get a job on your local police department. You will be required to pass both physical and written tests, so you should prepare. For the written tests, you should familiarize yourself with both the material and the method of the test beforehand so that you will not make frivolous mistakes.
So long as you have stayed in good athletic shape, you can run, are moderately strong and don’t have health condition that causes you to lose your breathe easily, then you should be able to pass the physical aspect of you test with not difficulty.
There will also be a psychological evaluation and a background test. Most candidates have no problem with the psychological evaluation but the background check does trip many candidates up. Most police departments want a completely clean criminal record for their candidates. If you have had run-ins with the law in the past, even if you were only 18 at the time and it was a relatively minor drug or alcohol related event, the interviewers will probably use this to disqualify you from becoming a detective.
Paying Your Dues
Even if you go to a police academy in between college and the force, you will still have a period where you have to pay your dues. Becoming a detective requires you to spend some time learning how average police officers go about their business. For this reason, after a department accepts you to a police department, you will usually have a period where you serve as a beat cop, going about the usual business of handing out tickets, bringing in drunks, and investigating disturbances. These may seem like a waste of your skills, but having a sense of how regular officers go about their business will help you later on as you secure crime scenes and interview your fellow officers.
Usually after about two years with a good record, you the department will promote you to detective. The only exceptions are departments where they already have a glut of detectives, where it may take longer.