how to make detective

**wdkymyasp** · 05-15-06, 02:07 AM

Hey good people,
was wondering if its true that you have to put in 2 years on the beat before you can apply to become a detective (referring mainly to homicide)...is this true or can you bypass? what other education are they looking for as well?
thanks all and be safe,
dave

**Retdetsgt** · 05-15-06, 02:32 AM

In my dept., you have to have at least 3 years and at that you won't be going into homicide. It generally takes several years experience as a detective before you would be considered for that position.

In fact, I can't think of any of our homicide detectives that didn't have at least 8 or 9 years experience on the dept before they went in there.

**jmur5074** · 05-15-06, 03:19 AM

Around here, you have to have 3 yrs experience.

Then you interview for the position.

One good way to make it happen, is when taking classes for continuing education ( a requirement for all MN LEO's) take A LOT of investigative classes.

**cntryboy0531** · 05-15-06, 06:39 AM

How? You need to prove you can detect shit.

**Glenn Thompson** · 05-15-06, 08:02 AM

In some departments you must have at least five years to test for any position, i.e. corporal, sergeant, detective etc. You must have experience and paid your dues on the street first.

**Falcata** · 05-15-06, 08:19 AM

Yeah....you can't get this image overnight...

FishTail · 05-15-06, 08:46 AM

Why does everyone want to be a homicide detective?

I feel so unappreciated!

**Standard Dave** · 05-15-06, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by LongTail

Why does everyone want to be a homicide detective?

I feel so unappreciated!

Because as my last sgt a former detective said when you deal with a wounding or grevious on division you get three cops or detectives to do it on homicide just cos he died you have between 20 and 50.

**Falcata** · 05-15-06, 08:50 AM

I would personally hate to be a detective....

I dislike paperwork, don't enjoy being indoors.....and can't drink during the day...

FishTail · 05-15-06, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by Safety1st

and can't drink during the day...

Psssh...lightweight

Besides, we're fraud squad. We wear Armani and drink Chianti

**Virginian** · 05-15-06, 10:01 AM

Takes 3 years here as well, then probably a few years talking to people about their lawnmower being stolen before you get into the good stuff.

**TheeBadOne** · 05-15-06, 10:41 AM

Homicide Division: Our day begins when your's ends!

**lesta311** · 05-15-06, 10:56 AM

Our department requires 24 months from your FTO release date to apply for any position. For detective, you typically start out assigned to a district doing property crimes and robberies. After that you can move on to Juvenile, Fraud, Violent crimes,Sex crimes and then Homicide.

**BEK** · 05-15-06, 12:38 PM

work in a small enough town and you are a street cop and detective right away, dont get to deal with murders though

**Retdetsgt** · 05-15-06, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Safety1st

Yeah....you can't get this image overnight...

There's a lot to be said for his approach. I found early on that in homicide cases, it's to our advantage that the suspect think he's smarter than we are and getting away with it.

**Jks9199** · 05-15-06, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by wdkymyasp

Hey good people,
was wondering if its true that you have to put in 2 years on the beat before you can apply to become a detective (referring mainly to homicide)...is this true or can you bypass? what other education are they looking for as well?
thanks all and be safe,
dave

The exact requirements for assignment as an investigator within a police department vary by department. Most generally require a MINIMUM of 2 years, and functionally, it's often more like several years, experience on the street. If an agency has dedicated homicide investigators (not all do!), they'll typically be culled from the most experienced detectives.

If you want to start out as an investigator -- look at a federal agency (like the FBI, DEA, ICE, Secret Service, and many others) or state bureau of investigation. Some hire directly. But you'll still cut your teeth on the simpler cases...

**StanSwitek** · 05-15-06, 05:07 PM

On my department you will not even be considered for homicide till you have about 15 years on & proven yourself in numerous other detective details. You will be an experieced street cop before even being considered as a detective in a detail working minor crimes. having said that, being a detective sergeant in charge of a major vice squad was an excellent job.

**jmur5074** · 05-15-06, 05:14 PM

Yeah, that's all true too. Your not gonna jump right into Homicide.

And like BEK said, if you work for a small enough town, your a patrol officer/detective from day one. I started out working for a town of about 3,500 people, and it was kinda nice. I got to do a little of each.

It's nice taking an initial complaint, and then a few hours, days, or weeks later, wrapping it up on your own. Now THAT"S police work!

**Retdetsgt** · 05-15-06, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by StanSwitek

On my department you will not even be considered for homicide till you have about 15 years on & proven yourself in numerous other detective details. You will be an experieced street cop before even being considered as a detective in a detail working minor crimes. having said that, being a detective sergeant in charge of a major vice squad was an excellent job.

Detective is a civil service rank at mine and you can take the test after three years. The truth of the matter is I can't ever recall a detective worth a shit that didn't have at least 8 years street experience. Ones with less than that usually spent their careers working low grade property crimes. No matter how many Reid classes, etc. you take, there is no substitute for for working the street.

And yeah, most of our homicide guys had at least 12+ years on before going to homicide. There were a few exceptions. A couple because they were damn good cops and a couple because the played the gender card and scared the administration into putting them in there. The latter ended up drones or gun bearers for good partners.

One case was particularly sad. One woman detective who was in homicide was killed in the PanAm flight that blew up just leaving NYC. She was going on vacation to Paris. After she was killed, there was this push to make her some kind of hero. In fact, I worked with her and she was a terrible cop, much less detective. It was sad she was killed, but I earned the wrath of all the female detectives when I called bullshit on a memorial they wanted to put up for her in Detective Division. I explained not to diplomatically that she was killed going on vacation, not killed in the line of duty. I didn't get into what kind of detective she really was.

But that's for another rant.....

**deputy29** · 05-16-06, 02:37 AM

In my department you also had to be on the road for at least 3 years before you tested to become a detective. If you passed the test and made it to detective you started in Crimes Against Children and then moved up from there.