Careers: Police/law enforcement

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Expert: - 10/22/2008


Question
I am currently a junior at Gainesville State College working on a Criminal Justice degree, I want to go to law school but another option I have always had my eye on are special victims unit detectives. What is the process for this type of job, what degrees are helpful, how should I go about for this career? Thank you for your time.

Answer
Kory,

 I am guessing that you are getting your idea from watching television.  There are NO police shows on televsion that are realistic.  If they really did show what police work was like on televison show no one would watch.  In reality there are no units like SVU units as depicted on television.  Some of the larger departments might have detectives that assist victims but actually, in real life, ordinary officers and detectives do this type of work along with their everyday investigations.  This probably comes as a shock to you but as I said before there are no units like SVU, CSI, etc, etc, as you see on television.

  Even if you did get hired by a police department that had a unit where detectives assisted victims after the arrest of the suspect you would not be eligible to join such a unit until you spent many, many years on the street as a uniformed officer.  There is no way that you would go straight from a college classroom into the desk of a detective.  You would need all of those years on the street to learn the necessary skills to be a successful detective.

  My advice, if you do choose law enforcement as a career, is to get a degree, and then you will have a step up when applying for specialized units.

Careers: Police

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Jack Toomey

Expertise

U.S.: I am an expert in this category for the purpose of giving young people an idea what the hiring process involves for the position of police officer. I am getting a flood of questions from young people who are being influenced by unrealistic television shows. I'd ask you to consider that when you watch police shows on television that they are NOT realistic and most of what you see does not happen in real life. Please do not ask me about potential jail sentences that you, your friends, or family might receive in court. There is no way for me to know that. I am NOT a probation officer so I cannot answer questions about probation and parole matters. I am a retired police officer with 26 years experience.I worked in a variety of assignments including investigations, homicide, sex crimes, runaway investigations, missing persons, and fraud.I also dealt with the general public during that time giving a wide range of advice on matters such as domestic disputes, problem solving, teenage problems, civil/criminal matters, and dealing with the mentally ill. I am available to give sound and reasonable advice which can solve most problems. Please do not ask me to do homework questions or online interviews. Young people should not rely on the Internet for interviews. Local police officers are normally very agreeable to assist students with interviews and surveys.

Experience

Worked as a police officer/detective for 26 years.

Graduate of the University of Maryland.B.S. in Law Enforcement.Attended numerous schools and training courses involving investigations, interviewing, interrogations, crime detection, domestic violence, and others. Recognized in court as an expert witness.

Received numerous awards during my police career for expert investigations. Handled the most sensitive and confidential investigations. In 1999 I won an award for my work with high school students while working in my new career in a large suburban high school.

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