Expert: Dick Rogers - 12/3/2008

Question
Hi my name id denetra and i have been hired by a police department in georgia my goal is to work my way up to homicide detective my question is how long do you have to be a patrolman before you can test for detective and if the time has to be spent in one departmentor can you trasfer and have all of your prior experience as a police officer count

Answer
Denetra, the only tried and proven method of eventually getting into homicide is to apply yourself to ground level police work and become thoroughly acquainted with police procedure, evidence rules, search warrant techniques, informers, etc.   Only by becoming extremely proficient in these fields can one hope to be efficient as an investigator.  Once you have become a good field cop, then you can apply for regular detective work and eventually, if you are really good and have great reputation, you can work yourself into homicide.