Expert: Eric Potts - 8/28/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hello;
I am planning to write  a story in which three officers do good work in a certain area, and so are called by their superior who wants the three to form a special unit. Would the department chief possibly be in charge of this, or would they be called by the chief of police? This is fiction, but what might be the department procedure if the department wanted to create a special unit? Thanks.

ANSWER: The Chief would create the unit and assign another Superior Officer (Captain or Lieutenant) to be in charge of the unit.

Good Luck.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for the reply. Could you tell me the age a police chief would be and what background he may have? What his personality may be like? Also the Captain or Lieutenant? Their job duties? (Are they plainclothes or uniformed?)
Thanks, I appreciate it.

ANSWER: Demetrius,

Everything is relative. The Chief can be young (in their 30s) or older, he or she could have been on the job for years or not. It depends on how big the department is how old the department is etc...

The Captains and Lt's is the same thing, some wear plainclothes and some wear uniforms. The patrol Lt would probably be in uniform, the Detective Lt would probably be in plainclothes.

I can only give you generalizations because it is dependent on what size police department you are talking about.

Give me more specifics and perhaps I can answer the question better.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I should state that the captain is one in a large American city, probably urban area. (Does he have his office at the police station?) I should also state all the others in the department are in a large city. By the way, I was wondering what the attitude of men on the job for years is versus new people? Would the older guys who have done there job well, be more at ease than those who may want to get a good record?
Thanks.

Answer
Yes the Captain would have his own office.

The older men would obviously be wiser, having seen and experienced much more on the job. Some might be very cynical and complain about "admin" but still love the job they are doing. The younger guys are eager to go out and save the world, they just don't have any idea what they are doing at times.