Expert: Jack Toomey - 9/22/2008

Question
Hello,

My name is Amanda, I'm 18 years old and I'm a senior in High School. So far I know I want to study Criminal Justice and become a detective, but I'm still confused as what kind of detective I want to be. I am planning on living in Seattle, Washington after I'm finished with most of my schooling. I know that the T.V. shows are nothing like the real deal, but I was thinking about doing SVU,CI, or Homicide, if you can give me some details about these possibilities that would be very helpful. Also, I am a female, and I was wondering if it is hard for a women to make her place in Criminal Justice, I know it will be challenging but I would still like to know. And finally, whatever career place I choose in Criminal Justice, do you know (roughly) how long it could be until I became a Detective? Thanks so very much for your time.

Answer
Amanda,

  I am happy that you are thinking about a career in law enforcement.  I am also glad that you realize that television is fiction.  Nothing that you see on a fictionalized tv show is realistic and you should NOT form any opinion about police work by anything that you see on tv.  For example this C.S.I is one of the biggest frauds that has ever been on tv.  I don't watch it but I have heard numerous people explain what happens.  To think that there is a CSI squad that goes out, gets evidence, develops suspects, questions people, makes arrests, and solves crime is laughable.  That simply does not happen in real life.  Another show that is fake is SVU.  While detectives do work with victims there are no special teams that make it their only work.  There is simply not enough time to do that.

   So what about you?  I hope that you don't think that a degree in criminal justice is necessary to be a detective.  Actually the people who will make the decision on whether you become a detective, twenty years from now, could care less what your degree is in.  All they are going to care about is whether you were an agressive patrol officer who made a lot of arrests, wrote good reports, testified well in court, wrote good affidavits, and are able to communicate well both in writing and in person.

  What to expect?  Upon graduation from college you might look around and decide what police department(s) you want to work for.  You would then apply just like you would apply for a job at Walmart.  Then you would take an apptitude test, physical exam, undergo a series of interviews, have an extensive background check, a polygraph exam, more interviews, and then a decision would be made to hire you. Assuming that you would be hired you would go to the police academy for a period of about six months.  Assuming that you make it through, and not everyone does, you would be assigned to a station where you would be trained as a uniformed officer.  Depending on the department you might spend eight to ten years in uniform learning all of the skills necessary for other assignments in police work.  Then you might be qualified to work as a station detective.  After a few years of that work you could be selected to work homicide or other specialized unit.  

  Being a woman is nothing to worry about. If you are good police officer you will advance no matter what your gender.

  Remember this.  There are thousands of police depatments from the smallest with two or three officers to the largest with over ten thousand officers.  Every single one operates differently so the time periods I gave you are approximations and not set in stone.



Amanda,

   Thank you for your comments but I noticed that you were upset by the "timeline".  I am wondering if you expected to go straight from a college classroom into the a detective unit?  Many students believe what they see on tv and believe that is possible.  It is no different than a career choice of being a surgeon.  You would never be allowed to go straight from a desk in medical school to an operating room.  There are years in between where you would learn and observe.  Remember this.  The street is your classroom when it comes to becoming a detective.  There is no short cut.