Expert: Jack Toomey - 7/27/2009

Question
In advance, I want to apologize for the many questions. I will be going to college soon and I want a better understanding of these careers. I know that I want to be a criminal lawyer but I want to be a detective while I attend law school also. I wanted to know the difficulties of wanting to pursue those things. The questions are:

1)What is the difference between a CSI and a PI?
2)What are the duties of a CSI/Homicide Detective
3)What type of investigator works in the crime lab?
4)If you are a CSI are you able to still attend law school?
5)What is the age limit for police officers?
6)In order to be a Homicide Detective to I have to excel in science?
7)What do you have to master in order to become a detective? example: (science to become a forensic detective)  

Answer
That is a lot of questions but here we go;

1.  CSI and PI?  CSI is a unit (group of employees) who look for evidence at a crime scene.  A "PI" is a private detective and is not involved in police work.  Normally he works on divorce cases, workmans comp frauds, etc, accident reconstruction, etc.

2.  A crime scene officer goes to crime scenes and gathers evidence.  A homicide detective investigates all deaths.  Natural, suicide, accidental, and homicide.  If I started listing "duties" we would be here all night.

3.  Usually civilians work in crime labs.  Normally they have degrees in serology or some kind of science.

4.  I hope that you understand that "CSI" is not like the television show which is dramatized so people will watch.  Nothing on the show is realistic.  Having said that an employee could go to law school if their schedule permitted it but if you are working eight hours a day when would you attend school?  Probably in the evening and you would be dead tired with all of the studying, papers, etc.

5.  You have to be at least 21 and there is no upper age limit.

6.  No.

7.  I've never heard the term "forensic detective" but what you have to excel in is "street smarts", a high arrest total while in uniform, a high rate of convictions on your arrests, a good command of the language and the ability to write lengthy and descriptive reports, good recommendations from your supervisors, punctuality, and many other traits that tell supervisors that you would make a good detective.