Expert: Jack Toomey - 9/24/2011

Question
QUESTION: I have wanted to have a job that involved solving crimes since I was in fifth grade. I will admit that I did get the idea from watching TV but I've also done research and stuff on all the careers that I had in mind. I've settled on wanting to be a Homicide detective. I really feel like this is a job that I want to do because I want to help the families who have lost someone to figure out what happened and why and help bring justice to them. I need some information like what cities are the best to live in for this career or what are some things you can do to cope with your feelings? I'm a junior in highschool so any information about schooling would help a lot to. Also, it's been mentioned to me before that women have a hard time in a career like this. Is that true? and if so what are some things that could help me out?

ANSWER: Christina,

First of all I need to tell you that nothing that you have seen on television is realistic.  So if you are basing your career goals on tv shows then you are destined for disappointment.

I have only worked for one police department so there is no way for me to know which is the "best" to live.  If you mean "best" as in best pay then I would say the east coast cities are the best.  If you mean best as in safety then I would not live in a big east coast city.  You would most likely be living in a far-off suburb and commute to work.

Also do you realize that the chances of making it to homicide are very small?  If you were hired by a police department (chances are about 1 in 100) you would go to the police academy and then if you do graduate you would be assigned to a district station where you would work the streets as a uniformed patrol officer for at least several years.  Then you MIGHT be advance enough to apply for a position in a specialized unit.  Realistically you would probably need 12 - 15 years experience before they would ever consider you for homicide.

This is something else that the public does not realize.  Most of the work done by homicide involve the investigation of natural, accidental, and suicide deaths.  These deaths are never reported in the newspaper or television but a great deal of time is consumed investigating these deaths.

I don't mean to sound like I am mocking you but if you are concerned with your "feelings" then police work is not for you.  No officer or detective has "feelings" for a case or a victim.  That is why television does the biggest disservice to the public because people get their ideas from these phony police shows.

If you have any more questions please let me know.

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

QUESTION: First off I would like to thank you for taking the time to reply. After reading your answer I read over my question again and realized that it wasn't exactly what I really wanted to say. Let me start off by saying that I do realize that it's nothing like what you see on TV. The TV shows I watched are what sparked my intrust in it but I've also researched it on the computer and learned about the job and that's what made me actually want to pursue a career in law enforcement. What I meant when
I asked about the best place to live was where are police officers most needed, where could I help out the most, which I guess would be the same as asking what cities have the highest crime rate. I don't really care to much about the money or safety. Also, I do realize and understand completely that to be an officer or detective you can't have feelings for the case. That part of my previous question was really poorly written and I apologize for that. A more appropriate way of asking that question would be, when first starting a career as a police officer how did you learn to block out the feelings? I'm already pretty good at blocking out my feelings from a bunch of stuff I've had to deal with growing up, but then again I've never seen a dead body close up before so I don't know how I would react to that, but I'm confident that with repeat exposure to it I can deal with it. And the last thing I want to mention is that I didn't know how small the chances are of making it to homicide and I thank you for bringing that to my attention, but I'm still willing to try. Any other advice you can give me will be much appreciated.
I also want to say that I am truly sorry if any of this came out in a sarcastic or disrespectful manner That is not my intent at all. I also want to thank you again for taking the time to read this.

Answer
Christina,

I really do not know where the best place to live is because I have only lived in one place and that is in the county where I live.  You can count on any big city to have a high crime rate.  But on the other hand a large city would also have a lot of police officers and the competition to make detective would be stronger.

The places where police officers are most needed are the cities/counties where they are not hiring new police officers due to the economy.  In some areas police officers are actually being laid off.

I'm sorry but there is really no way to learn how to block out your own feelings.  Either you have that ability or you don't.  This sounds crude but when you see a dead body everyday you don't even think about it.

What you should do is go on a few ride-alongs with your local police department.  I am guessing that you are 16 or over so you would be eligible.  You will get a better idea of police work and probably get to meet a few detectives.