Expert: Jason Grabill - 1/3/2004

Question
Dear Mr. Grabill:
 I am doing some research for a short story.  One of my main characters is a Homicide investigator. However, I had a couple of questions:  How does the police hierarchy work?  How does one go from a patrol man to an investigator and where do they go from there? (I'm being very generic) Also, does the police hierarchy vary from county to county in Maryland?  Lastly, when you have three police departments in an area, for example, (where I live in Harford County) we have the Town of Bel Air, Harford County Sheriff and Maryland State Troopers. (I really think we have more Troopers than anyone) but when something happens, who has jurisdiction?  For example, a Homicide.  I don't think our Town has a Homicide Unit but I know that both the Sheriff's office and the State have their own.  How do they decide who will conduct the investigation?  
  Any information that you could give me would be appreciated.  Thanks.
Liz Thompson
Bel Air, Maryland

Answer
Liz:

  First, I'll look for your book!

  OK, Police hierarchy is very paramilitary.   A 'rookie' always starts in patrol, and after a period of time, depending on the agency, can test for the position of Investigator.  Usually, the time period spent 'on the street' is 2-5 years.  Each agency is different, but it would be safe to say that someone with 5 years in patrol would be at the point where they would go to "DB", or the detective bureau.   The persons rank may still be at the "patrolman" level, even tho they are in the detective or investigative division.  (Yes, its confusing).   In a smaller agency (such as Brunswick PD where I work), we investigate our own cases.  In other words, if I get a burglary call, its 'my' case from start to finish, and I'm responsible for getting the arrest warrants, etc for the bad guy.  In a homicide case, Brunswick would call in the Frederick County Sheriff's Dept to work with us, but the initial responding officer would still be working it with them. (Brunswick has a 'Memo of Understanding', or MOU, that allows this, signed by the Fred County Sheriff and the City).

 Jurisdiction is actually the easier of the two questions;  wherever the homicide occurs, that is whose jurisdiction it falls in.  Say your murder happens in Bel Air.   Since Bel Air has a police department, it is in their 'First Due'.   However, Bel Air may be a small agency, with no investigators, therefore, they would have what is called a Mutual Aid Agreement with the next largest agency in the county, be it the Harford Co Sheriff or the Maryland State Police.  The Sheriff would send their investigator(s) and crime scene unit, and would work the case in tandem with the Bel Air Police.  MSP may, or may not, assist, depending on what the Chief of Bel Air PD asks for.   MSP will not come in and arbitrarily 'take' the case, even tho they may have better resources and manpower to do so.   Maryland State Police have jurisdiction statewide, county and city boundries don't make a difference for them.


  Lastly, only the big jurisdictions like Baltimore, etc, have a dedicated "Homicide" unit per se.   Smaller jurisdictions have investigators who 'catch' the call no matter what it is.  In other words, in the Sheriff's Dept,  if I'm the 'on call' investigator today, and we get a rape, burglary, or anything else that has to be investigated, I'm the one doing it.   If a homicide comes out at the same time, I'll be dropping what I'm doing and heading to where that is.

 Hopefully, this all makes some sort of sense.  By all means, drop me a line at:  zebra305@earthlink.net if you have more questions; I'll be happy to try and help out.

Best Regards,

Jason Grabill