Expert: Dick Rogers - 12/12/2006

Question
Thank you that really helped a lot... and here i am bugging you again, but i feel as if your the only person i can find useful information from...so hang on tight..(lol)ok so i understand that i have to start off as a regular cop..to prove myself right? I was offered to go to Westwood college for criminal justice. i felt as if that would give me a boost to homicide detective.. (a short cut)i dont mind working hard to prove myself because i have the motivation and I'm dedicated. I also heard a little rumor where detectives are always on call.  so i really wont have enough time to spend with my (future) family. is that true?And lastly what courses do i need to take? do i need general Ed? military police was another option... (i've been in jr. rotc for 3 years)thanks!..ooo..sorry..uhm just wondering.. do you know of a helpful website that holds newspapers articles in 1995?last time i heard there was sopposeably a newspaper article on my father when he died!! thanks again!!
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

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First Ill like to introduce myself,so i wont just be a stranger. My name is Mara Aguilar im 17 years old, and i attend Carter High School in Rialto Ca. I'm closer to graduation, and i hope to one day to become a homicide detective. I'm highly interested because my father died when i was 6 years old, Till this day my questions are unanswered. What I'm asking you, is to help me head to the right derection.I seek information but turned out empty handed. I'm planning to start off at a community college because of financial and personal reasons. I hope you can spare some of your valuable to to help me. I would highly appreciate it!!
         Thank you
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Mara, it's sounds like you are headed in the right direction.  Do go to school and the community college is probably best to start to get you required courses out of the way, then you can apply to a university to get you BA/BS degree (most successful police applicants today have a college degree).  Mara, if you set your goals on becoming a homicide detective, there is nothing really to stand in your way...just have that as your goal throughout you law enforcement career.  I should tell you that the most successful route to becoming a homicide detective is to become a regular cop on a large department (why large? Because they handle many homicides...in fact, many smaller departments ask the sheriff or state police to handle their homicides).  Once you are employed give patrol work everything you've got because that is where you develop "street sense" and also develop a cop's best tool... snitches...sounds bad, but snitches actually are bread and butter to homicide detectives because they are where the action is...when you have people who live in the arena, they are aware of who the players are...and, they usually know who did what to whom.  Stay morally and ethically straight, work yourself into a detective unit (usually not homicide until you can prove your worth).  Once you have a good background and a good rep, then apply to homicide...if you have done your homework they will take you.  I hope this gives you some encouragement and that you follow through...it is good work and if you become a homicide detective, you will be one of a very exclusive fraternity...good luck.

Answer
Believe it or not, the best education for becoming a good homicide detective is in aquiring a broad raft of experience in the field...you have got to become adept at looking at things with common sense.  This comes from years and years of working in the field (patrol work).  You have heard of the expression, "...where the rubber meets the road", well, that applies to learning the ropes in becoming an effective cop.  As far a what you take in school...sure, criminal justice courses will bring you on board in an academic sense, but the real helpful experience lies in actually being in the field learning how people function, how the courts function, how important evidence is, how it is obtained and preserved.  So, in essence, to become a homicide detective, you must commit to becoming a cop, working for years in patrol, then graduate into the detective unit and finally, based on your sterling performance be accepted into homicide.  I  mentioned that you should seek out a fairly large department  mainly because it has better opportunities for you to get into homicide and the range of different cases will allow you to develop significantly.  As far as you accessing newspaper details involving you father, you can access archives for most newspapers...all you need is a date and you can get copies of articles...some newspapers charge you a fee for doing this.