# Years of experience to become detective



## Aingeal (Jul 10, 2014)

My 16-year-old son is interested in joining the police department and wish to become a homicide detective. We have been trying to find information online with no lock. From what we have found out, he would be 24 to 25 years old before he would even become a rookie (4 yrs collage and 2 yrs academy). How many years of experience would he need?


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## Goose (Dec 1, 2004)




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## Edmizer1 (Aug 27, 2006)

It is impossible to say. My last department made someone a detective in two weeks. Others will go a whole career and never be considered. It depends on the PD. There is really is no definate route. There are several other threads on this site which describe the various ways to become a police officer. After getting some experience, your son's career path in law enforcement will depend on alot of factors out of his control and his specific interests will change with time. Most people, even new police recruits, have a profound misunderstanding of what police do. Your son may be basing what a homicide detective does from watching TV shows. I can tell you that Star Trek is much closer to real life than the average cop show. Being a police officer can be a very rewarding career but it may not be what he thinks it is.


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## Johnny Law (Aug 8, 2008)

Short answer, but by no means definitive, is to work the streets for a few years and shag calls. If his investigatory and work ethics are high, then maybe. No one gets detective right out of the academy, unless your uncle is the chief. But then, you'd be despised anyway.


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## Killjoy (Jun 23, 2003)

First off, you don't just "join" the police department like enlisting in the military. In many areas, including Massachusetts, police officer positions are highly sought after and extremely competitive. An extremely high score (think top 2-4%) on a civil service or other type of entrance exam is necessary to even get your foot in the door. Then there is extensive background checks, psychological testing, multiple interviews and physical fitness testing. Academies run about six months or so and have a heavy academic course load along with extensive physical training. Anywhere between 10-40% don't successfully complete the academy, depending on which academy. Then, once on the road, an officer can look at at least a year on probationary status before becoming a full member.

Depending on the size of the department you can anticipate a wait of several years to a decade before applying to a detective bureau. In larger departments the larger detective units contribute to a higher turnover and more openings. In smaller departments, many times officers have to wait until someone retires or gets promoted before they can move into a detective position. High efficiency marks as a patrol officer and sometimes even competitive examinations along with interviews are necessary to get into many detective units. Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, there are no dedicated "homicide detectives" who sit in their offices waiting for people to get murdered so they get the call from the chief to move out. Most detectives work any number of cases from robberies, white collar crime, drug offenses and any other number of crimes, including homicides. 

So, my advice would be stay out of trouble, as no department will take someone with a criminal background, particularly drug or violent offenses. Stay physically fit, as this is probably the number one reason people drop out of academies. And join the military, in addition to the obvious benefit of instilling discipline, familiarizing civilians with a military structure and serving your country, with such a competitive environment for law-enforcement jobs, many departments give additional preference or points to military veterans.


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## Duff112 (Apr 14, 2006)

Aingeal said:


> My 16-year-old son is interested in joining the police department and wish to become a homicide detective. We have been trying to find information online with no lock. From what we have found out, he would be 24 to 25 years old before he would even become a rookie (4 yrs collage and 2 yrs academy). How many years of experience would he need?


Angie-

Not to be too critical on your first post but... Make sure your son stays in school and works on his writing skills. First thing about becoming a police officer and hopefully a detective second is proper report writing AND spelling. A case can be won and lost by not articulating the facts.

See above.

Tell him good luck.

Duff.


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## Aingeal (Jul 10, 2014)

Thank all of you for help. We do have some ideal how it could be in law enforcement. He has talked with both my uncle who is a local small town live cop in VA and my cousin who is ex-Marine MP/ex-cop in VA Beach/and ex-Statie in SC. Neither of them wanted to go for detective so we weren't sure. Thank you all again and I'll pass along all of your advice.


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## Pvt. Cowboy (Jan 26, 2005)

Yah stay down in VA. He'll actually get on there.


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## Herrdoktor (Jun 23, 2010)

Aingeal said:


> Thank all of you for help. We do have some ideal how it could be in law enforcement. He has talked with both my uncle who is a local small town live cop in VA and my cousin who is ex-Marine MP/ex-cop in VA Beach/and ex-Statie in SC. Neither of them wanted to go for detective so we weren't sure. Thank you all again and I'll pass along all of your advice.


PM if you have any questions about VA.

Guys/gals won't sniff CID on the larger county departments for at least 7-10 without some significant skillset (CPA, prior white collar experience, etc.)


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## Herrdoktor (Jun 23, 2010)

Pvt. Cowboy said:


> Yah stay down in VA. He'll actually get on there.


Since you bring up such an excellent point we are currently looking for recruits for the Dec. 2014 class. 

http://www.pwcgov.org/government/dept/police/Pages/Apply-Today.aspx


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## Aingeal (Jul 10, 2014)

That would be kind of hard since he was born and raised up here. He doesn't like my family's home town to much. His like my dad in that way but he went into the Air Force for 21 yrs. (make me a military brat)


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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

On my department, it would be a _minimum_ of about 10 years before making it to homicide. It usually takes a minimum of 7 years just to make it to detective, then you have to gain experience doing the job before being picked to work homicide, where you're expected to be very good since there's nothing more important.

There is studying to do and tests to be taken before making it (at least on my department). Not everyone makes it the first time around, which is why it could take longer.


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## sdb29 (Jul 17, 2002)

263FPD said:


> How did I miss this gem?


Proving that detectives are not infallible.


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## nra286 (Jul 11, 2014)

... where the Hell is this alleged "2 year academy"? 

I wish your son the best of luck in his future endeavors/collage.


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## Pvt. Cowboy (Jan 26, 2005)

263FPD said:


> Wondering if I should have done a collage prior to my interview. I do appreciate a nice collage.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Never as cool as a MONTAGE.

Maybe that's where I went wrong... I should have brought a video on an iPad or something with an 80's montage of me working out and hitting a heavy bag, THAT would have gotten the brass' attention.


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## FTH (Sep 11, 2013)

Old fashion cut-and-paste on A1 format paper would look lovely!


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## BxDetSgt (Jun 1, 2012)

Homicide work is the most rewarding police work any officer can do. It is the ultimate crime, and only the very best Detectives are given the honor of being Homicide Detectives. I look for guys who have distinguished themselves as Pct. Detectives, we then run the names by the guys already in the squad, and then we interview them. If they get by all those steps we then give the names to the Chief who conducts a more formal interview. I always look for someone who has a special skill set (phone work, interview skills, computer skills). Most importantly a Homicide detective needs to be able to get along with everyone, homicide investigations routinley involve other agencies and units. We stay away from "glory hounds" and "cowboys". That being said I look for guys who "own" their cases, and think creativley when all traditional avenues have been used. Also, homicides are never closed without an arrest. A Homicide Detective needs to be persistent, these cases may take years to develop. I do not care who gets credit for an arrest, I just want the bad guy caught. The average TOJ in our office is about 20 years, with many guys pushing 30 years. The least TOJ is 15 years, and he is one of the best we have. If your son realy wants this it is going to take a LOT of work, but is attainable if he dedicates himself. If he wants to be a Homicide detective he needs to stay away from smaller jobs, only big cities and state agencies have dedicated Homicide Units. Also, he needs to understand that he may fall in love with another aspect of the job, and that is fine. Good luck to him. This is the greatest, and most rewarding job I have ever had.


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## BxDetSgt (Jun 1, 2012)

And I am proof that spelling is not the most important skill for the job!!


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## Pvt. Cowboy (Jan 26, 2005)

You stay away from "cowboys"? 

Disregard all the positives I said about you...


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## BxDetSgt (Jun 1, 2012)

Private cowboys are ok, Public cowboys are a whole different story.


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## grn3charlie (Jul 18, 2005)

And let's not talk about Midnight Cowboys


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## Aingeal (Jul 10, 2014)

Thank youBxDetSgt for your input. Both my husband and I have been trying to tell him that if he was lucky enough to be able to become a cop, it could still take him a long a time to even be consider for homicide, if ever. Of course his at the age that we don't know anything. Especially when there are, fiction books out there that make it sound like you can go right into homicide after only after being in the PD for a very short time. I just wish that some writers would take the time to research just how long it would take even to become cop. I knew that if he was able to get into a PD that it could take him years but I myself didn't know it could take quite so long. As all of you can see, your input and experience will help, thank you all.


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## FTH (Sep 11, 2013)

It's hard to tell from few posts how serious your son is about this and if you try to discourage him or to help him.

It sounds like you are looking for information to show that the detective career is too difficult - to discourage ... 
Since he is NOT the one looking for information you have nothing to worry about.


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## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

FTH said:


> It's hard to tell from few posts how serious your son is about this and if you try to discourage him or to help him.
> 
> It sounds like you are looking for information to show that the detective career is too difficult - to discourage ...
> Since he is NOT the one looking for information you have nothing to worry about.


I know it's not the easiest career to research, but you should probably encourage him to find out for himself. This is a crucial first step no matter what careers our kids are interested in, but especially so if he doesn't want to listen to you. My kids decided in 6th and 2nd grades what they wanted to do when they grew up. Shockingly, they never wavered from those choices even after talking to people and learning about what those careers really entailed. The thing is, they found out for themselves. I don't know how old your son was when he decided on this career path, but he's now at the age where he really needs to start finding out for himself. It also might not be a bad idea at this age to remind him if you were half as stupid as he thinks you are he would have never survived this long. I am so glad my kids aren't teenagers any more.


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## Aingeal (Jul 10, 2014)

FTH&#8230;It's not that I'm trying to discourage him from becoming a cop/detective, the thing is his only going by what he either sees on TV or reads in fiction books. I am trying to get him to see the truth. That it is not going to a walk in the park.

I went throw this with my older son before he graduated a few years ago, but he wanted to join the Air Force just as my father had. For some reason he thought it was going to be easy to get into any branch of the military. He didn't think that he had to get into shape no matter what I told him. He even refused to look at the USAF website. When the recruiter told him he needed to be in shape before he could even take the physical then he decided to believe me.

I know there are mothers out there who don't want their children to become a cop or go into the military because of the dangers. I'm not like that. As I've stated before I am a military brat born and raised. I have a long line history of family members who have/are still in the military or the police force. I'm very proud of that and I respect everything that all of you have to go through to keep us safe and if that is what my boys want to do then I'm all for it and I will support them any way I can. I just want them to be informed. The high schools don't give them enough information so it's my job to get as much as I can.

As far as him not being the one posting&#8230;his down VA with cousins camping. He will be back soon and has agreed to set down and read the information that all of you have graciously been providing. Then if he wishes to post, he will.


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