Detective Salary And Career Guide

Detective or criminal investigator is a familiar profession to us. We can easily know about their job through movies, television shows, and others. Furthermore, detectives in some movies can solve their cases within hours. Just like most stories in Detective Conan, and other movies. Nevertheless, detectives in real life may have a hard life. They have to work with strong mental, emotional, and physical. It is because they must spend their time days and nights investigating cases. Do you want to be a detective? How much detective’s salary get?

Usually, detectives work for local or federal government institutions. Many of them are working in the Forestry Department or state police. Other than that, they are the Inspector General. Furthermore, their extensive experience helps them to get promotions. In addition, a detective can get more ratings from their experience.

Detective Career Description, Duties, and Tasks

If you want to be a detective, it is important to know the average detective salary. Nevertheless, you should understand the career description, your duties, and tasks. Completing the entry-level tasks are the first thing you should do. Speaking of the tasks, the agencies may ask you preparing the evidence for trial. Otherwise, they ask you to investigate any crimes. It is also possible for you to offer to court about collecting evidence.

The job of detectives is to study the case, determine the things that have happened with the evidence. Moreover, you must provide the evidence to the forensic specialist for further evaluation. A detective can interview some people that are on the spot to collect their information and evidence. Alternatively, you can interview the family, friends, and others This is a common way to determine the suspects. Also, a detective must study the record to find the suspects. With the strong evidence, a detective can help the arrest.

Commonly, a detective investigates a certain crime. For example, death at home with no reasons. You must solve the case so you can arrest the perpetrator. This job is not easy, which can be dangerous to your life. It takes a lot of time to practice. Hence, you can do the right things and think quickly about the dangerous situations. In addition, this job is full of risk. A detective can lose their life during their work. Otherwise, it can bring emotional trauma to their life. Moreover, they have to work overtime. They have the responsibility to solve the case no matter what it is weekends or holidays.

Their task is to do an active investigation. Therefore, most of them are spending their time for work in longer hours. Here, they can get their detective salary.

Best Things to Do Before Applying For Detective Employment

There are several things to do to prepare yourself before applying for detective employment in your area. The common requirement is the candidate should be at least 18 years old and no criminal record. Besides, you must follow the training and educational programs. As the candidate, it is important to make sure that you have passed the background check. The last important thing to do is to complete the license examination. These are the main keys that make your way to becoming a detective easier.

Still, there are some important things to do before applying for this job, as below:

1. Follow Academic Training

In Maine, you do not have to follow academic training. It is not a problem if you only have a high school diploma. On the contrary, you must have a bachelor degree if you want to apply for a detective in Michigan. In this state, you must have experience in criminal justice, security management, law, and computer forensics. Of course, other states have different rules.

Another example is California. In this state, you must follow academic training because they require professional experience. Even though you have completed your degree, you must still complete 5,000 hours of practical experience. As you see that each state has their own way to meet their demand. Hence, you can be a detective in their areas.

2. Professional Experience

A professional experience is also important in the most states. There are some positions you must achieve as the initial step to be a detective. For example, first, you must be an investigator at the federal agency. Other positions that can help you to be a detective are insurance adjuster, law enforcement officer, Arson investigator, and others.

It is important to note that each state comes with different requirement when it comes to professional experience. In Maryland, they want their candidates to work as a fire investigator for five years. After that, they can apply for a detective. Besides, you must have three years of experience as a police detective.

3. Complete Training And Licensing

It is also important to have a firearm permit. This is the reason why detectives are legal to carry a gun. Following a formal training course or program is helpful. Hence, you can arrest the suspects in the field.

Other, you must be able to complete the rules to get the license. For example, follow the examination and pass it. It is better for you to find any information from your agency whether they provide the insurance or not. If not, you can make it first. Once you have completed these things, you are ready to apply for this job.

Detective/ Criminal Investigator Training

Speaking of the training for detectives, it depends on the agency in which you are working with. For example, FBI commonly provides training. Otherwise, other agencies may have internship programs to train their detectives in the real-world experience. Their goal is to increase the employment prospects.

Other Important Skills and Experience

To be a detective, you must be able to pay attention. You should be able to deal with the smallest details. This is crucial so you can do an independent research. Besides, you must be able to examine and evaluate all evidence carefully. For example, collecting the physical evidence and other information from the interviews. These are important to reveal the motives and suspects. For this reason, you must have high interpersonal skills along with excellent reasoning. This job also requires critical-thinking skills.

In addition, you must be a problem solver, able to interact with or educate people effectively. The most important is you must be an active listener. It is good to have a college degree, especially in the criminal justice or related experience. This is the important experience that helps you work in this job. The possible titles for the career are Criminal Investigators, Special Agent, and Detective.

The General Detective Salary

Detective salary depends on the education, experience, and location. A report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistic showed that you can earn $77,210. Well, this earning is the annual salary as of 2015.

Based on PayScale, Detective salary in the U.S.A is increasing. It depends on the experience of their profession. The longer to work, the more to get. The annual salary is from $37 K to $110. Meanwhile, the median salary is $58K per year. Furthermore, PayScale explained that detectives who joined in the survey are 65% men. Most of them very satisfied with their job. This is the data from the respondents of PayScale salary survey.

For detectives who moved into the Police Chief role, they can get more. Surprisingly, they can get $67K annually. You can be a Fraud Investigator as your next career step. The median salary for this job is $49K. Another way to advance the career is to become a Police Detective. Hence, you can earn $59K. To sum up, the salary in one state to another can be various. It depends on the factors as we explained above.

Police Detective Salary In The United States

The salary of the police detective is $59K in the U.S.A. Well, that is the detective salary to get per year. In fact, the annual salary is from $37K to $98K. In this job, the areas you are working and your career duration can determine the salary. Most police detectives said that they are satisfied with this job. Besides, they can get medical and dental coverage from this job.

In addition, PayScale released their salary questionnaire. The total participants were 86% of men. As a result, the median salary is $60.675. Moreover, these participants explained that they got a bonus from $1,184 to $19,797.

For the reason, that the job is the part of law enforcement official. In this job, you should be able to solve any serious crimes, murder, and others. You have to do the investigations to find the suspects. What you must do is gathering and analyzing the evidence.

Most noteworthy, you must be able to write some extensive reports. Also, do cataloging and analyzing the potential evidence. Another, you should document all your investigations carefully. Even more, you must fill out the extensive paperwork.

To start this job, you can start from your carrier if you are a police officer. Of course, it is possible for a police officer to be a detective. However, you must be able to support your experience. It is also good to follow some related training programs. In this job, you are working in shifts, which can be daytime, evening. Even more, you may work overnights. Likewise, you will spend most of their time in your office environment.

About Homicide Detective

To be a homicide detective, your job is to investigate death due to criminal activities. For example, you must be able to find the suspects of death for no reasons. Working in this field means that you are the part of law enforcement officers.

Commonly, you can start the career as the police officer. Alternatively, those with other positions in the law enforcement have the opportunity in this job. These positions help you get the promotion to start your career. When you want to get this job, you have the opportunity to work for local, state, or federal agencies.

Homicide Detective Job Description

In this job, you must be able to gather evidence. Some witnesses are important so you can interview them and collect more information about the things happened. In addition, you should do background checks on the victims and suspects. This job also requires you identifying the responsible parties. After finding all the information, you can prepare the cases for the court. Besides, you must help the prosecution process within the evidence on your hands. The most important thing to know is to be ready to work at any time in any condition. It means that when there is a call from your agency. No matter you are sick or have something fun to do, you must be on the spot.

Homicide Detective Career Guide

A high school diploma is a minimum requirement to be a homicide detective. However, if you want to get the federal jobs, you should have a bachelor’s degree. Besides, you must have any experience as a law enforcement officer. At this time, the demands of this job are quite high and the requirements are quite hard. In fact, more agencies require the candidates to have two-year or more of a degree to apply for this job. In this point is a degree in criminal justice, forensic, or another relevant field.

Asides of the necessary education or experience in this field, you must apply for the job opening. After that, you should attend the scheduled interviews. Still, you must do a background investigation and follow the fingerprint process. Your agency can provide the training programs.

There are some helpful experience and skills when you want to become a homicide detective. First, you must have strong communication skills, patience, objective, and empathy. It is because you are going to work and deal with the emotional process of the investigation. Second, it is also important to be able to set expectations. Last but not the least is the military experience can be beneficial for you.

How much does the homicide detective salary? Based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, the average annual salary is $79,620. That is quite high because this job is also full of risk. However, it depends on the location. For example, in Washington DC, you can earn $119.280. Well, this is your annual salary. It is because, in Washington DC, the job growth for detectives and polices are 4% in 2024. In fact, there are 33,100 of new positions soon are available.

Detective Job Availability

Moreover, states with the biggest availability for this job are Texas, California, Arizona, New York, and Florida. The job opportunities are including police detectives and fraud investigators.

If you want to be a detective, there are some options available. You can be a homicide detective, police detective, private detective, and others. Of course, each option may be available with different requirements. Even, each state has their own rules so you can meet their requirement.

Finally, the salary for this job depends on the place you are working, how far you have been educating yourself in this field, and how far your experience is. Probably, your agency can promote your work if you are able to solve some cases during your career. Also, you may get better ratings to increase your chance in this job. Most noteworthy, your job is full of risk. In addition, the family of victims must be begging to you to find the suspects. With a lot of pressure, this job can change your life fate.

When you want to apply for this job, it is more than just the detective salary to think.

Facts Of Becoming A Detective

Working as detectives means spending 40 hours per week, at least. Besides, you must be able to work in various shifts. Here, you have to spend your weekends, nights, and even holidays. It is something very common to work overtime when the agency relocates you. In addition, to do a travel, there should be an advance notice.

It is necessary to continue the education requirements to become a detective. It is because technology evolves. Detectives should keep up with the current industry news and latest developments. The organization that works with you may require you to continue your education or training.

In addition, there are some tools you need to do the investigations. For example, you need polygraph machines, surveillance equipment, and wiretapping equipment. Besides, detectives must be able to carry a gun. Speaking of a gun, there should be a legal permission.

It sounds great when we saw detectives in some movies, but their life is not easy at all. They have to work in a dangerous and stressful situation. They have to find the suspects and leave their family. Furthermore, it is possible to get pressures due to this job. Therefore, make sure that you have good mental and physical to perform the tasks.

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