Abstract
The job of a detective in the police force is highly dynamic and challenging and demanding, particularly the parts of criminal investigations like the investigation of homicides and theft. The duties of the job include investigation of traffic and traffic violations, the enforcement of local and state law, writing citations and taking action against illegal violators of the law, and of course, reporting daily. A person who wants to explore the field must possess at minimum a high school diploma and a desire to serve justice.
The hiring process is extremely competitive and requires specific abilities and a keen eye for the finer aspects. The range of salaries for careers is $4,000 to $30,000, contingent on the degree of work within the policy section in the system of criminal justice. To be eligible for promotion, the achievement rate should be greater than 80 percent of cases that are handled. Policing careers are demanding as the police officer can be called to duty at any moment. At the station, they have high-ranking managers in charge of coordinating the daily activities of policing and addressing the issues officers face when they are in the line of duty.
Introduction
The role of a detective in the police department within any police force is highly dynamic and research-driven since those working in this field need to come up with ways to stop criminal activity. Particularly, the selection process of hiring, promotion, and selection procedures for a typical detective are extremely specific since the official job description calls for the best police officer. The process of training is lengthy and some rules aid in the transition from recruiting to actual duty. The qualifications for joining this profession are physical health, a high school diploma, high analytical skills, and the ability to serve. This paper will go over the application form, the requirements and remunerations, the promotion, and the physical working environment of the police detective.
Police detective job
The title of a detective is quite enthralling since it requires skills that are technical when it comes to criminal investigations. In general, a detective is a specialist and is tasked with the sole responsibility of producing investigative reports while working in partnership with other agencies of enforcement. The specific responsibilities of a police detective include the capacity to “conduct narcotics investigations, perform surveillance and establish and maintain contacts with informants; investigate gang-related crimes; respond to and investigate scenes of crimes such as homicide, theft, robbery, auto theft, illegal sex-related activities; and, crimes committed by juveniles” (Beggs Davies and Beggs 2009, p. 29,).
Training and education requirements
To be eligible for a position as a police officer candidates must possess an academic minimum of a high school degree or the equivalent to the same. Additionally, applicants must be at the age of twenty-one years old and have a clear criminal history. The principal requirements for training for this job include possessing essential skills like “strong communication skills, good judgment, leadership, and organization skills” (Police Science and Law Enforcement 2015, par. 8.) as the job description requires the application of analytical skills as well as the capability to arrive at rational judgments in times of crisis. For special forces, a qualification in criminal justice could be a benefit for potential candidates as I did.
Qualifications
The primary requirement is possessing a minimum high school diploma. Additionally, the prospective candidate must be from the country in which he intends to work for as a detective. In most countries around the globe, a candidate for police detective must possess an active driving license and the least amount of driving convictions in the past. It is required for the prospective candidate to possess a tax compliance certification, a good conduct certification, and an endorsement letter from at a minimum of two divisions of authorities in the area (Peak 2009).
The process of hiring
The hiring process starts with the announcement of open police detective jobs in local papers. A candidate interested in the position who can meet the minimum requirements for the position can apply along with their curriculum vitae to the institution that is recruiting. After a short selection, successful candidates will be invited to a series of interviews on requirements for education, health accreditation, and fitness test.
At this point, successful candidates are then invited into the detective academy to receive the process of preparing for their job. The “recruits are required to take part in law enforcement classes that are related to class courses and also pass various physical tests. The courses cover topics that involve local and state laws including police ethics, police law, and civil rights” (Los Los Angeles Police Department 2015 par. 9). The training process includes tests of physical abilities aptitude, academic ability, and the ability to work in a team.
Every candidate must pass the tests to be able to graduate from the detective academy as a certified police detective. Following the completion of the course, the detectives who graduate are assigned to various Police departments temporarily for a minimum of six months before being appointed as qualified police detectives.
Duties/responsibilities
The responsibilities and duties of a detective in the police force are investigating crimes, creating reports, and communicating with other police units in the process of investigating criminals and arrests. In addition to investigating criminal cases the police detective can also carry out “court liaison functions, provide electronic equipment expertise to conduct surveillance and polygraph examinations, investigate applicants and businesses who have applied for Police Commission permits to conduct business, investigate child abuse cases, and conduct investigations of crimes committed by gangs of foreign origin” (Gottschalk 2010 (p. 27, p.).
In addition, a detective could also be responsible for providing professional direction in case-making, generating reports, and distributing information throughout the command chain to ensure the highest efficiency of the department of police detectives.
Salaries range (Local and National)
The pay range for detectives in the police force is determined by the detective’s rank as well as the assigned duties and the level of operation. The top rank among the detectives is Detective 1, followed by Detective 2 and then Detective 3. In the area of criminal investigation, detective 3 holds the highest rank and also receives the highest compensation packages. However, detective 1 is the lowest rank and the lowest compensation package due to the duties at this level being less demanding. On the level of the community, the range of salaries for police detectives ranges from between $3,000 and $15,000. At the national level, the range of salaries for police detectives is $4,000-$30,000.
Promotional requirements
To be eligible to be promoted in rank from detective 2 to detective 1, there should be consistency in the handling of various criminal cases in the manner that is would be expected. In addition, the rate of success must be higher than 80 percent for all instances assigned to the office. Furthermore, the police officer should demonstrate sameness, teamwork, and moral high standards in the policing regulations and guidelines. In the majority of cases, the impact on experience must also be taken into consideration, particularly when transferring between Detective 2 and the Detective 3 rank (Peak 2009). When I was a police officer in rank 1 I was subjected to more than 8 months of instruction in criminal investigation and writing documents.
Conditions of work (shifts hours)
Because detectives are in a highly competitive working environment, hours of work often extend beyond their scheduled shifts. It is believed that “the majority of police detectives work on a full-time schedule, but paid overtime is not uncommon. Detectives work shifts throughout the day and the younger members of the squad will probably have more night shifts in their first few months” (Police Sciences and Law Enforcement 2015 (par. 6). Each shift runs for 8 hours, but it can stretch up to 20 hours based on the amount of work available. The shifts are scheduled to run simultaneously with the police investigation tasks.
Physical requirement
To qualify for the position of an official detective in the force, the applicant is physically healthy and has an average height of five feet. The candidate should have a good health record from accredited medical facilities. The applicant must be free of skin breakage marks, have excellent eyesight, perfect hearing, and healthy body weight. Additionally, the candidate must clear a mental fitness test to receive a clear certificate of physical fitness (Peak 2009).
To qualify for the position of an official detective in the force, the applicant is physically healthy and has an average height of five feet. The candidate should have a good health record from accredited medical facilities. The applicant must be free of skin breakage marks, have excellent eyesight, perfect hearing, and healthy body weight. Additionally, the candidate must clear a mental fitness test to receive a clear certificate of physical fitness (Peak 2009).
Motivation and welfare of the detective
Managers of police stations are entrusted under the law to fulfill the duties of prefects and provide leadership solutions after consulting with each other. To manage behavior in the group, the appropriate characteristics of a leader are essential. So, “actions are most often attributed to four causes: effort and ability (both internal and dispositional causes), luck, and task difficulty (both external and situational causes” (Beggs and Davies 2009 (p. 22).
A successful police station behavior system is a result of creativity and inspiration in the communication systems that junior and senior officers utilize in decoding and encoding data from both the general public as well as within their own. When the systems are implemented successfully, stress and redundancy are minimized by constant interaction, which helps to boost confidence and confidence, which are the ingredients for effective law enforcement (Beggs Davies and Beggs 2009). The information is summarized in the figure below.
In the previous figure, It is crucial to develop the most suitable policy management methods for ensuring that law enforcement operates within the limits of the Constitution and receives approval from the public. Additionally, effective welfare programs encourage officers to be effective under minimal supervision.
Rules for policing career progression
Carter is objective and critical in his analysis of different types of misuse of authority (Peak 2009) that are in opposition to the policing department. The first type of abuse he has identified is the excessive use of force or physical assault on the person being arrested during an arrest. While the police policy allows the use of a minimum amount of force when attempting to arrest a citizen but police officers shouldn’t use this policy to oppress citizens and inflict serious bodily injury or death. It is the U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed the law that allowing police to use bullets against a nonviolent suspect is against the Fourth Amendment (Peak, 2009) as stated in Appendix 2.
As an oversight agency, police officers aren’t allowed to engage in psychological or verbal abuse to the public while in their duties. For example, the use of vulgar language against a citizen is categorized by Carter as a game of psychological nature that aims at degrading, insulting, or imposing unjust power on their “subjects” as outlined in Appendix 1. The use of language that is profane has numerous negative consequences for the victim and shouldn’t be utilized to degrade police officials. To prevent this scenario, Carter proposes minimizing profanity in the police force through an investigation of complaints about profanity and police leaders imposing a ban on profanity in public (Peak 2009).
Personal reflection
Based on the results of this study, I’ve gained knowledge about the essential education I should concentrate on to advance my career improvement and development as an officer in the police force. I’ve selected the unique recital engagement practices of the police authority since they have created an atmosphere of dynamic, consultative, and proactive support for police officers. The ritual is also a way to define the boundaries between the economically viable, rationally rational, and ethically right decision-making of a police officer.
Because the police department is known for hiring top talent, I am required to keep high average grades to increase my chance of being promoted from my currently ranked detective 1 up to detective 2, or detective 3. To stay successful, I regularly improve my skills with high-quality work to make my accomplishments and achievements public. I will admit that my career in police work within the US is the most demanding portion of my work. But, having acquired a good understanding of technical writing I’ve developed into a competent law enforcement officer as particulars and attention to detail are always a part of my job (Alred, Brusaw, & Oliu in 2011).
In the course of writing my report on police work in the police force, I learned the importance of clarity in communication and the organization of evidence in the investigation. In addition, I have realized the value of writing down a short amount of words, which could have been a phrase. It is important to keep in balance the verbal and written aspects of communication within the course. While I received prior training in writing citations, I’ve acquired skills in thought arrangement by arranging different evidence into segments for ease of circulation (Alred, Brusaw, & Oliu 2011,).
The process of creating the report was extremely challenging because each topic was different and required unique methods. But, I was able to overcome this issue by researching to determine the facts about each topic relevant to a career in police work. I have to admit that the accomplishment of this project provided me with an idea of how to organize a stream of thought into practical ideas that are backed by well-cited evidence (Wetzel 2010,).
Conclusion
In the end, the position of a detective in the police force is extremely dynamic, and any hopeful candidate must be in excellent physical health and at the very least the equivalent of a high school diploma to be able to apply. The process to become a detective starts at the beginning of the process of recruiting and culminates with graduation from a police academy. In my capacity as a detective, my duties include traffic control, investigations writing citations, detaining criminals who violate the law, and creating reports regularly.
Additionally, I should adhere to the rules of policing to avoid reporting that is not clear or accurate in the reporting of the events (Wetzel 2010). While writing this report I’ve come to appreciate the importance of precise analysis and the arrangement of thoughts into clear arguments (Alred, Brusaw, & Oliu 2011).