A police detective’s primary responsibility is to conduct criminal investigations. Depending on the type of crime being investigated, this can entail a variety of activities. Being a police detective, for example, can involve a lot of computer work at times, and at other times, the job can be almost entirely devoted to interviewing people. Fundamentally, detectives are expected to piece together all of the information about the crime in order to determine who is to blame and provide evidence that can be used in court to prove a suspect’s guilt. Detectives may be assigned to different divisions devoted to specific types of crimes in some police departments, while others have more general-purpose job descriptions.
For a variety of reasons, a police detective’s job differs significantly from that of a patrol officer. Patrol officers are usually called in before, during, or right after a criminal act, and they’re expected to handle the immediate work of public safety and the initial capture of any criminals. Detectives work for the police department and are usually called in after a crime has occurred. They’re still dedicated to public safety, but their main goal is to prevent a suspect from committing another crime by revealing his or her identity, or to ensure that the guilty person is punished by the legal system by assisting in the discovery of evidence to prove the case.
The nature of a detective’s job can vary greatly depending on the types of crimes he or she specializes in and the detective’s position within the department hierarchy. For example, a homicide detective’s investigations may include completely different elements than a narcotics detective’s investigations, and in terms of hierarchy, lower-level detectives may be assigned to basic information-gathering in a major investigation with a team to assist in the task, while a more experienced detective leads the investigation.
A police detective is usually very concerned about the consequences of his actions in court. He will almost certainly be called to testify, and if he makes a mistake that causes people to doubt his credibility, the case could be thrown out, putting the public at risk. Detectives are frequently required to take extra precautions and even do things they may consider unnecessary in order to ensure that every reasonable lead is pursued in order for the case to appear as credible as possible. Even if they are almost certain of the guilty party’s identity, they may conduct additional interviews and conduct additional investigations to rule out every possibility. Detectives often have to perform exhaustive, repetitive actions in order to follow such strict methodology, and most detectives suggest that the job isn’t as romantic or exciting as it appears in many movie portrayals.