Everything about Detective totally explained
A
detective is an investigator, either a member of a
police agency or a private person. They may be known as
private investigators (P.I.s or "Private I's", hence the play-on-words, "Private Eyes"). Informally, and primarily in
fiction, a detective is any licensed or unlicensed person who solves
crimes, including historical crimes, or looks into records.
Detective work typically requires a great deal of walking or "footwork", hence the slang terms "flatfoot" and "gumshoe". The term "gumshoe" refers to an inexpensive shoe with "gum rubber", soles that were believed to be quieter due to their softness, thus helping detectives operate in stealth.
Detectives and their work
Selection and training
In most
American police departments, a candidate for detective must first have served as a uniformed officer for a period of one to five years. Detective is often an appointed position, rather than a position achieved by passing a written test. Prospective
U.K. police detectives must have completed at least two years as a uniformed officer before applying to join the
Criminal Investigation Department.
In many other
European police systems, most detectives are
university graduates who join directly from
civilian life without first serving as uniformed officers. Some people argue that detectives do a completely different job and therefore require completely different training, qualifications, qualities and abilities than uniformed officers. The opposing argument is that without previous service as a uniformed patrol officer, a detective can't have a great enough command of standard police procedures and problems and will find it difficult to work with uniformed colleagues.
Additionally, in some U.S. police departments, policies exist that limit the term that an officer may serve continuously as a detective, and mandate that detectives must regularly return to patrol duties for a minimum period of time. This is based upon a perception that the most important and essential police work is accomplished on patrol, and that the skills, experience and familiarity with their beats that patrol officers maintain are essential for detectives to maintain as well. Investigations, by contrast, often take weeks or months to complete, during which time detectives may spend much of their time away from the streets. In this thinking, rotating officers also promotes cross-training in a wider variety of skills, producing both better detectives and uniformed officers. Such policies also serve to prevent "cliques" within detective bureaus that can contribute to corruption or other unethical behavior.
Detectives obtain their position by competitive examination covering such subjects as principles, practices and procedures of investigation; interviewing and
interrogation;
criminal law and procedures; applicable law governing
arrests,
search and seizures,
warrants and evidence; police department records and reports; principles, practices and objectives of courtroom
testimony; and police department methods and procedures.
Private detectives in the U.S. are licensed by the
state in which they live after passing a competitive examination and a
criminal background check. Some states, such as
Maryland, require a period of classroom training and must have experience with a weapon as well [
CitationNeeded].
Organization
The detective branch in most larger police agencies is organized into several squads or departments, each of which specializes in investigation into a particular type of crime or a particular type of undercover operation, which may include:
homicide;
robbery;
motor vehicle theft;
organized crime;
fraud;
burglary;
narcotics;
vice;
forgery;
criminal intelligence;
sex crimes;
street crime;
computer crime; crimes against children;
surveillance; and
arson, among others.
Techniques
Street work
Detectives have a wide variety of techniques available in conducting investigations. However, the majority of cases are solved by the interrogation of suspects and the interviewing of witnesses, which takes time. Besides interrogations, detectives may rely on a network of informants they've cultivated over the years. Informants often have connections with persons a detective wouldn't be able to approach formally. Evidence collection and preservation can also help in identifying a potential suspect(s).
In criminal investigations, once a detective has suspects in mind, the next step is to produce evidence that will stand up in a court of law. The best way is to obtain a confession from the suspect; usually, this is done by developing rapport and at times by seeking information in exchange for potential perks available through the District Attorney's Office, such as entering
plea bargain for a lesser sentence in exchange for usable information. Detectives may lie, mislead and psychologically pressure a suspect into an admission or confession as long as they do this within procedural boundaries and without the threat of violence or promises outside their control. In the United States suspects may invoke their
Fifth Amendment rights and refuse to answer any investigative questions until they consult with an attorney.
Forensic evidence
Physical
forensic evidence in an investigation may provide leads to closing a case.
Forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or to a civil action.
The use of the term "forensics" in place of "forensic science" is (in a literal sense) incorrect; the term "forensic" is effectively a synonym for "legal" or "related to courts" (from Latin, it means "before the forum") and applies equally well to studies such as "forensics clubs" that practice formal debate. However, the single word is now so closely associated with the scientific field that many dictionaries include the meaning given here. Many major police departments in a city, county, or state, and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, maintain their own forensic laboratories.
Records investigation
Detectives may use public and private records to provide background information on a subject. Police detectives can search through files of fingerprint records. In the United States, the
FBI maintains records of people who have committed
felonies and some
misdemeanors, all persons who have not applied for a Federal security clearance, and all persons who have served in the U.S. armed forces. As well, detectives may search through records of criminal arrests and convictions, photographs or
mug shots, of persons arrested, and motor vehicle records.
With a warrant, police detectives can also search through
Credit card records and
bank statements, hotel registration information, credit reports,
Answer machine messages, and phone conversations. Search warrants are not needed if the detective can obtain a National Security Letter (NSL) from the FBI or other federal agency. These are generally issued without significant oversight or probable cause.
Court testimony
Unless a plea bargain forestalls the need for a trial, detectives must testify in court about their investigation. They must seem reliable and credible to a jury, and must not give the impression of personal vindictiveness or cruelty. A detective's background often comes into question in courtroom testimony. A famous example came in the murder trial of
O.J. Simpson, when Detective
Mark Fuhrman of the
Los Angeles Police Department testified for the prosecution. Attorney
F. Lee Bailey first asked Fuhrman if he'd ever used the "
n-word". Fuhrman denied this. In court, Bailey produced taped interviews with Fuhrman using this offensive word.
Famous fictional detectives
The
detective story has been a popular
genre in
literature and the
performing arts since
Edgar Allan Poe gave birth to it with his stories of master
French detective
C. Auguste Dupin in the mid-
19th century.
Arthur Conan Doyle's 19th-century character
Sherlock Holmes and
Agatha Christie's 20th-century creations
Hercule Poirot and
Miss Marple are perhaps the most famous detectives in fiction. In many police drama series, detectives are depicted as being something of an elite class, with most uniformed police officers deferring to them. Most famous fictional government detectives work for local or regional agencies.
In the
20th century, "hard-boiled" private detective characters such as
Sam Spade,
Philip Marlowe and
Mike Hammer became enormously popular. Elements of detective work were also featured in famous "federal" characters, such as
Ian Fleming's
James Bond (the first two Bond film adaptations featured more investigative work than their successors) and
Tom Clancy's
Jack Ryan. Meanwhile, in
comics,
Dick Tracy served as the archetypal police detective. In the
Die Hard series of films,
Bruce Willis' character
John McClane is a
NYPD Detective. Famed
DC Comics character
Batman was also created around this time, who emphasized less on great physical strength and abilities (like
Superman) and more on the human condition, including solving crimes as a detective. One of Batman's nicknames is "The World's Greatest Detective."
In the video game, the protagonist (Max Payne) is a police detective.
In
anime,
Kindaichi Case Files,
Death Note and
Detective Conan feature well known detectives.
Dick Wolf's
Law & Order franchise of television series are a modern example of the detective genre, following detectives through the investigation of various crimes.
is also another example of recent fictional detectives in other roles, for example,, Chief of Internal Medicine at
Community General Hospital frequently is seen solving crimes with other members of his staff, namely
Dr. Amanda Bentley (Pathologist) and formerly
Dr. Jack Stewart along with Dr. Sloan's son, in the LAPD Homicide Dept; . Dr. Sloan is a criminal medical consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Perhaps the most well-known fictional detective to the younger generation of today is
Nancy Drew, an amateur sleuth. There is a number of book series about this teen hero, all under the pen name of
Carolyn Keene.
In the popular
Ace Attorney video game series for the
Nintendo DS, the detective Dick Gumshoe makes an appearance in three of the four games.
John Shaft is a popular African-American private detective character, appearing in a book and various movies made based on the book character.
Veronica Mars is a popular female teenage private investigator in training solving crimes in her hometown of Neptune, CA.
Kristen Bell appears in three seasons of
Veronica Mars created by
Rob Thomas.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Detective'.
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