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What do I need to major in to become a detective?

What qualifications do I need to become a Detective?

  • I'm 13 at the moment and I really want to be able to solve crimes. Like murders and who did it. I'm always good a cluedo :p I'm obsessed with Sherlock, so that has influenced me.What qualifications do I need? I've already picked my GCSE's and it's all art or media. Do you need science and maths? Thanks!

  • Answer:

    Lets start out with the important stuff. Stay out of trouble and avoid running with bad crowd. Stay physically fit and work to do as well as you can academically. To become a detective, you have to start out as a police officer. Every Police department has its own educational requirements, and as long as you meet those minimum requirements and can pass the civil service tests, background investigation and medical and psych exam, you can get hired. What you major in college (or grad school) has no influence on getting hired or advancing. I got hired as a police officer right out of the service with a HS diploma. I spent 10 years in patrol before I made detective. I spent 7 more years as a line squad detective before I got to Homicide. Only the best detectives make it to Homicide. Degrees, books and anything else is really kind of useless if you can't actually do the job. You learn how to be a good detective on the streets, not the class room. There is nothing wrong with education and it can only help. I spent years as a part-time student. I have a BA in History and a MS in Public Administration (not Criminal Justice). I worked with one officer who had a degree in Chinese history.Studying English is a good option, as you will find almost half of what detectives do is writing reports and affidavits for arrest and search warrants. So, to get to be a Homicde detective, you need to be hired as a polcie officer (in a department that has a Homicide division, most small towns and cites don't have specialized units). Once you get hired, work hard, do a good job and be and exemplary police officer, and you can make your way to Homicide. While it may be a bit different in UK, the concept is basically the same.

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you need to be a police officer first . then you take a test that show if you got what it take to be a detective

loay

In the UK you become a police officer. If yu do very well after a couple of years you may be offered the detectives training, Then you become a DC (detective constable). You do not need anything further than good GCSE's and what they are makes no difference. As a detective yo need to be able to communicate and write well. If you have wide general knowledge yu also do well. If yu think Sherlock Holmes stories follow any type of real detective work, even using the deductive method instead of induction, you are completely wrong. Science and math are not needed, Art is OK.

Les S

hey as a detective i can tell you that it takes a lot of hard work to become one the first and most important thing you need to do is get through school and go to college and study criminal justice typically a 2 year degree but you also might want to go ahead and go to school on a 4 year plan to help yourself more but once you get done with the school aspect of things you have to fill out applications to get hired on to a police department and once you are hired and have successfully done your training then you can work your way up to becoming a detective which i might add is going to take a few years and yes you will have to take and pass a promotions test before you become a detective its a hard job but very rewarding and yes it is fun getting to help solve cases but here is a little warning its not a 9 to 5 job in fact even though you might work a specific time of day most of the time there are going to be times where you may work a day or more straight without any free time depending on the size of the department you are on so you must be prepared mentally and otherwise for those long day but from one police detective to a future detective i do wish you lots of luck and hope that you get to work some good cases one day

Geoff

Although you do not need a college degree to become a police officer, I would recommend going to college and getting a degree in Criminal Justice. It will help you. As a detective you will need science. Math is always a good subject in any field. I actually researched this a little, and from what I understand you have to be a police officer first and kind of move up the ranks. I don't think you can just become a detective outright. Not 100% sure on that though. Good luck to you!

dg2003

Our American friend got it a bit wrong after two years ( That's your probationary period) you have to spend a while as a beat officer in uniform during that time you may get seconded to the CID where you will get a taste of what its like to be a detective! If you do and show promise you will be sent to do the course! But Not every eager young Police officer becomes a detective! You can do all the degrees you wish but it will not guarantee you will be come a detective!

Pace stick and proud of it!

You need to become a police officer first! You have 8 years left, or less depending at what age your department hires. Get a college degree. By then, you will have everything figured out

ben

A high school degree, followed by a college education.

Philosoraptor

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