These responsibilities can include:īeing a successful private detective demands negotiation skills and legal knowledge. These professionals are called private detectives.Ī private detective does a lot of the same basic tasks as a public detective, but they’re employed by clients as opposed to a police department. While many people assume that all criminal investigators work for a law enforcement agency, a lot of them work privately for court cases and clients. Solving even one cold case can make a huge difference in the lives of many people.Įducation requirements: High school diploma or equivalent Their tasks include reevaluating the physical evidence, witnesses, and other information that’s pertinent to the investigation.Ī cold case detective also considers new information or technology that surfaced in the time since the crime occurred that could help solve it.īeing a cold case detective is a position that can be frustrating, but the job can also be extremely rewarding. When details of a case have reached a standstill, a cold case detective steps in to do further research. These troubling and difficult cold cases are eventually passed over to a detective who specializes in this. The case is still gathering new evidence and pursuing leads but hasn’t been figured out yet.Ĭold cases can remain open for decades and will not be closed until a finding is ruled. The definition of a ‘cold case’ is a crime that has gone unsolved for an extensive period of time. It’s a position that requires a lot of communication skills and empathy to handle the emotions of the loved ones in a missing person’s case.Ī missing person detective works alongside other law enforcement professionals to get to the bottom of these cases, whether it happened yesterday or a decade ago.įind Missing persons detective jobs near meĮducation requirements: Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice or a related field and experience as a police officer In addition to working on solving cases of missing people, these types of detectives also have direct contact with panicked and grief-stricken loved ones who don’t know where their family member has gone. When a person goes missing, their case is handed over to a missing person’s detective who specializes in such occurrences to decipher what happened. Below are 8 types of detectives who work diligently to solve crimes and bring perpetrators to justice.Įducation requirements: Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and relevant experienceĪs of 2019, there are 87,500 active missing person cases in the United States alone, the majority of these missing individuals being children. While being a detective is often thought of as a single occupation, there are actually several different types of criminal investigators with their own skills and specialties. There are many types of detectives, including the classic police detective, as well as a claims investigators and cybercrime detectives.Ī detective needs skills such as communication, attention to detail, and patience to be successful at their profession. Detectives investigate all sorts of mysteries and situations that occur every day. These individuals are called detectives, and they can have a number of specialties.Ī detective is more than what you see on TV.

There is a subset of professionals, though, who make it their business to investigate criminal matters, and hopefully, solve them. Minor offenses like vandalism and petty theft to more major criminal activity like assaults, burglary, and murder go unseen by most of society. Outside of the comfortable and safe bubble that the average person builds around their life, crimes are happening every hour. It may also be helpful to have a graduate degree in criminal justice or another field related to detective work. Depending on the detective, you may need a few years of experience as a police officer first. To become a detective, you must first decide the type of detective you want to be. The different types of detectives include missing persons detective, cold case detective, and private detective.

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