Small PD Detective Units

[AzInv]

Does anyone here work for an agency that only has four or five Detectives? I was wondering about the experience level you would get because I guess you get to investigate everything. I guess in a way you would get more experience then someone from a big agency who just specializes in one area...Any opinions?

[PhillyDog]

Does anyone here work for an agency that only has four or five Detectives? I was wondering about the experience level you would get because I guess you get to investigate everything. I guess in a way you would get more experience then someone from a big agency who just specializes in one area...Any opinions?

I'm afraid your supposition is wrong. In Philly detectives assigned to the field detective units handle everything except narcotics investigations and sex crimes. Their are a few units that specialize like homicide, sex crimes and narcotics but they are far fewer than what works in the filed divisions and before a detective can get into a specialized unit he usually has to spend several years in a field unit first to gain experience with all types of investigations. The case loads are extensive and if a detective works in an especially busy division they will have handled just about every type of investigation and it's variations that you can think of in a short amount of time. The filed divisions also do internal investigations when a crime is alleged but the investigation is completely directed by a lieutenant in the division or a sergeant if a lieutenant is not available.

[tacleberry]

I work in a department that has only 4 detectives. Actually we have only 5 sworn officers in the whole department. We have a Chief, a Sgt. and 3 officers. We are the patrol officers, detectives, Crime scene investigators, instructors, etc.

The one advantage to this is the fact that I get training in areas that if I worked ofr a larger department, I might never have a chance to get. Or it may take years of bidding on a special assignment to get the training.

Now some will read this and say " but in a town that small you dont have any really big crime". B S

We routinely handle 10-15 calls for service in a 10 hour shift. We work alone most of the time, so when we get a case it is OUR CASE. we cant hand it off to a detective. We work the case from first response to trial and conviction. I n the last 6 months I have investigated a kidnapping/assault, a home invasion robbery, more burglaries than I can count, more stolen vehicles than burglaries, Domestic Violence calls (average of 2-3 per work week ,per officer), several sex crimes (mostly child molest or child rape), and numerous drug cases (possessoin, possessoin with intent to deliver/manufacture). In our department we average 10-12 felony arrests a month and it is a slow week if I dont have my gun out at least once a shift. We also do traffic enforcement when calls are slow. Due to the small size of the deopartment, it is not unusuall for me to get called in on my day off to assist in serving a search warrant, or doing an interrogation on a sex crime, etc.

So I am the street cop, detective, crime scene investigator, shift supervisor, traffic cop, and "officer friendly" all rolled into one.

Our town has been reffered to as the "armpit of the county". And I wouldnt trade ya jobs for the world.