Yes I've Read The Sticky

[roccoRIDE]

but I noticed he brought up nothing about detective work on homicide, robbery, or negociation (all stuff im interested in)

I was thinking some sort of criminology and/or psychology for the homicide and negotiation postion. But im stumped with robbery.

Any help would be great and most definately appreciated.

[Taz_bb2]

You have to crawl before you walk, and right now you have just been born.

Welcome to the real world.

You need to grow first, hence my comment about the military.

Then you can crawl, by doing your time in the trenches on patrol. Sorry dude.....you HAVE to do patrol, even if it "ain't your thing."

THEN you can run into being a detective or investigator.

Never put the cart before the horse.....it doesn't work.

[gringoscott]

Didn't you ask this in ask a cop just now?

But to answer your question, schooling will definately help you once your in, no doubt. However, I doubt any agency is going to hire you out of college/military as a detective. I know alot of young coppers with less than five years and they're all still doing patrol, even though they have their eyes set on SWAT, Anti-Crime, Detective, DARE, SRO. They're all just putting in their time. Like I'm sure every officer on this forum has.

[roccoRIDE]

yall are missin the point. I know i have to spend at least 5 years in patrol, thats all fine and dandy. Patrol guys dont really get much help from degree's mostly just acadamy's. But once i do get to the part to go for my dream job. which of the majors could help? thats what im saying.

I'm doing college now, then military, then rookie cop, then start leaning towards detective after a while, i just wanna know which majors could help me out once i get towards that stage.

[Citicop]

Work performance and training, along with ANY degree will mean MUCH more than a degree in any specific area. There is no one that is better than another.

Citicop.

[shorty26]

I am not an LEO, but I know a few Detectives, a couple are family members. One is 50 and he just finished up a Master's degree because he wants to teach at a college. He was made a detective long before he recieved a degree, even a bachelors degree. My understanding talking to him is no degree is going to prepare you to be a detective. It is an aquired skill that you learn from being on the job.

You could have a PHD in Criminology, but if you don't have the street skills then you aren't going to be a detective.

[Hop]

yall are missin the point. I know i have to spend at least 5 years in patrol, thats all fine and dandy. Patrol guys dont really get much help from degree's mostly just acadamy's. But once i do get to the part to go for my dream job. which of the majors could help? thats what im saying.

I'm doing college now, then military, then rookie cop, then start leaning towards detective after a while, i just wanna know which majors could help me out once i get towards that stage.

Am I reading this right? Are you are saying that the average patrol officer doesn't use a degree or are you saying that they don't have degrees, only the academy?

The average patrol deputy here has a bachelor’s degree, several have a masters and one of our new hires has dual masters... I would say that we use the education we paid for;)

It doesn’t matter how much education you receive, if you can’t cut it as a patrol officer, your never going to make it further along to your goals. The education is great, but you’re going to have to apply yourself to being a good officer first… And leave the arrogance at home!

[1depd]

In my experience, unless you are going to be working on very complex investigations (like those done by the Feds), the major for a degree is irrelevant. The course work will be interesting, but far more in depth than you will ever need on the job for most investigations. Most of what you'll need to be successful in whatever specialized area, will be taught in training classes and on the street. College is sanitized theory, the street is dirty and constantly changing. By the time academia has conducted the study to definitively state something has changed, the street officers have figured it out and are three steps past academia.

[Kimble]

yall are missin the point. I know i have to spend at least 5 years in patrol, thats all fine and dandy. Patrol guys dont really get much help from degree's mostly just acadamy's. But once i do get to the part to go for my dream job. which of the majors could help? thats what im saying.

I'm doing college now, then military, then rookie cop, then start leaning towards detective after a while, i just wanna know which majors could help me out once i get towards that stage.

You could have a degree in Basket Weaving, for all most departments care. Becoming a detective has NOTHING to do with your college degree. It's a specialized position (even a promotion in some agencies) that takes time and effort to achieve. Your degree can help you get initially hired, but its your work ethic as a patrol officer and training that will help you get detective.

Major in whatever subject interests you, so that you're more likely to finish what you start and graduate. If that's Criminal Justice, great! If it's History, that's fine, too. If it's Biomolecular Physics, same deal, just get your degree. It's immaterial what you study, just that you graduate with your degree.

[Hockey9019]

You could have a degree in Basket Weaving, for all most departments care.

Why does EVERY CJ teacher say Basket Weaving? :p

[Kimble]

Why does EVERY CJ teacher say Basket Weaving? :p

Old cliche term... often used by military recruiters, too.

[shorty26]

The advanced course is "Underwater Basket Weaving"

[ngcsubutterbar]

I do know of one person to get hired out of the academy and put into a detective/investigators pay grade. That person was a female and she was hired by a small mostly male department to work as a sort of a victim consoler / female victim investigator kind of job.

[kels]

Why does EVERY CJ teacher say Basket Weaving? :p

Because EVERY CJ teacher or student can remember a person
on an athletic scholarship who need a nothing class where they can
make an A. (And there is real pressure on instructors to give them a
passing grade.)