Detectives and Criminal Investigators
Conduct investigations related to suspected violations of federal, state, or local laws to prevent or solve crimes.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Reading Comprehension
- Complex Problem Solving
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Writing
Key knowledge
- Law and Government
- Public Safety and Security
- Customer and Personal Service
- Psychology
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Computers and Electronics
- Communications and Media
What the work involves
- Check victims for signs of life, such as breathing and pulse.
- Obtain facts or statements from complainants, witnesses, and accused persons and record interviews, using recording device.
- Secure deceased body and obtain evidence from it, preventing bystanders from tampering with it prior to medical examiner's arrival.
- Record progress of investigation, maintain informational files on suspects, and submit reports to commanding officer or magistrate to authorize warrants.
- Prepare charges or responses to charges, or information for court cases, according to formalized procedures.
- Preserve, process, and analyze items of evidence obtained from crime scenes and suspects, placing them in proper containers and destroying evidence no longer needed.
- Obtain summary of incident from officer in charge at crime scene, taking care to avoid disturbing evidence.
- Note, mark, and photograph location of objects found, such as footprints, tire tracks, bullets and bloodstains, and take measurements of the scene.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Conventional, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (25.8% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (32.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (35.5%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Detectives and Criminal Investigators is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 93% of occupations compared | 90% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 99% of occupations compared | 100% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 84% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 67% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 63% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 99% of occupations compared | 68% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 99% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 99% of occupations compared | 82% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 9.87%
- Constant contact with others: 90.13%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0.39%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 0%
- Extremely important: 99.61%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 35.84%
- Extremely important: 64.16%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 69.18%
- A lot of freedom: 30.82%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.87%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 18.3%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 31.9%
- Every day: 39.93%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 1.61%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 29.99%
- Every day: 68.41%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.39%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 39.29%
- Every day: 60.32%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 0.43%
- Fairly serious: 0%
- Serious: 0.86%
- Very serious: 17.17%
- Extremely serious: 81.53%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 33-3021.00 · SOC 33-3021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8