Detectives and Criminal Investigators

People in this career often have these skills:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

People in this career often know a lot about:

• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

People in this career often have talent in:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
• Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
• Far Vision - The ability to see details at a distance.
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Speed of Closure - The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.

People in this career often do these activities:

• Check physical condition of people or animals.
• Interview people to gather information about criminal activities.
• Examine crime scenes to obtain evidence.
• Prevent unauthorized individuals from entering restricted areas.
• Record information about suspects or criminals.

• Prepare investigation or incident reports.
• Document legal or regulatory information.
• Analyze crime scene evidence.
• Process forensic or legal evidence in accordance with procedures.
• Collect evidence for legal proceedings.
• Record crime or accident scene evidence with video or still cameras.
• Examine records or other types of data to investigate criminal activities.
• Use databases to locate investigation details or other information.
• Detain suspects or witnesses.
• Communicate situation details to appropriate personnel.
• Serve court ordered documents.
• Observe individuals' activities to gather information or compile evidence.
• Determine operational procedures.
• Apprehend criminal suspects.
• Direct criminal investigations.
• Request emergency personnel.
• Block physical access to restricted areas.
• Investigate accidents to determine causes.
• Collaborate with law enforcement or security agencies to share information.
• Maintain surveillance of individuals or establishments.
• Testify at legal or legislative proceedings.

• Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

• First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives

• Fire Inspectors and Investigators

• Correctional Officers and Jailers

• First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers

• Airfield Operations Specialists

• Social and Human Service Assistants