To ask if you can become a detective without being a police officer?

[LardeeLar]

Or do you have to go out on the beat for a few years first? I think solving cases would be fun but wouldn't fancy wandering around council estates trying to pick kids up for selling weed. Or hitting the streets and intervening in punch ups.

Have the schools broken up already?

Sorry, that's actually a genuine question! Are all detectives former "beat" officers?

Detective is a dank. You have to have a degree and pass many exams to get to detective. And yes you have to do you time on the beat.

Sorry, but even if you were a detective, you would still be dealing with all of that nonsense.

Most forces make you do two years as a probationer before allowing you to take the exam. Then there needs to be a vacancy in a specialist unit.

Rank even

www.policenow.org.uk/national-detective-programme/

Have you looked at the police careers section. The police do a lot more than you describe.

There is actually a new route for this. My police officer sister was telling me about it. She’s not overly impressed. Some sort of entry for older people with experience in other areas. Plus a scheme where you can start as an inspector without having to be a constable or Sargent first. Plus they employ civilians within the detective team who aren’t police officers who interview people and are involved in the investigation.

You can in the Met, they've had a direct entry for detectives the last couple of years. Don't know about other forces. I don't really see how you can lead investigations without a solid grounding in basic police work, but hey, what do I know.

I have already googled this! If I remember rightly I think only the Met have a scheme whereby you can train to be a detective without having been a police officer first.

Detective isn’t a rank, the ranks are constable, sergeant, inspector, chief inspector, superintendent, etc.

@JacobReesMogadishu
I've heard this in lots of careers where they're introducing new graduate routes, such as social work, where they basically "parachute" graduates in, and the old guard dont like it.

I can see the merits and disadvantages on both sides

Detectives are not separate ranks. You don’t need a degree either. You don’t have to pass many exams either ( U.K.).

@Ginfilledcats

Detective is a dank. You have to have a degree and pass many exams to get to detective. And yes you have to do you time on the beat.

This is wrong on pretty much every point. Detective isn't a rank, its a specialism. There are detectives at every rank below the top level management. I was a detective, no degree, I passed one exam and had on the job training of sorts. And you can now enter as a detective without any other policing experience.

You want to be Sherlock? Bounce in clue for looks and then bounce off?

Private investor?

I'm also wondering whether it's all as dramatic as the books/series/films make it out to be, aka coming face to face with a serial killer and getting tied up and in life threatening situations.

Do detectives have to do lots of physical training? 🤔

Obviously once I've narrowed my career change options down I will do all of this research, i just thought it would be fun to ask people who might have direct experience.

@olderthanyouthink

I do think I have quite a few great skills and personality traits to become a detective actually. The reason I asked this question is because I'm less confident with myself physically. But I imagine that's something you learn with both mental and physical training.

Lots of fitness training - LOL no.
Exciting - also no. Mostly deeply deeply boring with tons and tons of forms to fill in. Also, very cold at crime scenes.

My friend is a detective. He tells me he spends most of his time dealing with idiots who burgle houses. Obviously there's some work on things like murders but you'll still be dealing with a lot of idiots who do stupid things.

Ah my mistake, my fil was police and I must have misunderstood! How embarrassing!! That'll teach me to only comment on things I'm actually sure of oops! Lol

It definitely isn’t like the films. A lot of it is analysing data and talking to people out in the field rather than leaping over walls and capturing the zodiac killer.

You have to pass the initial fitness test (5.4 on the bleep test I think) and there is regular officer safety training but for most detective roles, that's it.

I would like to do this but then only deal with the sorts of crimes you see on Vera 😂

Health & fitness - You must be able to cope with the physical and mental demands of the role. This doesn’t mean extreme athleticism, but you will need to pass a fitness test. If you take regular exercise such as walking, swimming or jogging then you should have no problem with the fitness test.

Anyone can come face to face with a seriel killer and be put into dangerous situations. Its scary and not dramatic or exciting in any way at all.