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I am thinking about being a homicide detective but I also am interested in Forensic Physchology, how should I choose ?

I've always been interested in working in the criminal world, I'm just trying to find a work base good for that but I need help with finding careers in that field that interest me.

criminal-justice criminology forensic detective criminal-investigations
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Mike’s Answer

Hello Zona. This is an excellent question. The actual role of homicide detective and forensic psychology often overlap. Becoming a homicide detective is almost always preceded by entry-level law enforcement, followed by a certain amount of time, experience, and basis on job performance. Detectives use psychological and forensic understanding to help them solve cases so in essence they are putting everything together. However many homicide detectives, once retired or during their career, enroll in psychology and/or forensics college programs to bolster their knowledge, or to hold the actual title of forensic psychologist as a second career. At this stage they would either work within a law enforcement agency, or as a contracted expert that assists agencies with solving cases. It seems the FBI routinely has many openings for forensic psychology experts. To go the detective route I'd suggest looking into joining a police department as an officer and then working you're way up. The downside to this is that the process will likely take longer than studying college-level forensic and psychology courses. I'd suggest considering courses such as criminal justice, psychology, and sociology to start. Included below is a link to John Jay College which offers many of the programs you'd likely be interested in. There are numerous colleges that offer similar programs and the link should give you a good starting point to identify many of the related fields. Best of luck!

Mike recommends the following next steps:

John Jay College of Criminal Justice - https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/academics
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Rod’s Answer

Hi Zona! I served in a very large law enforcement agency and ‘climbed to the peak’ of the ‘investigative mountaintop’ by becoming a homicide detective (and later, the commanding officer of my agency’s Homicide Bureau). It was a very rewarding achievement because it is one of the few investigative assignments where *you* have the *sole* responsibility to speak for those [victims] who can’t speak for themselves. That said, it is typically a long process to arrive at that level of detective prowess. It usually begins with line-level police work, like patrolling the streets, and then involves working various detective jobs to gain the requisite experience to become a homicide detective. It takes *years*! May I suggest a less complicated way to intimately involve yourself in homicide investigations?: The ‘world’ of crime analysis!

Do an internet search to learn more about this satisfying ‘investigative’ career, and specifically look for schools/colleges that offer preparatory classroom instruction to become a crime analyst, typically known as ‘certificate’ programs (e.g., Cal State University, Long Beach, offers one). Crime analysts work hand-in-hand with homicide detectives in their efforts to solve cases. In today’s investigative ‘landscape,’ the crime analyst serves a vital role in ‘data mining’ information from myriad electronic sources (e.g., cell phones, computers, social media, telemetrics, etc.). From my perspective, the pathway to crime analysis is shorter, and quicker, and it may satisfy your ‘detective desire’!

As for forensic psychology, that too is a very fulfilling career, but it also is a years-long educational and experiential process (along a pathway that is outside my area of expertise!).

My best to you in your endeavor! Rod
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