Overview & Salary
Overview
Conduct investigations related to suspected violations of federal, state, or local laws to prevent or solve crimes.
On the job, you would:
- 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.
Education
- high school diploma/GED
- associate's degree
Salary
Annual 10th percentile $50,670
Annual median $91,100
Annual 90th percentile $154,360
Knowledge & Skills
Knowledge
Safety and Government
- law and government
- public safety and security
Arts and Humanities
- English language
Business
- customer service
- administrative services
Math and Science
- psychology
Skills
Basic Skills
- listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
- talking to others
Problem Solving
- noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Social
- understanding people's reactions
- changing what is done based on other people's actions
Personality & Abilities
Personality
Investigative
People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
- Integrity
- Self Control
- Dependability
- Stress Tolerance
- Attention to Detail
- Adaptability/Flexibility
Abilities
Verbal
- listen and understand what people say
- communicate by speaking
Ideas and Logic
- make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
- notice when problems happen
Visual Understanding
- see hidden patterns
- quickly know what you are looking at
Attention
- do two or more things at the same time