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Wichita Police Department

2003-06-01 10:13:00

Up the 'cop'orate ladder

: I have always been fascinated with criminal investigations.  How long does it take for a person to be assigned this area of work after he becomes an officer?  Is there anyway to lessen the time it takes?  

ANSWER: The field of criminal investigations is a very detail-oriented and fascinating career choice, but in order to get there-at least on the Wichita Police Department--one must first serve as Police Officer.  Being a Police Officer requires many skills and the ability to multi-task.  Many of the skills needed to become a good criminal investigator are obtained through hands-on experience and specialized education. Thus, the Wichita Police Department requires that Police Officers have several years of experience, or a combination of experience and education before they are eligible to participate in the promotional process to become a Detective.     The following illustrates the various ways one can be eligible to test for the rank of Detective.   Three years of experience as a commissioned Wichita Police Officer and a bachelors degree from an accredited college or university, including 27 hours of specialized education, or, three and one-half years of experience as a commissioned Wichita Police Officer and 60 college semester hours from an accredited college or university, including 27 hours of specialized education, or, four years of experience as a commissioned Wichita Police Officer and 27 hours of specialized education from an accredited college or university, or, eight or more years of experience as a commissioned Wichita Police Officer.The 27 hours of specialized education generally entails: Criminal Justice, Communications, English, Sociology, Psychology, any Management class that relates to law enforcement, Computer class, Math and any Foreign Language course.   Once a Police Officer is eligible to test, he or she submits a letter to the Training Bureau Captain stating his/her intent to participate in the promotional process.   Participants are scored on a written test, seniority and performance appraisals.  The top 50 percent move on in the process to an oral interview in front of the Promotion Board.  The participants are then ranked in order of their total score, and when a Detective position becomes available, the Chief of Police and his three Deputy Chiefs make a selection--choosing from the top 25 percent of the list.    The Wichita Police Department's Investigations Division has three Bureaus in which detectives are assigned once they have achieved this rank.  They are the Crimes Against Persons Bureau, the Crimes Against Property Bureau and the Special Investigations Bureau.  The following illustrates the breakdown of each Bureau:   Persons Bureau: Homicide, Sex Crimes/Domestic Violence , Gang/Felony Assault, Exploited & Missing Child Unit, Night Investigations    Property Bureau: Robbery, Larceny, Financial Crimes, Burglary, Auto Theft    Special Investigations:  Intelligence, Undercover, Administration   While this may appear to be a stringent process, the City of Wichita is committed to providing only the highest quality of services to address crime in our community.  During the course of their duties, criminal investigators will be faced with a myriad of situations where they must rise to the challenge. They must be prepared mentally, physically and spiritually to cope with the things they will see and the situations they will investigate.    Criminal Investigations requires our most seasoned and experienced people conducting these investigations, and to lessen the requirements for these positions would be a disservice to the community.   It takes a special person to be a criminal investigator and the Wichita Police Department is very fortunate to have such outstanding men and women serving in its Investigations Division.