A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force They may be known as private investigators (P. A private investigator or private detective (often shortened to PI or private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake I. s or "Private I's", hence the play-on-words, "Private Eyes"). Informally, and primarily in fiction, a detective is any licensed or unlicensed person who solves crimes, including historical crimes, or looks into records. Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment

Detective work typically requires a great deal of walking or "footwork", hence the slang terms "flatfoot" and "gumshoe". The term "gumshoe" refers to an inexpensive shoe with "gum rubber", soles that were believed to be quieter due to their softness, thus helping detectives operate in stealth.

Detectives and their work

Selection and training

In most American police departments, a candidate for detective must first have served as a uniformed officer for a period of one to five years. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force Detective is often an appointed position, rather than a position achieved by passing a written test. Prospective U.K. police detectives must have completed at least two years as a uniformed officer before applying to join the Criminal Investigation Department. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Criminal Investigation Department (CID is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police

In many other European police systems, most detectives are university graduates who join directly from civilian life without first serving as uniformed officers. A university is an institution of Higher education and Research, which grants Academic degrees in a variety of subjects A civilian under International humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her Country 's Armed forces. Some people argue that detectives do a completely different job and therefore require completely different training, qualifications, qualities and abilities than uniformed officers. The opposing argument is that without previous service as a uniformed patrol officer, a detective cannot have a great enough command of standard police procedures and problems and will find it difficult to work with uniformed colleagues.

Additionally, in some U. S. police departments, policies exist that limit the term that an officer may serve continuously as a detective, and mandate that detectives must regularly return to patrol duties for a minimum period of time. This is based upon a perception that the most important and essential police work is accomplished on patrol, and that the skills, experience and familiarity with their beats that patrol officers maintain are essential for detectives to maintain as well. Investigations, by contrast, often take weeks or months to complete, during which time detectives may spend much of their time away from the streets. In this thinking, rotating officers also promotes cross-training in a wider variety of skills, producing both better detectives and uniformed officers. Such policies also serve to prevent "cliques" within detective bureaus that can contribute to corruption or other unethical behavior.

Detectives obtain their position by competitive examination covering such subjects as principles, practices and procedures of investigation; interviewing and interrogation; criminal law and procedures; applicable law governing arrests, search and seizures, warrants and evidence; police department records and reports; principles, practices and objectives of courtroom testimony; and police department methods and procedures. Interrogation or questioning is Interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the Police and Military. The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the investigation and prevention of crime Search and seizure is a legal procedure used in many civil law and Common law legal systems whereby Police or other authorities and their agents who suspect Most often the term warrant refers to a specific type of Authorization; a Writ issued by a competent officer usually a Judge or Magistrate "Testify" redirects here For other uses see Testify (disambiguation and Testimony (disambiguation.

Private detectives in the U. S. are licensed by the state in which they live after passing a competitive examination and a criminal background check. A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government A background check or background investigation is the process of looking up public records commercial records and financial records (in certain instances such as employment Some states, such as Maryland, require a period of classroom training and must have experience with a weapon as well [Citation Needed].

Organization

The detective branch in most larger police agencies is organized into several squads or departments, each of which specializes in investigation into a particular type of crime or a particular type of undercover operation, which may include: homicide; robbery; motor vehicle theft; organized crime; fraud; burglary; narcotics; vice; forgery; criminal intelligence; sex crimes; street crime; computer crime; crimes against children; surveillance; and arson, among others. List of countries by homicide rate Homicide ( Latin homicidium, homo human being + caedere to cut kill refers to the act of killing another Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. "Crime syndicate" redirects here For the DC Comics group of villains see Crime Syndicate. In the broadest sense a fraud is a Deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual The term narcotic (ναρκωτικός is believed to have been coined by the Greek physician Galen to refer to agents that benumb or deaden causing loss This article is about a police unit For the punk rock band see Vice Squad. Forgery is the process of making adapting or imitating objects statistics or documents (see False document) with the intent to deceive. Criminal intelligence is information gathered or collated analyzed recorded/reported and disseminated by law enforcement agencies concerning types of Crime, identified Street crime is a loose term for criminal offences taking place in public places Computer crime, Cybercrime, e-crime, hi-tech crime or electronic crime generally refers to criminal activity where a Computer Surveillance is the monitoring of Behavior. Systems surveillance is the process of monitoring the behavior of people objects or processes within systems for conformity

Techniques

Street work

Detectives have a wide variety of techniques available in conducting investigations. However, the majority of cases are solved by the interrogation of suspects and the interviewing of witnesses, which takes time. Besides interrogations, detectives may rely on a network of informants they have cultivated over the years. Informants often have connections with persons a detective would not be able to approach formally. Evidence collection and preservation can also help in identifying a potential suspect(s).

In criminal investigations, once a detective has suspects in mind, the next step is to produce evidence that will stand up in a court of law. The best way is to obtain a confession from the suspect; usually, this is done by developing rapport and at times by seeking information in exchange for potential perks available through the District Attorney's Office, such as entering plea bargain for a lesser sentence in exchange for usable information. A plea bargain (also plea agreement, plea deal or copping a plea) is an agreement in a Criminal case whereby the Prosecutor offers Detectives may lie, mislead and psychologically pressure a suspect into an admission or confession as long as they do this within procedural boundaries and without the threat of violence or promises outside their control. In the United States suspects may invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and refuse to answer any investigative questions until they consult with an attorney.

Forensic evidence

Physical forensic evidence in an investigation may provide leads to closing a case. Forensic Identification is the application of forensic science and technology to identify specific objects from the Trace evidence they leave often at a Crime Forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or to a civil action.

The use of the term "forensics" in place of "forensic science" is (in a literal sense) incorrect; the term "forensic" is effectively a synonym for "legal" or "related to courts" (from Latin, it means "before the forum") and applies equally well to studies such as "forensics clubs" that practice formal debate. However, the single word is now so closely associated with the scientific field that many dictionaries include the meaning given here. Many major police departments in a city, county, or state, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, maintain their own forensic laboratories.

Records investigation

Detectives may use public and private records to provide background information on a subject. Police detectives can search through files of fingerprint records. In the United States, the FBI maintains records of people who have committed felonies and some misdemeanors, all persons who have applied for a Federal security clearance, and all persons who have served in the U. In Common law legal systems a felony is a serious Crime, often contrasted with a Misdemeanor. A misdemeanor, or misdemeanour, in many common law legal systems is a "lesser" criminal act S. armed forces. As well, detectives may search through records of criminal arrests and convictions, photographs or mug shots, of persons arrested, and motor vehicle records.

With a warrant, police detectives can also search through Credit card records and bank statements, hotel registration information, credit reports, Answer machine messages, and phone conversations. A credit card is part of a system of Payments named after the small Plastic card issued to users of the system An account statement or a bank statement is a summary of all Financial transactions occurring over a given period of time on a Deposit account, a Credit An answering machine, also known as an answerphone, ansaphone or ansafone (especially in UK and British commonwealth countries or telephone answering Search warrants are not needed if the detective can obtain a National Security Letter (NSL) from the FBI or other federal agency. These are generally issued without significant oversight or probable cause.

Court testimony

Unless a plea bargain forestalls the need for a trial, detectives must testify in court about their investigation. They must seem reliable and credible to a jury, and must not give the impression of personal vindictiveness or cruelty. A detective's background often comes into question in courtroom testimony. A famous example came in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, when Detective Mark Fuhrman of the Los Angeles Police Department testified for the prosecution. Orenthal James "O J" Simpson (born July 9 1947 who has also been called The Juice, is a retired American football player, Mark Fuhrman (born February 5, 1952) is an author and conservative talk radio host who as a former Detective in the Los Angeles Police Department Attorney F. Lee Bailey first asked Fuhrman if he had ever used the "n-word". Francis Lee Bailey Jr, commonly referred to as F Lee Bailey, (born June 10, 1933, in Waltham Massachusetts) is a legendary American Nigger is a Noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a derogatory context to refer to Black people, and also as an informal Fuhrman denied this. In court, Bailey produced taped interviews with Fuhrman using this offensive word.

Famous fictional detectives

Main article: Detective fiction

The detective story has been a popular genre in literature and the performing arts since Edgar Allan Poe gave birth to it with his stories of master French detective C. Auguste Dupin in the mid-19th century. Detective fiction is a branch of Crime fiction in which a Detective (or detectives either professional or amateur investigate a crime usually Murder Detective fiction is a branch of Crime fiction in which a Detective (or detectives either professional or amateur investigate a crime usually Murder A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter The performing arts are those forms of Art which differ from the Plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own Body, Face and presence Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. C Auguste Dupin is a fictional Detective created by Edgar Allan Poe. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Arthur Conan Doyle's 19th-century character Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie's 20th-century creations Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are perhaps the most famous detectives in fiction. Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930 was an Anglo-Scottish Author most noted for his stories about the Sherlock Holmes is a famous fictional detective of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in Publication in 1887 Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English Jane Marple, usually known as Miss Marple, is a Fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie In many police drama series, detectives are depicted as being something of an elite class, with most uniformed police officers deferring to them. Most famous fictional government detectives work for local or regional agencies.

In the 20th century, "hard-boiled" private detective characters such as Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe and Mike Hammer became enormously popular. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Sam Spade is a Fictional character who is the Protagonist of Dashiell Hammett 's novel The Maltese Falcon Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye Mike Hammer is a fictional character created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I the Jury (made into a movie in 1953 and 1982 Elements of detective work were also featured in famous "federal" characters, such as Ian Fleming's James Bond (the first two Bond film adaptations featured more investigative work than their successors) and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Ian Lancaster Fleming ( May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was a British author, Journalist and Second World War James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story Thomas Leo Clancy Jr (born April 12 1947) is an American author best known for his technically detailed espionage and Military science storylines Jack Ryan (full name President Sir John Patrick Ryan, PhD, CPA, KCVO) ( May 17 1950- is a Fictional character Meanwhile, in comics, Dick Tracy served as the archetypal police detective. Comics (via Latin from the Greek "" kōmikos, of or pertaining to "comedy" from kōmos "revel" Dick Tracy is a long-running Comic strip featuring a popular and familiar character in American Pop culture. In the Die Hard series of films, Bruce Willis' character John McClane is a NYPD Detective. Die Hard is an Academy Award nominated 1988 American Action film. Walter Bruce Willis (March 19 1955 is an American actor and Singer-songwriter. John McClane is a Fictional character and the Protagonist in the Die Hard series of films Famed DC Comics character Batman was also created around this time, who emphasized less on great physical strength and abilities (like Superman) and more on the human condition, including solving crimes as a detective. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a fictional Comic book Superhero co-created Superman is a fictional Comic book Superhero widely considered to be one of the most recognized of such characters and an American Cultural icon One of Batman's nicknames is "The World's Greatest Detective. "

In the video game Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, the protagonist (Max Payne) is a police detective. Max Payne 2 The Fall of Max Payne is a Third-person shooter developed by Finnish Remedy Entertainment and produced by 3D Realms

In manga and anime, Kindaichi Case Files, Death Note and Detective Conan feature well known detectives. ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly (anime in Japanese, is a serialized Japanese mystery Manga series based on the crime solving adventures of a high school student Hajime Kindaichi the supposed grandson of the famous is a Manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. Case Closed, known as in Japan and most other countries is a detective Manga and Anime series written and illustrated by

Dick Wolf's Law & Order franchise of television series are a modern example of the detective genre, following detectives through the investigation of various crimes. Richard Anthony Wolf (born December 20, 1946) usually billed as simply Dick Wolf, is one of American television's most respected drama series The term " Law & Order franchise" is commonly used to describe a number of related American Television programs created by Dick

Diagnosis Murder is also another example of recent fictional detectives in other roles, for example, Dr. Mark Sloan, Chief of Internal Medicine at Community General Hospital frequently is seen solving crimes with other members of his staff, namely Dr. Amanda Bentley (Pathologist) and formerly Dr. Jack Stewart along with Dr. Diagnosis Murder is a mystery / medical / Crime drama Television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr Dr Mark Sloan is a Fictional character in the US Television show Diagnosis Murder. Diagnosis Murder is a mystery / medical / Crime drama Television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr Dr Amanda Bentley was a Medical examiner / Pathologist for Community General Hospital in the classic television show Diagnosis Murder Dr Jack Stewart was a character in the classic TV show Diagnosis Murder. Sloan's son, in the LAPD Homicide Dept; Lieutenant Steve Sloan. Police Detective/Lieutenant Steve Sloan was a Police detective / Lieutenant for the Los Angeles Police Department in the television show Diagnosis Dr. Sloan is a criminal medical consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Perhaps the most well-known fictional detective to the younger generation of today is Nancy Drew, an amateur sleuth. Nancy Drew (1930-present is an amateur sleuth, the fictional Heroine of a popular Mystery series, aimed at the children - young There is a number of book series about this teen hero, all under the pen name of Carolyn Keene. Carolyn Keene is the Pseudonym of the author of the Nancy Drew mystery series and also The Dana Girls mystery series both published by the Stratemeyer

In the popular Ace Attorney video game series for the Nintendo DS, the detective Dick Gumshoe makes an appearance in three of the four games. Ace Attorney, known in Japan as, is a series of adventure / Visual novel games created by Shu Takumi and published by Capcom in which A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The is a dual-screen Handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo.

John Shaft is a popular African-American private detective character, appearing in a book and various movies made based on the book character. John Shaft is a fictional character created by screenwriter/novelist Ernest Tidyman as a sort of African-American answer to Ian Fleming 's James Bond

Veronica Mars is a popular female teenage private investigator in training solving crimes in her hometown of Neptune, CA. Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. Kristen Bell appears in three seasons of Veronica Mars created by Rob Thomas. Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18 1980 is an American actress She has received a Satellite Award and Saturn Award, and has been nominated for a Television Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. Robert Thomas could refer to Rob Thomas (musician, singer-songwriter leadsinger of Matchbox Twenty Robert Thomas (counterfeiter, 18th-century

See also

• Police rank
• Criminal Investigation Department
• Eugène François Vidocq
• Special Agent
• Labor spies

For more information on the detectives in France, visit:

• in English: http://ufedp.online.fr/index_english.htm
• in French : http://ufedp.online.fr