Police and Homicide Information

The police department has several ranks.

                           Police Commissioner - coordinates       
                                   |           the activities of  
                                   |           police departments 
                                   |           within a county.
                                   | 
                           Police Chief        - coordinates the      
                                   |           activities of one     
                                   |           town's police 
                                   |           department
                      --------- Captain------------
                      |                           |
                      |                           |
                Lieutenant               Detective Lieutenant     "Detective" ranks are 
                      |                           |                equivalent to their
                      |                           |                counterparts on the      
                 Sergeant                 Detective Sergeant       left side of the chart.
                      |                           |
                      |                           |
                 Patrolman------------------->Detective

It can take anywhere between 1-10 years to go from patrolman to detective. Detectives learn the following:

Most homicides that get solved are done so within the first 48 hours . After that, the trail generally runs cold. Throughout the investigation, the Homicide Squad from the County Prosecutor's Office lends full assistance. Especially within the first two days, detectives work around the clock to gather evidence and follow up leads. In most homicides, the victim knew the killer.


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Graphical bars used with permission and taken from the CD-ROM accompanying the Que Corporation book Using HTML by Tom Savola.

Picture of sign taken by Detective Sergeant Stephen Wilde for use with this project.