- In many police systems, detectives are university graduates who join directly from civilian life without first serving as uniformed office
- Detectives may rely on a network of informants they have cultivated over the years.
- About 21% are self-employed.
- Much of their work is done with a computer.
- Investigators may spend months posing as employees of a company in order to find misconduct.
- Informally, and primarily in fiction, a detective is any licensed or unlicensed person who solves crimes, including historical crimes, or looks into records.
- Private detectives and investigators often work irregular hours because of the need to conduct surveillance.
- Sherlock Holmes was a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who first appeared in publication in 1887.
Facts about detectives
