What Is the Starting Salary for a Criminal Investigator?
If you have ever watched one of the many popular police crime shows on television, you might have thought "I could do that." While criminal investigators do not live lives as exciting as those on television, they do earn a good salary while working hard to protect the public by solving crimes.
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What is a Criminal Investigator?
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Criminal investigators gather evidence, interview witnesses and persons of interest, examine documents, keep meticulous reports and perform other types of investigative tasks to work toward solving crimes for local, state and federal law enforcement. Through the investigation process, the investigator must determine what, if any, laws have been broken and what evidence supports such claims. If an accused criminal goes to trial, a criminal investigator may need to testify before the court regarding the evidence against the defendant.
Qualifications
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Education requirements vary by employer, with the most basic municipalities requiring a high school diploma and federal agencies generally requiring a bachelor's degree or higher. The candidate must be a U.S. citizen, 21 or older, pass a physical fitness test administered by the administration, and have a clean public record as well as a healthy psychological background. Local and state agencies administer their own requirements and training usually ranging from 12 to 14 weeks, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Criminal investigators are usually promoted from within the organization to that title, meaning years of experience as a police officer before reaching that point.
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Starting Salary
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The mean or average salary for a criminal investigator in May 2009 was $65,860 a year, according to the Occupational Employment Statistics. The middle 50 percent of criminal investigators that same year earned a salary of $47,070 to $83,650 a year. Since starting criminal investigators are typically promoted from within the organization, it is safe to deduce that they would continue along the pay scale of the organization, putting new criminal investigators somewhere between the 25th and 50th percentile, or $47,070 and $65,860 a year.
Considerations
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Criminal investigators enjoy perks and benefits being employed by law enforcement authorities. Health, dental and life insurance are common as is paid sick and vacation leave. Retirement is also a standard benefit, with many criminal investigators able to retire at half-pay after 20 years of service in law enforcement, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other benefits usually overlooked are the various law enforcement discounts available at gear supply warehouses, movie theaters, restaurants and many other places of business. It does not hurt to ask and typically all you need to do is show proof such as a badge for anywhere from 5 to 15 percent off goods and services.
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References
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