Effective Detective

SKILL AC Q U I S I T I O N, SELECTION AND THE FUTURE ENVIRONMENT FOR SIOsWhile the effects of tenure will impact on all three skill clusters, it is likely topose most threat to the area of investigative management, investigative abilityand knowledge. Aside from its impact on SIOs, this could perhaps result in thedisintegration of an ‘expert’ investigative team. It was argued that, to avoidthis, ‘placements’ in other departments should be long enough to allow officersto accrue new skills, but brief enough to prevent their CID skills frombecoming outdated or ‘rusty’.●Perceived downgrading of CID statusA second factor that may affect the ability to develop and retain ‘effective’ SIOsis the perceived downgrading of CID status. This has largely been attributed tothe de-layering of management ranks within CID. First, in some forces there is aphasing out of the rank of chief inspector. This results in a decrease in linemanagement skills and fewer opportunities for chief inspectors within CID as awhole. Secondly, changes in pay regulations for detective inspectors and above(salaried) have meant that they are no longer able to claim overtime. It is nowbecoming common within CID that many officers do not want to progressbeyond detective inspector. Finally, there has been a perceived move towardsenhancing the uniform role within the force in order to promote equalopportunities. Consequently, CID is no longer perceived as an attractive careerpast middle management.●De-skilling of the SIO roleThe role of the SIO is perceived in some forces as changing from that of aninvestigator to more of a crime manager. It was felt that with the increased useof specialist advisers (e.g. analysts, forensic scientists and profilers), the role ofthe SIO is becoming more of a co-ordinator of others. As noted in chapter four,the setting up of logistics and administrative support departments has also beenseen by some officers as contributing to the process of de-skilling. Someinterviewees argued that the existence of such support units and specialistadvisers did, to some extent, appear to devolve part of the responsibility of majorcrime enquiries away from the SIO. A common perception was that SIOs wereno longer being provided with the opportunities to gain the appropriate skillsand attain the relevant experience. Some of those interviewed felt that, if thistrend continued, the SIO role would probably be replaced by a combination ofhighly trained scene managers and investigative managers. They would beanswerable to an overall manager, probably of detective chief inspector level orabove.51