Madison Gregory
English 101
Interview Essay
November 12, 2015
Homicide Detective
What would it be like to be a homicide detective? Recently, a homicide detective gave us a short inside on what his job entails. Detective Taney shared his education preparing him to become a detective, everyday life as a homicide detective, rewards and challenges that accompany his career, the effects of society and technology on his work, and his goals both personally and professionally.
Detective Taney has always had an interest in becoming a detective, but he has had to work to reach that goal. Taney says, “I would say that probably started when I was in college... I've always been interested in police stuff. Took college classes in criminology... I realized that law enforcement was the way for me to go.” Detective Taney talks about how he originally wanted to be a wrestling coach but he felt the criminology field fit him better. On the topic of his education, he says, “I have a bachelor's in sociology with an emphasis in criminology [from University of Missouri].” After college, Taney had to complete on-the-job training in order to become a detective. He explains:
When I first got on the department you have to work in patrol for three years…. it helped a little bit.. gave an idea how law worked..miranda rights and that kinda stuff..you can pretty much have any kind of degree when going to into law enforcement...on the job training training [there was a] detective I would shadow for a little bit..
He has worked very hard to get where he is today.
Detective Taney’s job is very demanding of his time. He says, “We go on call for two weeks… on call 24/7 . Then we have two week off call…. it could be three o'clock in the morning but I have to respond to it…. We will work for almost 20 hours straight. It is stressful on the family… I do miss the kids with athletic [events]…. have to give my wife credit. She is an amazing woman.” His family has to be understanding when it comes to his involvement in family activities due to his schedule. Detective Taney discusses, “... I applied to the tactical response team then did that for 3 years, then I applied to be a detective and got accepted to the robbery unit.” In conclusion, he had to had a lot of training to get to where he is with his career now. To describe his typical schedule he outlines, “[We do] a lot of interviews. We are talking to people on our cases, trying to get more information. At the beginning of the case there's a lot [to do such as] collecting evidence, getting video…” There are many tasks a detective has to complete and detective Taney’s busy schedule proves it.
Detective Taney, as a homicide detective, has faced many rewards and challenges. He states, “The most rewarding is whenever you start a case and you have no idea who's responsible for it… like putting a puzzle together...more rewarding than that is telling the family what happened..being able to give that answer...the hardest part of this job is doing the death notifications..most negative part about the job..most challenging not knowing what happening..” Taney spends time talking about the many challenges he faces on the job. He explains, “I would say our challenges are social media most of the time things get out a lot quicker than we want to.. we like to be the first to know about things..messing up the investigation… the media has really been pretty tough on officers.. big part of our job is to investigations..they don’t like talking to the police..don’t want their names involved..becomes very challenging and frustrating..” Detective Taney, although upset by the media’s lack of interest of involvement, works very hard to try to receive information from the public.
Just as in many careers, technology and society affect detective Taney’s job greatly. He says, “I would say, especially today, our challenges are social media, a lot of times things get out quicker than we’d like them to...sometimes the family gets to the scene before we do and starts messing up the scene...a big part of our job is to interview people...sometimes people won’t tell us, because they don’t want to be seen talking to the police.” He advises to let the police do their job and not have people get involved. He later says, “Tech definitely helps quite a bit. My wifi is much better here than at the police station. Fingerprint stuff is much faster. TV shows make it seem like we get stuff back right away but it can actually take months. Tech is getting better but it's not instant like a lot of people think… map out blood patterns… Cell phones are getting to be big right now. We can kind of locate people with their phones so that kind of stuff helps now too.” Although many improvement in technology have been made to improve his job, sometimes social media hinders Taney’s work.
Detective Taney’s goals have had a powerful impact on his life. He elaborates, “I was fortunate enough to be on one of those already, the serial killer case… be on the swat team [accomplished] ....promotion…retire young, condo in the mountains, [and to] be a good father to my kids. [Detective Taney lets] law enforcement take a back seat to being a parent.” He talked a lot about how even if he reached out to one person and made a difference he would be accomplished. Taney advises, “Have your goals, it’s never too early to know what you want to do...You gotta stay at it and don’t give up on what you want to achieve.” Taney’s is very dedicated to accomplish his goals.
Being a detective has many different meanings. Detective Taney provided a lot of insight about his education preparing him to become a detective, everyday life as a homicide detective, his rewards and challenges as a homicide detective, how society and technology have affected his work, and his goals both personally and professionally.
Works Cited
"Brent Taney." Online interview. 27 Oct. 2015.
English 101
Interview Essay
November 12, 2015
Homicide Detective
What would it be like to be a homicide detective? Recently, a homicide detective gave us a short inside on what his job entails. Detective Taney shared his education preparing him to become a detective, everyday life as a homicide detective, rewards and challenges that accompany his career, the effects of society and technology on his work, and his goals both personally and professionally.
Detective Taney has always had an interest in becoming a detective, but he has had to work to reach that goal. Taney says, “I would say that probably started when I was in college... I've always been interested in police stuff. Took college classes in criminology... I realized that law enforcement was the way for me to go.” Detective Taney talks about how he originally wanted to be a wrestling coach but he felt the criminology field fit him better. On the topic of his education, he says, “I have a bachelor's in sociology with an emphasis in criminology [from University of Missouri].” After college, Taney had to complete on-the-job training in order to become a detective. He explains:
When I first got on the department you have to work in patrol for three years…. it helped a little bit.. gave an idea how law worked..miranda rights and that kinda stuff..you can pretty much have any kind of degree when going to into law enforcement...on the job training training [there was a] detective I would shadow for a little bit..
He has worked very hard to get where he is today.
Detective Taney’s job is very demanding of his time. He says, “We go on call for two weeks… on call 24/7 . Then we have two week off call…. it could be three o'clock in the morning but I have to respond to it…. We will work for almost 20 hours straight. It is stressful on the family… I do miss the kids with athletic [events]…. have to give my wife credit. She is an amazing woman.” His family has to be understanding when it comes to his involvement in family activities due to his schedule. Detective Taney discusses, “... I applied to the tactical response team then did that for 3 years, then I applied to be a detective and got accepted to the robbery unit.” In conclusion, he had to had a lot of training to get to where he is with his career now. To describe his typical schedule he outlines, “[We do] a lot of interviews. We are talking to people on our cases, trying to get more information. At the beginning of the case there's a lot [to do such as] collecting evidence, getting video…” There are many tasks a detective has to complete and detective Taney’s busy schedule proves it.
Detective Taney, as a homicide detective, has faced many rewards and challenges. He states, “The most rewarding is whenever you start a case and you have no idea who's responsible for it… like putting a puzzle together...more rewarding than that is telling the family what happened..being able to give that answer...the hardest part of this job is doing the death notifications..most negative part about the job..most challenging not knowing what happening..” Taney spends time talking about the many challenges he faces on the job. He explains, “I would say our challenges are social media most of the time things get out a lot quicker than we want to.. we like to be the first to know about things..messing up the investigation… the media has really been pretty tough on officers.. big part of our job is to investigations..they don’t like talking to the police..don’t want their names involved..becomes very challenging and frustrating..” Detective Taney, although upset by the media’s lack of interest of involvement, works very hard to try to receive information from the public.
Just as in many careers, technology and society affect detective Taney’s job greatly. He says, “I would say, especially today, our challenges are social media, a lot of times things get out quicker than we’d like them to...sometimes the family gets to the scene before we do and starts messing up the scene...a big part of our job is to interview people...sometimes people won’t tell us, because they don’t want to be seen talking to the police.” He advises to let the police do their job and not have people get involved. He later says, “Tech definitely helps quite a bit. My wifi is much better here than at the police station. Fingerprint stuff is much faster. TV shows make it seem like we get stuff back right away but it can actually take months. Tech is getting better but it's not instant like a lot of people think… map out blood patterns… Cell phones are getting to be big right now. We can kind of locate people with their phones so that kind of stuff helps now too.” Although many improvement in technology have been made to improve his job, sometimes social media hinders Taney’s work.
Detective Taney’s goals have had a powerful impact on his life. He elaborates, “I was fortunate enough to be on one of those already, the serial killer case… be on the swat team [accomplished] ....promotion…retire young, condo in the mountains, [and to] be a good father to my kids. [Detective Taney lets] law enforcement take a back seat to being a parent.” He talked a lot about how even if he reached out to one person and made a difference he would be accomplished. Taney advises, “Have your goals, it’s never too early to know what you want to do...You gotta stay at it and don’t give up on what you want to achieve.” Taney’s is very dedicated to accomplish his goals.
Being a detective has many different meanings. Detective Taney provided a lot of insight about his education preparing him to become a detective, everyday life as a homicide detective, his rewards and challenges as a homicide detective, how society and technology have affected his work, and his goals both personally and professionally.
Works Cited
"Brent Taney." Online interview. 27 Oct. 2015.