Detectives and Criminal Investigators
Conduct investigations related to suspected violations of federal, state, or local laws to prevent or solve crimes.
114,430 people do this job in the US. $93,790 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 67%
- 2%
- 31%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 25%. Today's estimate: 35%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 30 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare reports that detail investigation findings.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 23% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | 32%Half by Jan 2027 | |
| Prepare charges or responses to charges, or information for court cases, according to formalized procedures.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 9% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 46%Half by Oct 2026 | |
| Obtain and verify evidence by interviewing and observing suspects and witnesses or by analyzing records.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Record progress of investigation, maintain informational files on suspects, and submit reports to commanding officer or magistrate to authorize warrants.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | 57%Half by now | |
| Analyze completed police reports to determine what additional information and investigative work is needed.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 65%Half by now | |
| Determine scope, timing, and direction of investigations.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | 87%Half by now | |
| Identify case issues and evidence needed, based on analysis of charges, complaints, or allegations of law violations.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 65%Half by now | |
| Examine records to locate links in chains of evidence or information.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h25 min to 6.7 h | 43%Half by Nov 2026 | |
| Maintain surveillance of establishments to obtain identifying information on suspects.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Examine records and governmental agency files to find identifying data about suspects.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 77%Half by now | |
| Preserve, process, and analyze items of evidence obtained from crime scenes and suspects, placing them in proper containers and destroying evidence no longer needed.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Obtain facts or statements from complainants, witnesses, and accused persons and record interviews, using recording device.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Private Detectives and Investigators12% now, 59% by 2028
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers9% now, 9% by 2028
- Police Identification and Records Officers26% now, 41% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives29% now, 53% by 2028
- Intelligence Analysts14% now, 84% by 2028
- Fraud Examiners, Investigators and Analysts15% now, 71% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).