Detectives and Criminal Investigators
In short: today's best AI models could do about 69% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 74% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 26% of the time, stays with people.
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.
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work28 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet2 h
- Stays with people10 h
Detectives and Criminal Investigators, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 28 hours become checking its work, 2 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 10 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Write investigation reports (about 8 h, a person checks); Prepare charges and court information (about 3 h, a person checks); Analyze police reports (about 3 h, a person checks).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 67%
- 7%
- 2%
- 10%
- 14%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 69% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
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, 26%. Today's estimate: 69%.
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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 30 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.017% to 0.0095% (released February and March 2025); 0.0047% to 0.0077% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.017% | 469 of 708 | 3 of 30 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0095% | 515 of 703 | 3 of 30 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0047% | 534 of 655 | 2 of 30 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0078% | 513 of 672 | 3 of 30 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0077% | 530 of 677 | 3 of 30 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 30 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 30 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 25% of this job's working time as physical work. For 11% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 8% in a purpose-built cell, 3% in a structured facility. 0.14 of 3, the 485th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 75%
- No robot shown 14%
- In a purpose-built cell 8%
- In a structured facility 3%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
24% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Keep surveillance on establishments, the hands-on work, 5%
- Verify evidence by interview and analysis, the in-person work, 4%
- Take statements, the in-person work, 3%
- Process and preserve evidence, the hands-on work, 3%
- Work undercover and monitor wiretaps, the in-person work, 2%
- Coordinate with other agencies, the conversation, 1%
What becomes checking the machine
73% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it.
- Write investigation reports, severe if wrong, 23%
- Prepare charges and court information, a licensed person signs, 9%
- Record progress and apply for warrants, a licensed person signs, 6%
- Analyze police reports, severe if wrong, 6%
- Set the direction of investigations, a licensed person signs, 6%
- Identify case issues and evidence needed, a licensed person signs, 6%
What to learn
- Judgment where errors are severe. Some tasks are severe if wrong. Knowing when not to trust an output matters more there than speed.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check or sign: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 67% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
- Signing off under your license. Some tasks need a licensed, certified or sworn person to do or sign them. The license, and the judgment it stands for, stays with the person.
- Handling protected records. Much of the work touches protected personal records: knowing what may be shared with a model, and how, is part of the job.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 30 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare reports that detail investigation findings.Findings written up.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 23% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Documents 100% | 91%Half by now |
| Prepare charges or responses to charges, or information for court cases, according to formalized procedures.Charges and case papers prepared by the procedure.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 9% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Documents 100% | 96%Half by now |
| Obtain and verify evidence by interviewing and observing suspects and witnesses or by analyzing records.Interviews in person and records analyzed.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | Documents 50%, in person 50% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Record progress of investigation, maintain informational files on suspects, and submit reports to commanding officer or magistrate to authorize warrants.Files kept and reports written for the commander or magistrate.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | Documents 60%, systems 40% | 97%Half by now |
| Analyze completed police reports to determine what additional information and investigative work is needed.Reading reports for what is still needed.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Documents 100% | 99%Half by now |
| Determine scope, timing, and direction of investigations.Scope and timing worked out on paper.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Identify case issues and evidence needed, based on analysis of charges, complaints, or allegations of law violations.Analysis of the charges and allegations.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Documents 100% | 99%Half by now |
| Examine records to locate links in chains of evidence or information.Records examined for chains of evidence.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h25 min to 6.7 h | Documents 100% | 88%Half by now |
| Maintain surveillance of establishments to obtain identifying information on suspects.Watching a place for identifying information.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Knightscope K5 Autonomous Security Robot (ASR) (Knightscope, Inc.) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Examine records and governmental agency files to find identifying data about suspects.Agency files and records searched.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Systems 60%, documents 40% | 99%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.Evidence handled, containered and logged.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Sparrow (Amazon Robotics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Hands-on 80%, systems 20% | 20%Desk part half by now |
| Obtain facts or statements from complainants, witnesses, and accused persons and record interviews, using recording device.Interviews in person, recorded, with some by phone.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | In person 80%, conversation 20% | 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. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% 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 Investigators33% now, 69% by 2028
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers13% now, 14% by 2028
- Police Identification and Records Officers40% now, 41% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives44% now, 53% by 2028
- Intelligence Analysts55% now, 87% by 2028
- Fraud Examiners, Investigators and Analysts40% now, 82% 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).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Detectives and Criminal Investigators is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 69% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 74% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Detectives and Criminal Investigators come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Write investigation reports (91% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Prepare charges and court information (96% of the task's time now); and Analyze police reports (99% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Detectives and Criminal Investigators stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Keep surveillance on establishments; Take statements; and Collect evidence. Together such tasks are about 15% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Detectives and Criminal Investigators learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are judgment where errors are severe; reviewing work you did not do yourself; and briefing a model and checking its drafts. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 24% of the working time stays with people, 73% becomes checking a model's work and 0% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Detectives and Criminal Investigators?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 4%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Detectives and Criminal Investigators?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 25% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 11% of the working time, 3% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.14 of 3. One example: Knightscope K5 Autonomous Security Robot (ASR) for "keep surveillance on establishments". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 30 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on September 30, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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