Vice cops belong to an exciting, elite cadre within the city police department. Begin law enforcement training now, and earn an online criminal justice degree. You could be cleaning up the dirty underbelly of the city before you know it.

Training to Become a Vice Cop, One of the Toughest Jobs in Law Enforcement

If you're thinking that work as a vice cop is filled with glitz and sizzling headlines, think twice. Unlike high-glam fictional counterparts like Miami Vice's Crockett and Tubbs, city vice police can spend weeks or even months patrolling the raw underside of society without making an arrest. On the other hand, if you're committed to ridding your community of the perpetrators of morally outrageous crimes, then law enforcement training and police experience can help write your ticket to a challenging career on the vice squad.

Vice cops work in teams or as individual undercover officers to investigate illegal sales of alcohol, narcotics, or weapons, or track illicit gambling, prostitution, and pornography. Despite the notion that the work is constantly lively, officers may spend hours in concealment and follow up their efforts with hours of paperwork. But if you're committed, pursuing an online criminal justice degree can set in motion your progress toward city, state, or federal work in investigating vice.

Vice Squad: City Police Law Enforcement Training

Most vice cops advance to their ranks after completing several years of probationary duty as uniformed officers. Once you complete your online criminal justice degree, you can begin applying to city police departments in the regions where you hope to build your career. Competition for appointments to vice squad can vary by agency, but if it's your cup of tea, let the department know your intentions.

Following your rookie year or follow-up year on the police force, you may be approached as a recruit based on your personality or ability to assume an appearance. If you've had training in foreign languages or are a native speaker of a foreign language, you increase your chances for recruitment.

There's certainly no shortage of crimes for undercover or vice officers to investigate. The American gambling industry takes in $60 billion a year. Adult film makers gross between $750 million and $1 billion every year. And alcohol producers were expected to draw $19 billion in revenues in 2008. Not all of these activities are conducted legally or targeted just for adults.

Vice or undercover officers often make their own headway into the pursuit of criminals. Some take months--even years--penetrating organized crime or gang families. They may be recruited by communities outside their city to work in a region where they won't be easily identified.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the median 2008 annual wages for detectives was $60,910, with top-ten-percent earnings at $97,870.

Vice Opportunities for Becoming an Undercover Cop

The BLS predicts excellent employment opportunities in law enforcement for individuals who meet the psychological, educational, personal, and physical requirements. City police jobs recruit the largest number of candidates, and competition is tough for state and Federal positions.

Advancement requirements to rise from uniformed cop to undercover or detective roles vary by agency. The BLS reports that the average probationary period ranges from one to three years. Your eligibility is heavily based on knowledge, performance, and/or scores on civil service examinations. That's why you may dramatically improve your chances by completing a formal criminal justice degree. PoliceEmployment.com has a wide selection of criminal justice degrees to suite your needs. Check out our programs here: http://www.policeemployment.com/criminal-justice-degrees

Woodrow Aames

Woodrow Aames has written articles and profiles for Yahoo, Microsoft Network, Microsoft Encarta, and other websites and print magazines around the world. He holds an MFA degree and has taught English abroad

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Police and Detectives • 0000-00-00 • http://www.bls.gov • Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Detectives and Criminal Investigators (wages) • May 04, 2009 • http://bls.gov • Bureau of Labor Statistics

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