Roles and development opportunities available to help progress your career in investigation.
This career pathway is a guide to help you plan your professional growth. It outlines the roles, skills and training opportunities available to help you progress in investigation.
On this page, find out about:
Investigation
Warranted officers, also referred to as detectives, and police staff investigators are part of the investigation job family.
The Code of Practice to the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA) defines a criminal investigator as "an investigation conducted by police officers with a view to it being ascertained whether a person should be charged with an offence, or whether a person charged with an offence is guilty of it."
There is no definition of a serious and complex crime. However, identifying factors can include crimes that:
- involve the use of violence, including the use of weapons and firearms
- are sexual assaults
- involve physiological trauma or impact
- result in substantial financial gain
- cause substantial financial loss to the victim
- are conducted by a large number of persons in pursuit of a common purpose
- cause death and serious injury on the roads
All police officers and some police staff are investigators and have a responsibility to investigate crimes according to their level of development.
The role
The professionalising investigation programme (PIP) defines four levels of investigator, according to the seriousness of the criminality. It provides a learning and development programme for each role within the four levels.
Investigators conducting serious and complex (PIP 2) investigations will impartially follow all reasonable lines of enquiry to gather material that points either towards or away from a suspect. This process may result in the suspect being prosecuted in court, out-of-court disposal, community resolution, or no further action being taken.
In many cases, an investigation will not find enough material to make a charging decision. This may be because the offender has left very little evidence or because there are no viable lines of enquiry to pursue. It is still important to record the outcome of the investigation accurately for intelligence purposes. This will help the police service to identify crime patterns and take proactive action to reduce risk and prevent further crimes.
Investigators will plan, understand, examine, record and evaluate the material they gather, including victim and witness accounts. They will use technical and scientific experts to maximise evidential opportunities.
Core investigative topics include:
- victim and witness care and support
- suspect management
- investigative mindset and process
- safeguarding
- legal and judicial processes
- interviewing
- leadership
- managing investigations
- digital and cybercrime
- problem-solving
- decision-making
The majority of serious and complex investigators will work in a crime investigation department investigating a broad range of criminal offences. However, you may choose to progress into a specialist role.
Role profiles
Find out more about the roles available within investigation including the role purpose, main responsibilities and the skills required. You will need to log in to College Learn to access the profiles.
- Investigator PIP 1
- Investigator PIP 2
- Investigative supervisor
- Investigative manager
- Strategic investigator
Specialist roles
Find out more about the types of specialist roles available. You will need to log in to College Learn to access the profiles.
Development
The professionalising investigation programme (PIP) is an incremental development programme. It provides the following at each level:
- registration
- examination
- training
- workplace assessment
- certification
Continuous professional development supports this.
The NIE (national investigators exam) is a gateway exam to PIP 2 learning.
| Level | Roles | Specialisms |
|---|---|---|
| PIP 1 - volume and priority crime |
| |
| PIP 2 - serious and complex crime |
|
|
| PIP 3 - senior investigative officer |
| |
| PIP 4 |
|
Career stories
Case studies
Progression
PIP 1 and PIP 2 investigators often progress to supervisory or management roles, aspiring to be a senior investigating officer (SIO) or strategic investigator.
You may also develop your specialist knowledge at PIP 2, such as becoming a specialist child abuse investigator or digital media investigator.
You may consider future promotion opportunities and roles within the uniform aspects of policing, such as response, roads or neighbourhood.
If, as a police constable PIP 2 investigator, you are looking to progress further through the police ranks, you should read the national police promotion framework (NPPF) information.
It may not always be possible to progress through the ranks within a particular job family, as forces may assign newly promoted individuals or those in acting posts, in line with organisational need.
Police staff should also consider career progression and look for promotion development opportunities with their chosen job family.
Progression routes
- investigative supervisor(you will need to log in to College Learn)
- uniform role
- intelligence
Fast track
The fast track programme for serving constables is a development programme and promotion mechanism to enable the most talented serving police constables to advance to the rank of inspector within two years.