How To Become A Crime Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a crime specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Has your favorite character in a crime show been the officers that visit crime scenes and analyze data back at the station? These are crime specialists, and if you're looking to follow in the footsteps of your favorite criminal justice characters, here's what you're going to need.

Firstly, a crime specialist needs quality observation and analysis skills considering their main duties will be to investigate crime scenes, gather and analyze evidence, and use forensic equipment and techniques. You'll also need quality research and communication skills to compile and deliver reports, interview witnesses, and present findings and evidence to law enforcement and potentially courtrooms.

Crime specialists are most commonly required to have a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, psychology, or any other related field. A crime specialist makes, on average, about $31,000 per year. This depends on your place of employment and the hours they'll need you on the scene and in the office. While it's typically a full-time position, some departments only bring in part-time crime specialists on a case-by-case basis.

ScoreCrime SpecialistUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $35,227

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.06%

Asian 10.44%

Black or African American 9.51%

Hispanic or Latino 16.78%

Unknown 6.04%

White 56.19%

Gender

female 64.93%

male 35.07%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a crime specialist

Explore crime specialist education requirements

Most common crime specialist degrees

Bachelor's

52.9 %

Associate

20.7 %

High School Diploma

15.0 %

Start to develop specific crime specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Criminal Justice	6.84%
Anti-Money Laundering	6.57%
Secrecy	6.25%
Bank Secrecy Act	6.15%
AML	6.07%

Complete relevant crime specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New crime specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a crime specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real crime specialist resumes.

Research crime specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage customer information in customer management systems CIV.
Lead major initiatives in 3concurrent roles successfully manage affluent personal and business portfolio to proactively cross-sell additional products and services.
Perform general account handling functions such as close account determination, holds, restraints, among other job responsibilities.
Navigate multiple systems for information to perform general account handling functions, such as closing accounts, holds, and restraints.

Prepare your crime specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your crime specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a crime specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable crime specialist resume templates

Build a professional crime specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your crime specialist resume.