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Detective vs public safety officer

The differences between detectives and public safety officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a detective has an average salary of $57,984, which is higher than the $36,596 average annual salary of a public safety officer.

The top three skills for a detective include physical evidence, patrol and law enforcement agencies. The most important skills for a public safety officer are patrol, patients, and public safety.

Detective vs public safety officer overview

DetectivePublic Safety Officer
Yearly salary$57,984$36,596
Hourly rate$27.88$17.59
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs56,521122,048
Job satisfaction54
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age4440
Years of experience--

What does a detective do?

A detective is responsible for conducting in-depth investigations for criminal activities, potential threats, and other law-violating incidents, coordinating closely with law-enforcement agencies and crime intelligence analysts. Detectives often work on the field, gathering data and related evidence to support claims and connect the timeline of events. They keep an organized record of their findings for further validation before reporting it to the authority. A detective must have excellent investigative and critical-thinking skills, especially on solving puzzles and security solutions.

What does a public safety officer do?

Public relations assistants are professionals who are responsible for creating and distributing promotional materials to help clients increase their public image and awareness of their products and services. These assistants are required to help develop and distribute public relations materials such as brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, and sell sheets. They must handle all the communications of their clients to the public by supervising social media content, press releases, and emails. Public relations assistants must also gather materials to be used in trade shows or client presentations.

Detective vs public safety officer salary

Detectives and public safety officers have different pay scales, as shown below.

DetectivePublic Safety Officer
Average salary$57,984$36,596
Salary rangeBetween $35,000 And $95,000Between $29,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City-New Britain, CT
Highest paying state-North Dakota
Best paying company-University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry-Health Care

Differences between detective and public safety officer education

There are a few differences between a detective and a public safety officer in terms of educational background:

DetectivePublic Safety Officer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common majorCriminal JusticeCriminal Justice
Most common collegeUniversity of ArizonaCalifornia State University - Bakersfield

Detective vs public safety officer demographics

Here are the differences between detectives' and public safety officers' demographics:

DetectivePublic Safety Officer
Average age4440
Gender ratioMale, 82.7% Female, 17.3%Male, 76.7% Female, 23.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 2.8% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.5% Asian, 3.4% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage9%7%

Differences between detective and public safety officer duties and responsibilities

Detective example responsibilities.

  • Manage all ABC issues and applications for liquor licenses.
  • Receive multiple letters of commendation for effective investigations that lead to successful prosecutions.
  • Monitor wire taps and conduct detailed surveillance of wire tap targets and associates.
  • Sole provider of data gathering from TIGTA's complaint management system and the IRS for biweekly phishing scam reports.
  • Connect GPS devices/recorder/audio/video by hard wiring to vehicle power for longer operations.
  • Optimize critical security of dignitaries by proficiently conducting foot and vehicle patrol of concentration areas.
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Public safety officer example responsibilities.

  • Manage litigation and bankruptcy matters.
  • Apply hand cuffs, restraints and calm combative irate people, handling emergency situations, report writing, CPR, a.
  • Patrol campus, answer calls: fire, police, ems.
  • Engage in assistance for medical staff in dangerous situations, patient restraints, heavy lifting, and area access.
  • Monitor campus radio and cameras, dispatch emergency calls, issue summonses and utilize the NYSPIN computer communication network.
  • Involve in patient restraints and aggressive patient/visitor confrontations.
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Detective vs public safety officer skills

Common detective skills
  • Physical Evidence, 15%
  • Patrol, 13%
  • Law Enforcement Agencies, 8%
  • Crime Scenes, 5%
  • Insurance Fraud, 5%
  • Public Safety, 5%
Common public safety officer skills
  • Patrol, 18%
  • Patients, 17%
  • Public Safety, 12%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • CPR, 5%
  • Emergency Situations, 5%

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