Narcotics agent vs investigation officer

The differences between narcotics agents and investigation officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a narcotics agent and an investigation officer. Additionally, an investigation officer has an average salary of $66,489, which is higher than the $65,852 average annual salary of a narcotics agent.

The top three skills for a narcotics agent include patrol, criminal investigations and crime scenes. The most important skills for an investigation officer are criminal justice, patrol, and law enforcement agencies.

Narcotics agent vs investigation officer overview

	Narcotics Agent	Investigation Officer
Yearly salary	$65,852	$66,489
Hourly rate	$31.66	$31.97
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	25,101	67,540
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

Narcotics agent vs investigation officer salary

Narcotics agents and investigation officers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Narcotics Agent	Investigation Officer
Average salary	$65,852	$66,489
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $97,000	Between $43,000 And $100,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between narcotics agent and investigation officer education

There are a few differences between a narcotics agent and an investigation officer in terms of educational background:

	Narcotics Agent	Investigation Officer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	-	-

Narcotics agent vs investigation officer demographics

Here are the differences between narcotics agents' and investigation officers' demographics:

	Narcotics Agent	Investigation Officer
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 88.1% Female, 11.9%	Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 2.8% White, 62.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 2.8% White, 62.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between narcotics agent and investigation officer duties and responsibilities

Narcotics agent example responsibilities.

Conduct joint planning and manage AFOSI's criminal investigations and counterintelligence operations in northern Italy.
Conduct searches of all Latin American and Caribbean AA flights inbound and outbound for illegal narcotics and firearms.
Review all complete DEA integrity/misconduct investigations, shooting investigations, accidents with government vehicles and property loss or damage negligence/liability reports.
Conduct joint planning and manage AFOSI's criminal investigations and counterintelligence operations in northern Italy.

Investigation officer example responsibilities.

Manage corporate-wide document production relative to complex litigation cases.
Screen entities against OFAC list to determine if enhance due diligence is required.
Serve active criminal warrants and subpoenas.
Patrol facility by foot and patrol vehicle.
Recover video evidence from CCTV surveillance systems.
Prepare, maintain and update OFAC block and rejection reports.

Narcotics agent vs investigation officer skills

Common narcotics agent skills

Patrol, 17%
Criminal Investigations, 14%
Crime Scenes, 11%
Law Enforcement Agencies, 10%
Electronic Surveillance, 9%
Subpoenas, 5%

Common investigation officer skills

Criminal Justice, 13%
Patrol, 9%
Law Enforcement Agencies, 8%
Administrative Hearings, 6%
SAR, 5%
Food Safety, 5%

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Narcotics Agent
Narcotics Agent vs Investigation Officer

Updated January 8, 2025

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