Senior investigator vs public safety officer

The differences between senior investigators and public safety officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior investigator has an average salary of $61,240, which is higher than the $36,596 average annual salary of a public safety officer.

The top three skills for a senior investigator include senior level management, local law enforcement and claims handling. The most important skills for a public safety officer are patrol, patients, and public safety.

Senior investigator vs public safety officer overview

	Senior Investigator	Public Safety Officer
Yearly salary	$61,240	$36,596
Hourly rate	$29.44	$17.59
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	4,525	122,048
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age	44	40
Years of experience	2	-

What does a senior investigator do?

As a senior investigator, you will be responsible for managing investigations for crimes, including corruption, organized crime, and fraud. You will work closely with the district attorney and law enforcement to investigate and solve these crimes. This role will require you to perform other additional duties, including collecting DNA samples from the crime scene, suspects and victims, organizing live training on risk, compliance, and ethics, and testifying in criminal and civil courts, civil service hearings, and ethics commission.

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.

Senior investigator vs public safety officer salary

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

	Senior Investigator	Public Safety Officer
Average salary	$61,240	$36,596
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $105,000	Between $29,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	Frederick, MD	New Britain, CT
Highest paying state	Maryland	North Dakota
Best paying company	DLA Piper	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Finance	Health Care

Differences between senior investigator and public safety officer education

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

	Senior Investigator	Public Safety Officer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	-	California State University - Bakersfield

Senior investigator vs public safety officer demographics

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

	Senior Investigator	Public Safety Officer
Average age	44	40
Gender ratio	Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6%	Male, 76.7% Female, 23.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 2.8% White, 62.9% 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 Percentage	9%	7%

Differences between senior investigator and public safety officer duties and responsibilities

Senior investigator example responsibilities.

Investigate allegations of suspect FWA / prioritize and manage case load / maintain comprehensive case files.
Receive multiple letters of commendation for effective investigations that lead to successful prosecutions.
Create budget friendly evidence collection boxes for investigations and patrol officers.
Send specimens to laboratory to obtain DNA.
Participate on committees and teams supporting GMP compliance programs.
Collect possible DNA samples from the scene, victims, and suspects.

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.

Senior investigator vs public safety officer skills

Common senior investigator skills

Senior Level Management, 13%
Local Law Enforcement, 9%
Claims Handling, 8%
Court Proceedings, 8%
Data Analysis, 4%
Management System, 3%

Common public safety officer skills

Patrol, 18%
Patients, 17%
Public Safety, 12%
Customer Service, 7%
CPR, 5%
Emergency Situations, 5%

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Senior Investigator
Senior Investigator vs Public Safety Officer

Updated January 8, 2025

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