Community Connections

I chose to interview a homicide detective because I have always been interested in solving riddles similar to cases the police have to deal with. Television shows regarding detective work have always been interesting to me and I would love to have a career in this in the future.

For my “Community Connections” assignment I chose a Homicide Detective, I asked her to write a little introduction for herself.

 

Jennifer Daniel, I was hired in 2002 so almost in my 18^th year of service with VPD. Spent almost 11 years in patrol, 5 years in Major Crime Robbery Assault and now over a year in Homicide.   I grew up and went to school in Burnaby prior to going to SFU for University. I have a big blended family with two of my own boys and a step son and daughter.

I keep busy being active in kids sports as well as a program at the VPD called the Women’s Personal Safety Team which provides female participants with the tools to recognize and avoid dangerous situations as well as prevention strategies and techniques to protect themselves from asocial violence.

 

Here are the questions I asked her,

1. Why are you passionate about your work? which parts of it do you enjoy the most?
2. What obstacles have you faced to get where you are today?
3. What advice would you pass on to someone interested in what you are doing?
4. How would you compare detective work you do to that we see on television?
5. What education or training was needed to get where you are?
6. How much work do you get? do the cases you’re assigned to ever affect you mentally/physically?
7. Would you be open to more questions from Riverside students? If so, where can we contact you?

Here is how she responded,

*note* pictures in this writing are not pictures of or from her.

 

1. Why are you passionate about your work? Which parts of it do you enjoy the most?

I am passionate about my work for many reasons, however, the number one reason is to see justice for the victims of the most serious crime that can be committed “Murder”.

I enjoy the investigative process from beginning to end. There are many layers in a Homicide investigation starting at the crime scene and ending with disclosure and ultimately and hopefully the prosecution of the accused.  It’s amazing when all of the evidence you obtain starts to paint a picture of what happened, “who did it”, and “why”. I enjoy working in the team environment that we currently have in Homicide. Sitting down as a team and everyone having a say in what our next investigative step or action will be is rewarding.

 

 

2. What obstacles have you faced to get where you are today?

I’m not sure that I can say I have faced any really challenging obstacles at work. Of course in order to get to where I am I needed to spend the right amount of time in each section (Patrol, Robbery/Assault) before moving to the next.

I think the most challenging obstacles are balancing your outside life with your work life. Young kids and busy schedules require a lot of multi-tasking, but it works out.

 

 

3. What advice would you pass on to someone interested in what you are doing?

My advice would be to start investigating early in your career. Start while you are out in patrol. So many young Police Officers are more interested in the

“thrill” calls, and that is ok but there are so many calls that we receive that will require a little bit more time and effort. They will require video review and interviewing, they will require a lot of writing if charges will be pursued. Being a good investigator in patrol will allow you opportunities to work in sections like Sex Crimes or Robbery/Assault which will be your stepping stone to Homicide.

 

4. How would you compare detective work you do to that we see on television?

Most television shows need to be wrapped up in an hour.  The motive, the investigation, forensic evidence and arrest are all presented and concluded in one hour with commercial breaks. When our unit gets assigned a Homicide, we know we will be here every day for a few weeks, putting in very long hours and this is only to secure perishable evidence such as forensics, video and witness statements that we may lose.

If there is no suspect, then we know we have a huge amount of work ahead of us. We will try to uncover every little aspect of the victim’s life in order to try and get something that will lead us in the right direction. Investigations can get take years before we even get enough evidence to proceed with charges. Then that evidence needs to presented to Crown Counsel who may or may not approve charges. Once a charge is laid and a court date is set, it could still take over a year before that suspect sees a court room. I enjoy how TV reveals the results for forensic evidence immediately. Currently our wait times from the Lab for DNA evidence is 65 days, not much like TV at all.

 

5. What education or training was needed to get where you are?

I was hired in 2002 and that time we were required to have a degree or at least 30 credits from an Educational Institution. I do have a Bachelor of Arts degree from SFU in Geography. I believe our recruiting section has changed the educational requirements and applicants with trades and other forms of training/education are accepted.

During my time in Patrol I took courses that would help me obtain my goal of being a Detective in our Major Crime Robbery Assault Section. I took Interviewing courses, Search Warrant courses and courses designed specifically for Major Crime Investigations. Once in Major Crime, I continued to take courses designed around Leadership as well as a course on obtaining DNA.

I have been in Homicide since February 2019 and to date have taken one course designed around File Coordinating which is managing the data set that contains all information related to our files.

 

6. How much work do you get? Do the cases you’re assigned to ever affect you mentally/physically?

We have three separate teams in our Homicide section, each with six Investigators. Every week, one of the teams will be on-call and will deal with any Homicide or Suspicious Death that come in, regardless of it happening during the day or night.  We are required to carry a work phone which does have access to our emails.  So, even if it is our day off we still feel like we are at work.

As of January 2020, the City of Vancouver has had three confirmed Homicides. My team has been assigned two out the three, both of these homicides happened within the same 24 hours. In addition to working on these new files, most of us are carrying multiple files from the last couple of years and I am also working on a historical file from 2004.

I find that I can handle crime scenes and death well, although, I find dealing with the families of the victims can be emotionally draining. It’s hard not to put yourself in that situation finding out that a “loved one” is deceased.  Our hours are long and our work is always being reviewed and at times scrutinized by others in the Vancouver Police Department and the Community.  Luckily we have a fantastic Employee Health and Wellness plan in place and our Homicide Investigators are required to attend debriefs with a Psychologist once a year or more if needed.

I have always been fit and find that working out is a great outlet for stress in any form. We have a great gym and exercise classes that are offered to us at work, which I take advantage of.  I am also lucky to have a great support system in place, my family and friends.

 

7. Would you be open to more questions from Riverside students? If so, where can we contact you?

Of course, I have attached my contact information:

Detective Constable 2188 Jennifer Daniel

Vancouver Police Department, Homicide Team 2

jennifer.daniel@vpd.ca

 

Photos:

VPD Building

VPD Logo

VPD Police Car

SFU Building

Psychologist Picture