Liliya Reymer Interview Project: Part 2 Communication 1010-038 09/25/2013

Interview Analysis Memo DATE: September 20, 2013 TO: Professor David Gagon FROM: Liliya Reymer SUBJECT: Interview Analysis Memo, COMM 1010-038 I had the chance to interview a Homicide Detective from the Salt Lake City Police Department in Salt Lake City. I was able to meet Chris Kotrodimos by calling the Police Department. Per my request, they put me through to the homicide division. Deputy Chief Rick Findlay provided my phone number to Chris, who in turn contacted me back and we arranged to meet. I have been strongly exploring the idea of entering a career path in the law enforcement sector, so I wanted to interview a homicide detective. During the interview, I found out that this specific department is not very different from the other investigative departments. This interested me since I also learned that the competitive rate of the homicide squad is very high. I proceeded with the interview to understand more about the investigat ions inside community. In discussing all that goes on in the police force, it opened up my eyes to the many other investigative divisions and peaked my interest in these areas as well. This memo recaps the useful advice I gathered and analyzes what I learned from conducting the interview. Summary of Lessons Learned Getting Started in the Law Enforcement Field I learned that the law enforcement field is a highly competitive field to enter and requires an individual to have good balance as well as pristine work ethic. The growing trend is to also have a good reputation and lengthy work experience. Having a clean background and honest character is essential for this type of work. Having a degree is preferred; however, this is not required. In order to work in most investigations departments, you have to be a police officer first. This is where the weeding out of individuals who are not fit to continue occurs. I learned that to have the best chance of obtaining a promotion as an officer, the officer should do their best to respond to the calls, and take every opportunity at in-depth learning that pertains to the specific department they want to eventually enter.

I learned in speaking with Chris, as well as other investigators I met along the way that it would be wise to start working as a police officer as soon as I decide that law enforcement is the career path I want to take. Education is important. However, in order to move up the ladder, one has to pay his dues and prove his work ethic as a police officer. Excellent reputation is an immeasurable part in the promotion process. This is obtained by working hard, being patient, and having high performance in all areas of the job. Chris shared that he started his law enforcement career when he was 29. He applied and received a job as a police officer in Raleigh, North Carolina. He contributes his quick pass into the police academy to his years spent in the military. He spent 4 years policing before he came to Salt Lake City and was promoted into an investigation division. From there, he spent a number of years training new recruits before accepting his current position as a Homicide Detective. Along the way, he obtained a bachelors degree in criminal justice and a masters in business management. His current pay is $109,000 a year. A Typical Day Chris gave me a tour of the police station he works at. He showed me the conference room where they hold their meetings. He also showed me where the onsite gym, cafeteria, outside patio, and dispatching were located. I was amazed at how technologically advanced the facility was. Additionally, I had the privilege to see the areas where the special crimes unit, robbery, property crime, and security divisions operated. Chris spoke about how fulfilled he was to come to work and enjoy what he is good at doing. His daily routine is to work on homicide cases. This means going out and talking to suspects and witnesses. He also works closely with the coroners office and the court system. Additionally, he responds to all calls that involve suspicious deaths; it is then up to him to decide whether or not further investigation into the death is needed. When the department is slow, he is able to research cold cases. He normally works 4-10 hour shifts, Monday Thursday. However, he is always on-call since it is unknown when the next homicide will occur. Chris loves his job because he truly is driven to help people and he believes in his approach of investigating crime. The best part about his job is the fact that he is makes a difference. This is what matters most to him. He feels honored and blessed to work for a city that he can protect and make better. He works alongside people who have the same vision and work well together. He also is paid well and has an excellent 401K plan. He does not plan to leave this field of work because of the reasons stated above. Finishing his career by working for the government will also give him a good retirement. Continuing Education and Work Experience Chris believes having an education is respectable and will give an individual more opportunity in working in the upper divisions of law enforcement. However, he urges that it is more important to have reputable work experience. He strongly recommends that whoever is choosing law enforcement as a career path, start working as a police officer as soon as possible. More than

education, he points to a few essential qualities one must have in order to succeed in this line of work. Having good balance, this was the quality that Chris stressed was the most important. This quality was followed by patience, calmness, good communication, and the ability to not take things personally. In conclusion, he stated, before a person gets started in this field, they need to come to a self-realization that when it came down to actually doing the job, (referring to working on the streets) they could do it. Interview Analysis This interview opened my eyes to some new career ideas. Additionally, it taught me a lot about how to conduct an interview. Analysis of Homicide Detective as my Career Choice From this interview, I realized I need to make a final decision as to if I want to choose law enforcement as a career path. If so, the first step I need to take is to apply to become a police officer. I also learned about some aspects of the Police department that I never even knew existed. Chris recommended I go on a ride-a-long with an actual police officer to get a better idea of how to begin my journey into the investigation departments. He also encouraged me that it would be wise to finish my generals before I made my final decision. By following up on Chriss advice, I can gain more clarity on my educational and career choice I have to make. I truly learned a lotI had little knowledge of the inner workings at Police Headquarters. I had no idea that there were so many investigative departments! Apparently, it's not because this office is unique; this is the norm. Analysis of my Interviewing Process I am quite open when it comes to meeting new people, and not a shabby public speaker. However, at first I felt quite intimidated talking to somebody who held my dream job! I was slightly nervous setting up and coming to the interview, but now I am so glad I did it! Thank you for this assignment. For the interview, I wrote out my questions a week prior to make sure that I asked all of the questions I wanted answered. This helped me to organize them into topics. I had gone over the questions numerous times. Additionally, they were questions that really meant a lot to me, so it would have been hard to forget them when it came time for the interview. I did not take any paperwork with me other than the evaluation form, since I felt this would only distract me. This helped me keep better eye contact when asking the questions. Chris did a very good job of keeping his answers on task, so I did not have to intervene and steer him back on topic. He answered many of my questions without me having to ask them. This allowed me to ask additional questions that I had not planned on asking. He was kind enough to gladly give me all the time I needed, and it turned out that we spent 2 hours in discussion!

I plan to conduct more interviews in order to get additional perspectives on this type of work. When I do these interviews, I plan to bring a notepad to take notes so that I can jot down

important things that are said. As much as I would love to have brought a recorder, I am glad that I did not. I feel that Chris would not have been so open with me if he knew that he was being recorded. This confirms my hesitation, and I will not bring one to the next interview I conduct. At the end of our interview, I felt very comfortable with Chris. Although I had practiced the exit to my interview, I really did not have to think about it since it all came so naturally. I just thanked him and we agreed that we would stay in contact by email. He took the additional steps to get me setup on a ride-a-long with an officer. The ending was even better than I expected. Unfortunately, it felt silly to have him fill out the evaluation form since it did not feel like the interview was an assignment but more of something that I wanted to do. However, he understood and said that he would fill it out and send it. I followed up with him by email, and he will send it to my home address instead of the college. Overall, I found this to be a very useful assignment that will help me as I decide on a career path and as I conduct interviews in the workplace.