A Real Detective
CSI, NCIS, Mentalist, and Criminal Minds- all of these shows portray the lives of a detective, but how does this compare to a real-life detective? The life of a detective is different from what society sees in television shows, and this is shown with the interview of Brent Taney. Brent Taney is a homicide Detective in the Kansas City police department. Throughout Brent Taney’s career as a homicide Detective, with the aid of his family, he has faced many challenges, both bad and good.
Like many other law enforcement officers, Detective Taney explains how his passion became his job. Taney got interested in police work as a kid, and he found homicides interesting during college. Brent Taney graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a focus in criminology. When he enter the force he had different positions before he reached homicide Detective. According to Detective Taney, “When I first got on the department I had to work patrol for three years. I applied to become a Detective and got accepted to the robbery unit.” Soon after being in the robbery unit, he became a homicide Detective and loved it.
As a result, being a homicide Detective Taney needed aid from his family. Brent Taney explained how with this job, he has missed many of his kid’s events, but his family still supports him. Taney stated, “...I spend a lot of time away from my family, any time I’m on call, my wife is on call...In-laws will help the kids a lot.” Also, Taney explained that without his family as support system, he would not be as successful as he is now. Brent Taney said, “With this job, you have to have a big support system, this job is very demanding.” Detective Taney’s job might be grueling, but with the help of his family support he is able to keep working.
Simultaneously, Detective Taney goes through challenges while working on homicide cases. The biggest challenges he faces involves the community. Detective Taney states, “Some of the other challenges we face is like the media people wanting to talk to us… Another challenge is dealing with the courts and prosecutors.” The other challenge Brent Taney faces is the language barrier in some communities. Detective Taney said, “A lot of times when we have a case that involves a hispanic suspect or community, being able to speak spanish would definitely be a benefit.” Even with these challenges, Taney still tries to overcome them.
In addition to being a homicide Detective, Detective Taney had gone through some negative experiences. Brent Taney, while on the field, has seen one particular citizen trying to take the lives of the many people around him. Detective Taney stated, “When I was on the tactical response team, this guy had a grenade in his hand and was threatening to blow everyone and himself up.” This situation ended with him taking only his own life. However, most of the time the hardest experience is after every solved case. Taney said, “The hardest thing is doing the death notifications...it’s very nerve wracking.” Even if Detective Taney enjoys his job, there are negative moments.
Nevertheless, Detective Taney has many rewarding moments. His rewarding experiences are when he catches the culprit that causes the homicide. Brent Taney describes that solving a case is like putting a difficult puzzle together. There was one particular case that comes to Taney’s mind when asked about a rewarding case. Detective Taney said, “I was fortunate enough to be involved in a serial killer investigation, it was a big case, I got to interrogate the suspect and get him to confess to his crimes...” This case is one that he solved and being able to make the killer confess has been the highlight of his career thus far. Taney states “...this case was probably the biggest accomplishment of my career.” So even though Detective Taney has numerous bad experiences, Brent Taney also has many rewarding moments.
In conclusion, Brent Taney’s interview shows the life of a real detective as opposed to the portrayal of detectives in television. As a homicide Detective, Taney has learned a lot and with this he shares, “Have your goals, it’s never too early to know what you want to do...You gotta stay at it and don’t give up on what you want to achieve.” The journey of Detective Taney, with the aid of his family, has had challenges and many bad and good experiences. With all Brent Taney has gone through, he has achieved his goal and lives the life of a real detective.
Like many other law enforcement officers, Detective Taney explains how his passion became his job. Taney got interested in police work as a kid, and he found homicides interesting during college. Brent Taney graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a focus in criminology. When he enter the force he had different positions before he reached homicide Detective. According to Detective Taney, “When I first got on the department I had to work patrol for three years. I applied to become a Detective and got accepted to the robbery unit.” Soon after being in the robbery unit, he became a homicide Detective and loved it.
As a result, being a homicide Detective Taney needed aid from his family. Brent Taney explained how with this job, he has missed many of his kid’s events, but his family still supports him. Taney stated, “...I spend a lot of time away from my family, any time I’m on call, my wife is on call...In-laws will help the kids a lot.” Also, Taney explained that without his family as support system, he would not be as successful as he is now. Brent Taney said, “With this job, you have to have a big support system, this job is very demanding.” Detective Taney’s job might be grueling, but with the help of his family support he is able to keep working.
Simultaneously, Detective Taney goes through challenges while working on homicide cases. The biggest challenges he faces involves the community. Detective Taney states, “Some of the other challenges we face is like the media people wanting to talk to us… Another challenge is dealing with the courts and prosecutors.” The other challenge Brent Taney faces is the language barrier in some communities. Detective Taney said, “A lot of times when we have a case that involves a hispanic suspect or community, being able to speak spanish would definitely be a benefit.” Even with these challenges, Taney still tries to overcome them.
In addition to being a homicide Detective, Detective Taney had gone through some negative experiences. Brent Taney, while on the field, has seen one particular citizen trying to take the lives of the many people around him. Detective Taney stated, “When I was on the tactical response team, this guy had a grenade in his hand and was threatening to blow everyone and himself up.” This situation ended with him taking only his own life. However, most of the time the hardest experience is after every solved case. Taney said, “The hardest thing is doing the death notifications...it’s very nerve wracking.” Even if Detective Taney enjoys his job, there are negative moments.
Nevertheless, Detective Taney has many rewarding moments. His rewarding experiences are when he catches the culprit that causes the homicide. Brent Taney describes that solving a case is like putting a difficult puzzle together. There was one particular case that comes to Taney’s mind when asked about a rewarding case. Detective Taney said, “I was fortunate enough to be involved in a serial killer investigation, it was a big case, I got to interrogate the suspect and get him to confess to his crimes...” This case is one that he solved and being able to make the killer confess has been the highlight of his career thus far. Taney states “...this case was probably the biggest accomplishment of my career.” So even though Detective Taney has numerous bad experiences, Brent Taney also has many rewarding moments.
In conclusion, Brent Taney’s interview shows the life of a real detective as opposed to the portrayal of detectives in television. As a homicide Detective, Taney has learned a lot and with this he shares, “Have your goals, it’s never too early to know what you want to do...You gotta stay at it and don’t give up on what you want to achieve.” The journey of Detective Taney, with the aid of his family, has had challenges and many bad and good experiences. With all Brent Taney has gone through, he has achieved his goal and lives the life of a real detective.
Works Cited Page
"Brent Taney." Online interview. 27 Oct. 2015.