Detective
![Detective escorting Meyer Lansky.](/Images/godic/202501/08/Meyer_Lansky_NYWTS_33203.jpg")
![H Division, including Frederick Abberline (left, with cane), at Leman Street police station in London c.1886](/Images/godic/202501/08/Leman_Street_detectives3203.jpg")
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. Some are private persons, and may be known as private investigators or "private eyes".
Informally, and primarily in fiction, a detective is any licensed or unlicensed person who solves crimes, including historical crimes, by examining and evaluating clues and personal records in order to uncover the identity and/or whereabouts of the criminal.