Law enforcement

The Law Enforcement career track is one of the ten basic careers in the The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. It returns in The Sims 4: Get to Work and The Sim FreePlay as an active career.

The Sims
Captain Hero will eventually change careers and become a TV Star in the Entertainment career track.

The Sims 2
In The Sims 2, the career reward object is the Prints Charming Fingerprint Scanner. It is awarded at the Detective level and enhances a Sim's ability to improve the Cleaning skill. The scanner can also detect the last Sim to have used an object that is scanned and will display their picture with a thought bubble (If no Sim has used the object a random Sim is chosen). If The Sims 2: Apartment Life is installed, Jocks are likely to work in this career.

In The Sims 2, Captain Hero does not have a carpool, but flies to and from work. If the player cancels the Go to Work action, Captain Hero will not be able to go to work unless he or she has access to a car or Apartment Life is installed and can simply walk to work. The college majors associated with this career are Biology and Psychology.

The Sims 3
Law Enforcement is a career track in The Sims 3. It has two branches: Special Agent and Forensics. Sims will be required to write reports. This can be done by questioning Sims (though they will refuse, resulting in negative points for both Sims, if they don't like each other) or rummaging through their trash cans (literally digging the "dirt" on that Sim) and then selecting "write report on" in a computer.

Work place: Police Department

How to apply: Computer or Newspaper/ Apply for job at Police Department

Performance options: Business as Usual, Take it Easy, Work Hard, Chat with Partner, Work on Independent Case, Use Workout Facility, Sleep in Jail cell (Requires Heavy/Light Sleeper Trait)

Skills: Logic(Both), Athletic(Special Agent), Painting(Forensic Analyst)

After the 5th level promotion, the player is given a choice between the two branches: Special Agent or Forensic Analyst. The big difference is in the Bonus actions that each branch gives, as the difference in the pay is lessened because the Special Agents end with a bigger pay per hour, but the Forensic Analysts have one more hour of work per day. International Super Spies can Raid the Criminal Warehouse, whilst Dynamic DNA Profilers can run Forensic Analyzes, which plays out like Hacking.

Opportunities
Your Friendly Neighborhood Police Officer
 * Your boss wants to ensure the public knows all about the officers patrolling the neighborhood. Take the time to visit three of your neighbors at their homes to get on your boss' good side and improve your chances for a promotion.

Keep 'em Guessing
 * Read "Keep 'em Guessing". This is the only way to obtain the book.

Protect, Serve, and Look Good Doing It
 * Read "Protect, Serve, and Look Good Doing It". This is the only way to obtain the book.

Developing Informants
 * Befriend (Sim). This opportunity is aborted if the sim you are supposed to befriend dies or moves out.

The Sims 2 (Console)
Law is a career available in The Sims 2 (console), which is similar to the Law Enforcement career mentioned above.

1. Security Guard 7pm - 2am §336 1 Body to get promoted

2. Cadet 9am - 3pm §448 2 Body to get promoted

3. Patrol Officer 3pm - 11pm §552 2 Body, 1 Logic & 1 Friend to get promoted

4. Desk Sergeant 9am - 3pm §616 3 Body, 1 Logic & 2 Friends to get promoted

5. Vice Squad 10am - 4pm §686 3 Body, 4 Logic, 2 Clean & 2 Friends to get promoted

6. Detective 9am - 3pm §756 4 Body, 5 Logic, 4 Clean & 3 Friends to get promoted

7. Lieutenant 9am - 3pm §826 4 Body, 6 Logic, 6 Clean & 4 Friends to get promoted

8. Swat Team Lead 11am - 6pm §875 7 Body, 9 Logic, 7 Clean & 6 Friends to get promoted

9. Secret Service 8am - 4pm §910 10 Body, 9 Logic, 8 Clean & 7 Friends to get promoted

10. Sim in Black 10am - 4pm §1,225

The Sims 4
While not initially present in the base game, the law enforcement career returns as an active career in The Sims 4: Get to Work. There is more of a focus on being a detective than a police officer in this career.

All Sims who enter the detective career will have two days of training. The first day involves shadowing for a veteran police officer in their cases. They will learn to collect evidence and take witness reports. They will submit a case report afterwhich the off-scren lead detective takes over the case. If there is still time remaining in the work day, the Sim will take mugshots, photographs and search prisoners. On day two, the Sim will patrol a community lot and learn how to issue a citation. The Sim may then go to a case to make an arrest. The notebook (accessible through the Sim's phone) is pre-populated with clues about the suspect.

In succeeding cases, the Sim will be responsible for every aspect of their cases, from getting a case assignment to getting a confession from the suspect.

After analysing evidence or cross-referencing pictures or witness reports, the Sim will need to add clues to the crime map. A minimum of three clues needs to be processed and added to the crime map in order to issue an all-points bulletin (APB) but the Sim does not need to use all the clues gathered. If there are any unused clues, they can be carried over to the next case for analysis  thus saving time at the crime scene.