Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize detectives in police investigations as knowledge workers. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a literature review covering knowledge organizations, police organizations, police investigations, and detectives as knowledge workers. Findings: The paper finds that the changing role of the detective as a resource influences investigation performance in solving complex and organized crime. Research limitations/implications: This exploratory research provides no final conclusions. Practical implications: Leadership in police investigations needs to focus on knowledge management among detectives rather than information collection in each criminal case. Originality/value: Until this paper, the secretive nature of the detective world has been unexplored by manpower researchers.