Detain suspects or witnesses.

Detain suspects or witnesses. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 5 occupations and seen in 6 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Maintain safety or security. in Performing General Physical Activities .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 6 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 0 (0%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Detain persons found to be in violation of customs or immigration laws and arrange for legal action, such as deportation. · Customs and Border Protection Officers · importance 4.6 · no direct exposure
• Secure persons at scene, keeping witnesses from conversing or leaving the scene before investigators arrive. · Detectives and Criminal Investigators · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Arrest persons in court when arrest warrants have been issued. · Bailiffs · importance 4.3 · no direct exposure
• Conduct raids and order detention of witnesses and suspects for questioning. · First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Arrest individuals to be charged with fraud. · Fraud Examiners, Investigators and Analysts · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Place people in protective custody. · Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers · importance 3.6 · no direct exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Customs and Border Protection Officers
• Detectives and Criminal Investigators
• Bailiffs
• First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
• Fraud Examiners, Investigators and Analysts

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-detain-suspects-or-witnesses,
  title  = {Detain suspects or witnesses.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/detain-suspects-or-witnesses}
}