An eight-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department, but a rookie in the homicide unit, Detective Dave Barnes knew very early on that solving murders was his calling. “When I joined the department my main goal was to get to homicide. It’s always interested me.”

Despite working long hours on intense cases, Barnes recognizes the importance of separating his professional life from his personal life. “I don’t take it home. I don’t share all of the stories with my wife. She doesn’t really want to him them anyway.” On weekends, Barnes says that he enjoys being with his wife of 16 years and three teenage children. They “go to the movies, or we’ll go hiking or just stay at home and have family time.” Spending quality time together, he mentions, “is very important to us.”

Carl Caruso, 50, has worked with the Phoenix Police Department for 29 years and as a homicide detective for the past 9 years. Prior to working homicide, Caruso worked with the assaults, sex crimes, and burglary units. He is originally from Buffalo, New York. He enjoys the sense of accomplishment he feels after completing a long and arduous homicide investigation.

Dalton, 39, has worked with the Phoenix Police Department for 15 years and as a homicide detective for the past 6 years. Prior to coming to homicide, Dalton worked with various details including sex crimes, assaults, property crimes, undercover, and patrol.

Dalton is originally from the small upstate New York town of Bolivar. He decided to move to Phoenix when he realized that his job polishing scissors in Bolivar’s scissor factory wasn’t the kind of career he was looking for. His favorite thing about being a homicide detective is “putting the worst of the worst behind bars.”

A 31-year veteran of law enforcement, Detective Sallie Dillian, 51, has worked in many different jobs in her career as a police officer. She started her career as a communications dispatcher for the Scottsdale Police Department. As soon as she turned twenty-one and could apply to the police academy, she did. Dillian has worked for the Phoenix police force for over 19 years and in the homicide unit for the past 9. Prior to working in homicide, she flew helicopters and worked vice street crimes doing undercover decoy work. Her favorite thing about being a homicide detective is putting the puzzle together and figuring out what happened. “It’s the hardest I have ever worked.” Dillian is retiring this year.

After 31 years with the Phoenix Police Department, Sallie Dillian has retired from the Phoenix Police Department.

Cliff Jewell, 52, a Scottsdale, Arizona native, has worked with the Phoenix Police Department for 26 years and as a homicide detective for the past 6 years. Prior to coming to homicide he worked in hate crimes and community relations. His favorite thing about being a homicide detective is working the crime scene, putting the puzzle together.

Tommy Kulesa, 46, has worked with the Phoenix Police Department for 25 years, and as a homicide detective for the past 4 years. Prior to homicide, Kulesa worked with the organized crime unit. He is originally from Chicago, Illinois. Law enforcement runs in his blood: his father was a Chicago cop and his two brothers are on the Phoenix police force. His favorite thing about being a homicide detective is the hunt.

Tom Kulesa has retired from the Phoenix Police Department.

Steve Orona, 47, has worked with the Phoenix Police Department for 22 years and as a homicide detective for the past 10 years. Prior to coming to homicide he worked for four years as a patrol officer and then for seven years on the gang unit. He was born in Los Angeles and raised in Phoenix. His favorite things about being a homicide detective are the chase and a guilty verdict.

Detective Sandy Rodriguez is a native of Phoenix and a mother of two boys. She is a 20-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department. Before joining homicide seven years ago, she worked as a patrol cop and as an undercover investigator in the narcotics and organized crime units.