Job Growth in the Criminal Justice Field
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that careers in the criminal justice field will grow rapidly between now and 2016. In the coming years, paralegal, investigator, private detective, and police officer positions are projected to grow between 11 and 22 percent.
Although a bachelor’s or master’s degree is not always required, law enforcement departments often prefer a criminal justice degree. It gives you a solid foundation of knowledge when you later work for the Police Department, Sheriff’s Office, State Patrol, or the Federal Government.
Many departments award a substantial percentage salary increase per level of education completed, and promotions are often quicker and better for officers with a higher education degree. Additionally, there is a growing trend among law enforcement agencies to offer tuition reimbursement.
“I think the degree will be worth it when I look back on my career,” a sheriff’s deputy said when asked about his master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Boston University’s online program.
“A master’s degree in Criminal Justice can help job seekers by giving them a head start in the initial hiring process. Employers know that a candidate with a master’s degree is smart, dedicated, and willing to work. hard,” she says. “Experience is also extremely important, but education can help people gain life experience and broaden their understanding of the field of criminal justice.”
The federal government is offering the congressman and all those who work at the federal or county level the federal loan forgiveness program, which will pay off the rest of their school debt after ten years of service.
Criminal justice is a field of innumerable possibilities, and not only in law enforcement. Political science, prison management and criminal law are some of the specialized areas of study, as well as security, corrections, emergency response, crisis management, information technology, the judicial system, labor social and case management.
Opportunities for graduates include federal agencies such as the FBI, CIA, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms), Secret Service, Customs, DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), INS and the Border Patrol. Local options include careers as a state trooper, SBI officer, detective, investigator, security specialist, and in the department of corrections as a corrections, probation, or probation officer.
Criminal justice can also lead to legal professions such as a lawyer, paralegal, paralegal, court administrator, judge or magistrate, and in military and defense agencies leading to a career as a military police officer or investigator, criminologist, law enforcement investigator, crime scene, or forensic scientist. Other opportunities include: in game policing as a conservation officer, in colleges and universities as lecturers and professors, and in the field of cybercrime and white-collar crime detection and prevention. When you decide which specialization might interest you, you’ll want to do some more specific research. No matter what career you decide to pursue, a criminal justice degree will be a strong foundation to have.
You may also consider whether an associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degree is right for you:
• An associate’s degree in criminal justice will give you an overview of the criminal justice system, including police and corrections, the court system, and juvenile justice. For many departments, an associate’s degree is the minimum requirement to become a police officer or sheriff’s deputy.
• A bachelor’s degree can introduce you to a specialized field within criminal justice. An additional concentration can prepare you for careers in corrections, forensics, juvenile justice, or crime scene investigation. A criminal justice degree with a technology focus, for example, could help you land a job in computer crime and cyber security.
• A master’s degree can advance your career early on or advance you professionally if you’re already working in the field. Courses focus on more specialized areas such as criminology, juvenile law, and criminal justice systems.
“Higher education helps those entering the workforce improve their writing skills, gain knowledge of the law and learn about arrest procedures,” the MP with his master’s from BU told me. Among the areas of specialization that he studied are criminology, white collar crime, terrorism and victimology. “However, there are many other practical applications that one can only learn while on the job,” he noted, naming handcuffs, gun tactics and evidence processing as a few examples.
“Earning a criminal justice degree is just as academically challenging as an engineering or math program,” says Don Schneidmiller, deputy chief of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. He recommends choosing a challenging program with instructors who have experience in the field and making sure the curriculum is broad so you learn all aspects of the criminal justice system.
Most importantly, Schneidmiller believes, if you’re interested in pursuing a criminal justice degree: “It’s critical that students know that an extremely high moral and ethical standard will be held of them,” advises Schneidmiller. “They need to start sticking to that standard now.”
