Become a Police Officer, Criminal Investigator, or Forensic Technologist

A degree in criminal justice is a good tool to get into a variety of jobs offered in law enforcement. Departments increasingly encourage potential employees to take college courses; several even require a college degree.

Having a Criminal Justice degree provides several occupations to choose from. Here are some career paths you may take:

Private detectives and investigators use many methods to determine the facts in a case. They do much of their work with a computer, doing tasks such as recovering deleted e-mails and documents. They may also search computer databases or work with someone who does such searches.

Computer forensic investigators focus on recovering, analyzing, and presenting data from computers to use as evidence or in investigations. They assess the details of intrusions into computer systems, recover data from erased or encrypted files, and recover deleted e-mails and passwords.

Legal investigators help prepare criminal defenses, locate witnesses, serve legal documents, interview police and prospective witnesses, and collect and review evidence. Legal investigators also might gather information on the parties to the litigation, take pictures, testify in court, and put together evidence and reports for trials. They frequently work for lawyers or law firms.

Corporate investigators investigate internally and externally for corporations. In internal investigations, they might investigate drug abuse in the workplace, make sure that expense accounts are not misused, or determine whether employees are stealing information or merchandise. External investigations attempt to stop criminal schemes from outside the corporation, such as a supplier issuing fraudulent billing.

Probation officers work with those who are sentenced to probation instead of prison. These officers supervise offenders through contact with the lawbreakers and their families.

Correctional treatment specialists work within jails, prisons and probation agencies. Their main job duty is to evaluate inmates and make release plans.

Police Officers fulfill general law enforcement duties, including traveling on regular patrols and responding to service calls. Police officers direct traffic at an accident scene , investigate burglaries, and give first aid to accident victims. In large police departments, officers normally are assigned to a specific responsibility. Many urban police agencies involve officers in community policing—a practice in which an officer builds relationships with local citizens and mobilizes the public to fight crime.

Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs enforce the law on a county level. Sheriffs are generally elected to their posts and fulfill duties similar to those of local or county police chiefs. Sheriffs’ departments often are relatively small, most having 50 or fewer sworn officers. Deputy sheriffs have law enforcement responsibilities similar to those of police officers serving in urban police departments. Police and sheriffs’ deputies who offer security in county and city courts sometimes are called bailiffs.

Forensic technologists assist criminal investigators by gathering, classifying and analyzing the physical evidence that is found at crime scenes. They usually specialize in DNA and firearm evidence. The principal tasks for forensic science technologists involve running DNA tests on hair, skin, tissues, fibers, blood and other body fluids. They also carry out ballistic and other weapon analysis. Other responsibilities include writing reports and sharing expert opinions with the investigators based on the evidence they find.