The attack of September 11 changed the whole environment of the world. People came to know that even the world’s most powerful nation is not a safe place to live in. The feeling of insecurity grew among the people and this led to a rise in jobs for the Criminal Justice field. There are a vast number of jobs which can be chosen in this field as it covers a number of different departments. The jobs pertaining to Criminal Justice can be categorized as
· Police Force
· Law Enforcement Attorneys
· ATF Agents
· Coast Guards
· CIA Agents
· Computer Forensics
· Private Detectives
· Compliance Officers
These are only the main departments for a job in CJ. The field is vast and so are the opportunities. The field of Criminal Justice is a social science discipline that teaches students about crimes committed, the methods used by law enforcing agencies and the procedures adopted by courts to prosecute criminals.
Before applying for a job, a student has to have a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. Due to a high demand for trained individuals, a great number of colleges and universities have added this field of Criminal Justice in their curriculum and nowadays even Online Criminal Justice Colleges have come up. The main concepts that are taught in this course includes understanding the system, concepts and issues in criminal justice, problem solving techniques, public speaking, conflict resolution, crisis management, debating and group discussions. Most careers in Criminal Justice require an Associate’s degree, a Bachelor’s degree or a Master’s or Doctorate degree in Criminology. Also, some careers may require additional requirements such as certifications, completion of training in a police academy or training for the particular job requirement. There are various institutes which train people for this field. Some of the reputed colleges and Universities are – Liberty University , University of Phoenix , Virginia College, Kaplan University among others. After finishing the courses and receiving the degree one gets the skills & knowledge to apply for the jobs.
As noted above, the Criminal Justice Career has many options. In addition to the above fields, there also exist other fields for a graduate in Criminal Justice. Careers can be made in Legal department such as Barristers, Solicitors, or lawyers/attorneys. There are also some other careers in Criminal Justice such as (a) Criminal Justice Administration Career. This job requires carrying out the daily investigation with some added responsibilities of knowing legal laws governing the state. This job is a specialized job which involves a lot of expertise in legal documentation and utmost care has to be taken. (b) Transport Security Administration is also another field of job application, (c) Economic Crime Investigation – This job involves detection of frauds and scams in various government & private agencies regarding credit, taxes & other related crimes, (d) Crime Scene Investigation involves on-the-spot safeguards and procedures to be followed at the scene of the crime, (e) Forensic Anthropology, (f) IT Network Security i.e. detection of data theft and hacking of computer software which poses a danger to the security of a country, (g) Home Security – prevention and investigation of acts of terror during emergencies.
These are the various opportunities available while pursuing a Criminal Justice Career. The pay scale in this field depends on the Job one gets. The starting can be from a hourly basis of $ 8 to 10 per hour to very competitive yearly salaries. Thus, as can be seen, this field has a vast number of opportunities and has become a hot career for many job seeking students.
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