Careers in criminal justice have several classifications. Most careers in criminal justice involve serving in a public capacity, either at the community, city, state or federal level. The higher your goal, the more necessary it becomes to have an education in criminal justice.
Criminal justice careers, however, are not limited to local or federal government positions. There are also several options for those wanting to serve in a private capacity. These usually have to do with security. Private investigators, bounty hunters and security officers often get criminal justice education to help them perform their jobs.
Law enforcement jobs
The most popular among careers in criminal justice has to do with law enforcement. This is usually at the local or statewide level. That includes being a police officer, a county sheriff or deputy, a state trooper or highway patrol officer, a park ranger, or a public safety officer. Detectives and narcotics officers also fall under the category of law enforcers.
It must be made clear that it is not a requirement to have a criminal justice degree when applying for any of the positions. There is a separate training that you need to undergo in order to be accepted for these jobs. But down the road, and particularly if you are looking to advance in your career, you will need to earn a criminal justice degree.
A federal law enforcement career is another classification. The jobs available are under federal or government agencies. Specialized training is needed for most of these positions. And having completed a criminal justice degree program is definitely a plus.
Federal law enforcers are your FBI agents, DEA agents, CIA agents, Secret Service Special Agents, Federal Ai r Marshals, Immigration officers, and Border Patrol agents. Recently, with threats of terrorism and natural disasters, homeland security training has been developed in some criminal justice colleges.
Careers in criminal justice, especially those pertaining to law enforcement, come with certain risk. But it is this particular group of people who often face danger due to the sensitive nature of the cases they handle.
Criminal justice job opportunities in this sector continue to generate interest among many people, not only because of a competitive criminal justice salary but because of the strong sense of commitment they feel to serving the country during dangerous times.
More Criminal Justice career options
A third criminal justice career is in correctional. The more common positions here are for a correctional officer, probation officer, parole officer and juvenile probation officer. There are lesser known jobs, but just as significant, such as Victim Witness Assistant and Correctional Counselor.
There is a specific program of studies for this type of work, mostly in the area of psychology and sociology, and correctional training is provided to its students because they are mostly in contact with offenders in rehabilitation.
Other criminal justice degree jobs fall under the category of Legal or Court careers. Programs are tailored for paralegal work and graduates can end up as a legal administrative assistant. They can work either in public offices, private law offices or corporations.
Another specialized career is that of a certified legal nurse consultant. These are for professional nurses, usually registered, who lend their experience and expertise to help in legal matters involving health care issues.
The field of criminal justice has spawned a variety of jobs so far different than before when its facets were simply limited to law enforcement, judiciary, corrections and probation. So careers in criminal justice will necessarily continue to increase and attract more individuals.
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Resolved Question: What to do with a totally worthless Criminal Justice degree?
I earned an AS degree in Criminal Justice.. I can't go into Law Enforcement, Corrections, Code Enforcement, Animal Control, etc. They all rejected me... phrases in the rejection letter include; "places you permanently outside our hiring guidelines", or words to that effect.
Anyone have a good idea what to do with a totally useless degree in Criminal Justice? Looking back, WOW!! All that time and money wasted... It was done in vain or was it done in vain???
I am going to see if any militias would be interested in my education.
