Any future/or Law Enforcement Offiers?

brittneymc88

Hi all!
I will have my Associates in Criminal Justice by the end of August (summer classes), but I don't know if I want to go back to school for a higher degree or back to get my Bachelors in Human Services. Any advice on the pros and cons would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

SocialWorker2B

This is not my area of expertise but what can you do with an associates? What is the income associated with that kinda job? And, is that income okay with you?

What would you be doing with the Bachelor's? I am a big fan of Human Services but I would say to major in Psychology/Sociology or better yet, Social Work instead. If you major in Social Work, you can automatically start working as a social worker in the criminal system and with delinquent youth.

IMHO, I always think that associates are not nearly as useful as bachelor's.

Even if you can get some kind of career related job F/T, and go back to school P/T -- well, that's what I would do.

If I had more information, I could give you more advice/perspective.

Feel free to write back and so will I! :-)

brittneymc88

Thanks!

I thought about getting my bachelors in Criminal Justice, but decided to get my associates first since the Police Departments usually hire you after you finish the training provided through the college. My fiancé has his Bachelors in Criminal Justice and it was hard for him to get on the force because the college he attended wasn't hands-on. I also thought about getting a Psychology degree, but because I am working on opening a Safe House for youth, it might get in the way with me working at the site. I agree, it is better to have a Bachelor, but when getting a degree in Criminal Justice, I think that getting my associates first and then my bachelors would be good because I will have training and a better chance at getting hired from the 500 hour course.

SocialWorker2B

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_futureor-law-enforcement-offiers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:684Discussion:7fee1d16-95ba-49d4-ae23-2d6d7e56f0daPost:7e20bd05-c55b-471a-8e55-cdd87703dd49">Re: Any future/or Law Enforcement Offiers?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks! I thought about getting my bachelors in Criminal Justice, but decided to get my associates first since the Police Departments usually hire you after you finish the training provided through the college. My fiancé has his Bachelors in Criminal Justice and it was hard for him to get on the force because the college he attended wasn't hands-on. I also thought about getting a Psychology degree, but because I am working on opening a Safe House for youth, it might get in the way with me working at the site. I agree, it is better to have a Bachelor, but when getting a degree in Criminal Justice, I think that getting my associates first and then my bachelors would be good because I will have training and a better chance at getting hired from the 500 hour course.
Posted by brittneymc88[/QUOTE]

Ohhh, okay, see I didn't know that about the PDs. I learn something new every day. :-)

Wow! You're opening a Safe House? That is amazing. How are you doing that? Is it going to be for runaway/homeless youth or youth in general? That is so interesting!

So, any Bachelor's degree would get in the way of working there due to the time involved in the degree? I can see how you would be stretched thin between the PD and the Safe House. In your case, I think that 'taking time off' might be a great idea because you're doing so many worthwhile things in the interim.

Is the Safe House and working for the police department your dream careers?

Lakerchic7272

Hey! My FI is a CJ major now. He starts his internship this summer.  What schools do you and your FI go to?

Nukke

I was just wondering--why would someone want/need a degree in CJ in order to be a police officer?  Is it beneficial?  Couldn't someone just learn the same things in the police academy? 

I ask because my FI wants to go straight into the academy as soon as we're back in North America.  I wonder if it would be really hard for him to get into / graduate from the academy if he has never studied criminal justice.

Thanks

Jenni.Adams

You usually learn the same things but to a lesser degree in the Acadamy and POST training. My FI is a CJ major going for a BA and I'm getting a BA in forensics about 90 percent of the classes we take are full of current police officers because if you have a degree you get looked at for promotions faster because you learn things like how to manage a force, how to deal with victims better etc. You can graduate just fine from the acadamy without a degree but it is way beneficial to have one eventually. The training you recieve is more in depth and a lot of the times you get higher pay because you have a degree


But like OP said you need to go to a hands on college, the tv advertisments for getting your CJ degree online aren't very useful because yeah you have a degree which means you may or may not have read the online material and answered some questions about it but you have no experience even most community colleges I've looked at do hands on courses but it depends on the school and the specfic force and what kind of job he's wanting to do as well, as to whether or not the force will like that school. Most acadamies have counselors you can go talk to about it and will have some schools they would recommend going to for a CJ degree

Jenni.Adams

BTW the safe house idea is really a neat thing to do