Become a Psychologist

The field of criminal justice offers some very exciting and rewarding career opportunities. With new breakthroughs in forensic technology and an ever evolving domestic and international criminal justice landscape, it's almost a guarantee a career as a law enforcement or criminal justice professional will be anything but boring. There is an ever expanding list of criminal justice and law enforcement career opportunities that welcome individuals with diverse educational and professional backgrounds. Whether your interested in in criminology, psychology, political science, social work, engineering, forensics, chemistry, law or even accounting, you'll find a criminal justice career suited to your interests and skill set.

Below is a comprehensive list of the most popular criminal justice and law enforcement career fields. Within each field you'll also find a number of job specialities. For example, many people want to become a "CIA Agent", but they don't realize there are several different types of CIA agents (i.e. Operations Officer, College Management Officer, Intelligence Officer, Language Officer, etc.)? In addition, within each law enforcement agency, there are numerous "Support and Professional" positions, such as intelligence analyst, forensic accountant, applied scientist, engineer, and many more. To learn more about a specific career field, and to the explore the opportunities it offers, simply make your selection from the list below.

You can learn more about the education requirements for a career in criminal justice by reviewing A Career in Criminal Justice: How Much Education is Required and Is a Degree in Criminal Justice the Right Choice?.

Criminal Justice Degree Finder
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Criminology

Criminology
Criminology is a combination of both sociology and criminal justice. It attemps to understand and explain the anatomy of a crime, specifically its causes, costs, and consquences.

Law Enforcement

Law Enforcement
Law enforcement officers focus one preventing and investigating crimes, and apprehending suspects. They also work with the courts to see that criminals are prosecuted.

Law enforcement professionals fall into one of three general categories: Uniformed Officers, Investigators, and Support positions. Uniformed officers are our first line of defense against criminals. They patrol communities and respond to calls for assistance. They also investigate robberies and minor crimes.

Investigators are plainclothes law enforcement officers that investigate crimes. Specifically, they gather information and evidence that helps identify criminal activity and prosecute perpetrators.

Support personnel are the law enforcement professionals who work behind the scenes to make sure evidence is analyzed, clues are found, ballistics are examined, and crimes scenes are accurately reconstructed. While not as visible as other law enforcement careers, support personnal are some of the most highly educated and intelligent people in law enforcment.

Courts

Courts & Judicial System
The courts are at the center of the U.S. criminal justice system. Their primary objective is to determine the guilt or innocence of suspected criminals, and then set sentencing.