Want To Fight Crime? Get an Online Certificate in Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice is defined as “the application or study of laws regarding criminal behavior.” The field of criminal investigation requires some sort of formal education, but your choices are broad. An Online Criminal Justice Certificate is one option, and you could build upon that by pursuing a bachelor’s degree later on. If you have a background in psychology or sociology, you are better suited to this field. No matter where …
Read more ↓Criminal Justice is defined as “the application or study of laws regarding criminal behavior.” The field of criminal investigation requires some sort of formal education, but your choices are broad. An Online Criminal Justice Certificate is one option, and you could build upon that by pursuing a bachelor’s degree later on.
If you have a background in psychology or sociology, you are better suited to this field. No matter where you are geographically located or where you choose to get your certificate from, a Criminal Justice Certificate will give you the basic knowledge and skills to carry out the most common types of criminal investigations, such as:
- Arson
- Computer crime
- Crimes against children
- Drug trafficking
- Financial crime
- Government corruption
- Homeland security
- Homicide
- Illegal gaming
- Sex offenders
Cost of an Online Certificate in Criminal Justice:
Going the online route is the ideal option. It affords you the luxury of studying on your own time and working around your schedule. If you cannot afford an expensive degree then an online certificate will be an option that you can afford and one whose cost you can cover rather quickly.
The certificate program can cost you $5000-7500 just in tuition fees. The cost per credit can be as high as $450.
Typical Courses
The Criminal Justice Certificate Course will cover a wide variety of topics, such as:
- Criminalistics,
- Fingerprints,
- Crime scene photography,
- Technology crimes,
- Collecting and presenting audio & visual evidence, and
- Biological evidence.
This is a challenging but exciting field. To be prepared for it students also need to learn softer skills that will aid in their professional development.
Those include:
- Developing a positive self-image
- Assessing competitiveness strengths
- Career expectations
- Learning job search techniques
- Written skills
- Resume preparation
Career Outlook
With your criminal investigation certificate in hand, there are a number of criminal investigation jobs to choose from.
You can become a:
- Crime scene investigator
- An FBI agent
- A homicide detective
- A police officer
- Criminal investigations officer for the IRS
Crime scene investigator jobs revolve around criminal investigation, while as a police officer you may spend only part of your time actually investigating the crimes committed. The job of a criminal justice professional is much more interesting.
After training in this program, graduates may additionally work in federal, state and local governments, forensic laboratories, medical examiners offices, hospitals, insurance companies, universities, arson investigation units, homicide investigations, or laboratories.
The certificate can assist you in becoming an independent forensic science consultant, fingerprint technicians, print examiners, forensic investigators and an evidence technician, to name a few.
According to payscale.com, the median criminal investigator salary fell between $40,459 and $75,408 in 2011. However, some criminal investigators can make over $95,000, particularly if they work for the federal government.
Imagine how much a criminal investigator supervisor makes!
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