Careers in Criminal Justice: Finding Your Specialty

About This Course

Have you ever thought about a career as a police officer, an FBI or DEA agent, or any occupation that seeks to pursue justice for all? Careers in criminal justice can be found at local, county, state, federal, and international levels, and even in the private sector. Explore some of the various occupations in this field through this course, while simultaneously learning how they interact with each other and other first responders.
Discover important aspects of criminal justice careers, such as implementing interviewing techniques, collaborating with other agencies and departments, cooperating with global partners, and communicating with various audiences. All of these tasks are completed while understanding the importance of ethical decision making in criminal justice. It is important to know and have the character required to know the difference between right and wrong to be successful in this field. If a career in criminal justice is something you hope to pursue, the course ends with some helpful information for finding employment in criminal justice. Prerequisites:  None

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• Compare and contrast public security agents to private security workers
• Recall the history of private security in both ancient and modern societies
• Identify career opportunities available in private security and their responsibilities
• Characterize special investigative units such as the Secret Service and its role in security
• Summarize the role of a SWAT team member
• Analyze similarities and differences between detectives and private investigators
• Understand the different roles and responsibilities of the US Border Security and its divisions
• Recall the purpose of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
• Describe the role of emergency medical services in public safety
• Explain the duties and responsibilities of firefighters
• Research and participate in community and student organizations
• Examine the roles and responsibilities of first responders
• Explain the goal of INTERPOL
• Describe the history of INTERPOL
• Discuss the different job roles that exist within INTERPOL
• Identify how INTERPOL collaborates with law enforcement agencies to stop international crime
• Describe interview techniques used by law enforcement
• Determine how establishing rapport can benefit police officers in their jobs
• Explain how police officers effectively communicate with suspects and inmates
• Identify elements of wrongful conviction and resources for victims of wrongful conviction
• Discuss both perspectives of common ethical quandaries in the criminal justice field such as the death penalty or solitary confinement
• Understand the codes of ethics for the criminal justice system and specifically law enforcement officers
• Explain laws, regulations, and policies that govern criminal justice professionals
• Analyze how constitutional laws impact law enforcement officials and their actions
• Explain the purpose and demonstrate the use of communication codes and the phonetic alphabet
• Describe different equipment and protocols used by law enforcement officers to communicate with each other and the public
• Identify communication and jurisdictional problems that may arise as multiple agencies work together
• Identify the unique interpersonal skills required in communicating with inmates, coworkers, and the general public
• Identify sources of information for employment and training opportunities and career options in the field of criminal justice
• Conduct a job search and identify the training, experience, and other qualifications required for different positions
• Complete a job application, resume, and cover letter
• Apply effective job interview techniques
• Describe how to make job changes appropriately

Course Outline:

Unit 1: The Role of Private Security

Unit 2: Other Roles in Criminal Justice

Unit 3: Working with Medical Emergency and Fire Departments

Unit 4: Global Perspective: Collaborating with INTERPOL

Unit 5: Spotlight on Interrogation

Unit 6: Evaluating Ethics in Criminal Justice Systems

Unit 7: Communication in Criminal Justice

Unit 8: Finding Employment in Criminal Justice

Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: None

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.

Ensure that your school or district network and device administrator establishes network access permissions or exceptions for online resources relevant to the course in which you are choosing to enroll. Ref., Michigan Virtual Course Allow List

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements.

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at CustomerCare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at customercare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building, discussion-based assessments (one-on-one conversations with your teacher), and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: None