College Major

[crewchief]

I have always wanted to become a police officer ever since I was in Pre-school and had an officer come talk to us for career day. Right now I am in the military and considering my options of either reenlisting or applying for a department. I am finishing my Associate's Degree in Criminal Technology/Latent Evidence. It consists of Forensic Chem, Footprint Molds, Tire Ridge Analysis, Fingerprinting, etc. My question is....

Do any of you feel as though this would help me in the long run as far as doors to other position in law enforcement open up if once I become an LEO? Or do all LEO's, as yourselves, all have equal oppurtunity to these other positions?

[Group9]

In my agency, a large single mission federal one, we hire all of our forensic people specifically for those positions and it is a career ladder completely separate and different from our 1811's (criminal investigators/special agents).

We have several regional laboratories, Washington DC, Miami, Dallas, for example and when we need some specialized forensic examination done in the field, the labs fly or drive someone out. An example would be if we want a warehouse ion scanned to be tested for the former presense of any drugs.

But, there is no cross over. If a lab technition, or an agent, want to switch jobs, they have to apply just like anyone in the general public.

[Kimble]

... I am finishing my Associate's Degree in Criminal Technology/Latent Evidence. It consists of Forensic Chem, Footprint Molds, Tire Ridge Analysis, Fingerprinting, etc. My question is....

Do any of you feel as though this would help me in the long run as far as doors to other position in law enforcement open up if once I become an LEO? Or do all LEO's, as yourselves, all have equal oppurtunity to these other positions?

Depends on the type of position you are interested in. A lot of LEO's engage in Evidence Technician positions. This is a position that allows the officer/deputy to conduct the preliminary documentation and retrieval of evidence at a crime scene. Your AS degree will not land you the position from the get-go, as you will have to start out like very one else at an entry level position (usually patrol). However it will look good if you apply for this position once you've made it past the entry level positions.

If you are interested in being a forensic scientist, sworn or non-sworn (ala the CSI television show), the Associate's degree likely won't cut it. Forensic scientist and crime scene investigator positions are different from evidence technician positions as these call for the investigator/scientist to actually conduct lab work related to the evidence retrieved. I dated a girl while in grad school who was interested in pursuing this type of position with the state police and DEA. At the time we were dating she was working on her Master's degree in Forensic Science, and had a Chemistry BS to back it up. This will be your competition if you're interested in the CSI-type positions, so you'll have to go much further than the Associate's degree to make the cut. Good luck.

[DeltaV]

It really will depend on your department. At my agency, we dust for our own prints at things such as structural and auto burglaries. Some officers will also take their own photographs of certain scenes. Any major crime scenes will be processed by our crime scene technicians, who are civilian employees. Many departments are going away from having sworn personnel serve as crime scene technicians, especially the larger ones.

In my opinion, any degree will help you in law enforcement. It's not really a job that you can learn sitting in a classroom, so basically the degree is just one added qualification that will help you in the hiring and promotional processes. It doesn't matter if that degree is in criminal justice, accounting, or physical education.