Interesting career choice?

[tkdguy09]

Well, I have always thought when I was younger of becoming a police officer when I "got older". Now I getting to the end of my high school years. This coming year I will be a Senior and need to start making my decisions now. I need to decide what college and what majors to choose.

I still have a passion inside me for law enforcement and really want to pursue it in the near future. My question to anyone who knows a fair deal about the wide range of law enforcement careers. Of course, I would like to go out in the field (such as: patrol officer or something similar), but I am wanting to know how many careers there REALLY are in law enforcement.

I have found a niche for computers though in the past 3 years and was planning on majoring in the area of computers or information technology at a standard university perhaps. I don't see how this would mix with being a patrol officer however, so this is where I need yalls help!

Could anyone tell me what paths I might be able to pursue in the field of computers in the area of law enforcement but also, I am still interested (if I could make it) in becoming like apart of the Texas Highway Patrol. So if anyone could give me some information on that, I would appreciate it so much.

Thank you guys in advance, I know I have several questions and I appreciate it!

[mcsap]

Being good with computers in LE is a GREAT background to have !

But being a patrol officer won't afford you much of an opportunity to use your skills.

BUT , you need to prove yourself on the street first before you can become the next " Steve Jobs" of the LE computer world.

Smaller dept's don't have the money or the time to devote someone to do forensic computer work. Large dept's if not the Feds do. So you need to decide what you really want to do.

But what you can do now is stay AWAY from trouble and AWAY from those that cause trouble. The drugs, the alcohol , the criminal pranks etc. It is very possible to do something " dumb" and later find out that your LE dreams are gone.

[DeltaV]

Our IT guys are civilian employees of the department. They take care of the computer issues while the police officers do police work. As a patrol officer, you just need to know how to use a computer and be familiar with whatever software your department uses. It's helpful to have a good working knowledge of computers, however it's not overly necessary in patrol.

There are investigative positions that deal with various crimes involving computers, including things such as child pornography. The actual analysis of the suspects' computers is usually done by forensic computer specialists who again are usually civilian employees of either individual departments, the federal government, or state governments. That's all they do--they don't do any actual field work.

Majoring in computer science would be a good idea. It's a good major that will give you something to fall back on should you decide LE isn't for you after all. It also could prove helpful if you later want to pursue an investigative position at the federal level.

[Creeker]

My little addendum to the above would be to emphatically state that YOU DO NOT NEED A CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEGREE TO WORK IN LAW ENFORCEMENT!

Don't let anyone talk you into one. It limits your possibilities outside of Law Enforcement.

signed: retired and unemployed Criminal Justice Major




;)

[MP_Steve]

My little addendum to the above would be to emphatically state that YOU DO NOT NEED A CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEGREE TO WORK IN LAW ENFORCEMENT!

Don't let anyone talk you into one. It limits your possibilities outside of Law Enforcement.

signed: retired and unemployed Criminal Justice Major




;)

I'm just beginning to pursue my BA in criminal justice. I have no desire to study anything else right now. If I tried to, I'd probably lose my motivation and not get that degree at all. I'm only in one CJ class right now, but the subject matter is familiar, which helps.

Perhaps when the time comes, I'll get my graduate degree in something useful :p

[taylorplayer]

On the IT team of about 10 civilians, we have 1 sworn officer that oversees the IT department. He was a patrol guy, went to PFC then Corporal. When this job came open, his IT degree helped him a lot. Now he's a Sgt.

I majored in Psychology and minored in Criminal Justice. The reason I majored in Psych is because that is a huge interest of mine. I minored in CJ because the subect matter was familiar. And like MP_Steve said, I'll be getting a graduate degree in something useful!

[retdetsgt]

I majored in sociology because I found that interesting. In reality, it's as useless in the real world as a CJ degree though.

I always recommend people take classes, if not major in public administration. The academy will teach you how to be a cop, but it won't teach you how to be an administrator if you go up in rank. It's good to know budgets, etc.. And it's a marketable major if you find you can't or don't want to go into police work later.

[phantasm]

NYPD IT is civilian, but there is a computer crime division, and knowing computers would definitely be a benefit for that unit.

[BP348]

Perhaps when the time comes, I'll get my graduate degree in something useful

Why would you spend the time, money, and effort to get a degree in something if you believe it's not useful? :confused:

I can understand why someone would say get a degree in something other than CJ so if it dosen't work out you have something to fall back on but that's like telling someone who wants to go into business not to get a business degree so if something happens they have a different degree to fall back on.

My profession is Law Enforcement so for me the choice in my education was to get a Criminology degree. If I was going into business I would have gotten a business degree. If something happens and I can't work in LE anymore I believe I'd like to teach. If so then my degree(s) will work for that as well.

Public Administration is good as well & I don't know how other agencies are but mine will teach you how to do budgets and the other items that upper mangt. is required to do.

I believe that just about anything is a good major, as long as you complete your degree. But, say you get a degree in Computers and then goto work as a LEO for say 10 years and do no work with computers while a LEO and then get hurt. Now you need to get a job, most likely in computers, but how realistic is that? Your ten years out of date in what the degree taught you. We all know the computer field changes rapidly, But, how much has the field changed in that time? Do you still have any required certifications?

Just an example, it kind of burns me up to hear people say that a CJ degree is useless. :mad:

[tkdguy09]

Guys,

Wow, I really didn't think I would get so many responses in such little time. I appreciate it very much to everyone who commented. I am taking in a lot of what is said and weighing the options. Honestly, when going to college I think I will still want to major in some computer field and if I ever apply for the police department (Houston PD), then I do not think it would be of much use unless I went and worked as a computer forensics specialist or something of that nature.

Also, if looking to go into computer forensics in either a police department or something state or federal, how would I go about doing that? Say if going for the Houston Police Department, do I need to start out at patrol?

Last, what are some KEY things you guys could suggest me preparing for before entering the police academy? I believe I am somewhat prepared physically. I compete on my high school wrestling team, so I would say working my butt off there is somewhat of a plus.

Thanks.

[mcsap]

Every Police Department requires that you start out on the street because before you can do anything else...you have to prove you can be a cop.

The Feds are a bit different in some cases as they specifically recruit for certain positions. But I'll wait for one of our Feds to chime in.

[Swat1]

The actual analysis of the suspects' computers is usually done by forensic computer specialists who again are usually civilian employees of either individual departments, the federal government, or state governments. That's all they do--they don't do any actual field work.

I'm a digital forensic agent (my agencies term for a forensic computer specialist) and I'm a sworn, gun carrying, arrest making, door kicking (well, ramming), interviewing, etc., etc. cop. My agency does not have any civilian forensic personnel, we are all sworn agents.

I do spend my fair share sitting behind computers, as the imaging, processing and analyzing are very in-depth, but I'm out at pretty much every enforcement action my unit executes. I just deal with the computers once we make entry or the arrest, etc.

I still work investigations as well. Most DFA's in my agency do. Some are full time DFA's, but most of us work cases. i'm assigned to a Child Sexual Exploitation Group and part-time to a Child Sexual Exploitation multi-agency task force. So my action is doubled. Not only do I get to go out on all the enforcement operations out of my own office, I get to do it on the task force as well.

I am aware of civilian forensic personnel out there, but in my experience most are sworn. Here in Oregon, the vast majority are sworn personnel, as a matter of fact I can think of only one civilian that I know of and she's in Vancouver, WA. All the rest are sworn. As far as us feds go, again, my agency is 100% sworn DFA's. The FBI is split, they have agent forensic examiners and they have civilians on the CART teams.

To the original question, there is a great need for computer forensic personnel in law enforcement at every level and that need will only increase. In case you all haven't figured it out yet, computers aren't going anywhere, they are only becoming more prevalent and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. In general, you will have to put some time in as a regular cop, agent, whatever before going the forensic route.

In my agency, you need three years in before you can be nominated for the training.

Anyway, hope this clears some of that up.

Swat1*

[tkdguy09]

Thanks guys, especially Swat 1, I really got a good deal out of what you said about the computer forensics. I really will consider applying for the police academy after I graduate from college.

What are some of the really great benifits of being with the police department? Like medical, retirement (and at what age typically), and just everything?

[Creeker]

...What are some of the really great benifits of being with the police department? Like medical, retirement (and at what age typically), and just everything?

Which one?

In SC, the Police Retirement is @ 25 years or 55 YOA minimum. At minumum a retiree will take home around 55-60% of their monthly gross, based on the highest Average 3 years earnings.

Insurance will cost much more than pre-retirement.:rolleyes:

Retirement earnings are not tax free, either.