I’d suggest that your son start here. https://www.fbijobs.gov/ Then click the tab for career paths. Also click the tabs for high school and college students.
Criminal Justice should be viewed the same way you’d view most degrees in the social science. The four year version will require a lot of sociology (the degree itself might even be called criminology, which is a branch of sociology) and psychology. He will acquire many of the same skills a major in those fields requires. He’ll study research design and statistics, abnormal and forensic psychology, etc. He will learn a lot of theory. Graduates may get jobs in law enforcement (local, state, national), probation, corrections, and social services. My boss (program director for a department of education grant) was a Criminal Justice major. I’ve seen some graduates go on to law school as well. Our department chair for the program is a lawyer.
My daughter is a CPA, and for a while she seriously considered a career in the FBI. The Bureau aggressively recruits and hires forensic accountants. I think the FBI requires that its accountants hold a CPA and have some work experience in the field…
You may have. However, unless you have some other desirable quality–you’re a URM, you’ve experience working in law enforcement, you’re the first in your family to attend college–a criminal justice degree actually counts against you in law school admissions. It’s considered an easy major. I’m not denying you can get into law school, but you’ll get accepted at lower ranked law schools than those with the same LSAT and GPA in a standard liberal arts major like poli sci, English, history, etc.
Northeastern has a criminal justice major and also a security and resiliency masters program… might be worth going to all to some profs there about pathways… so many ways to go in this field beyond being a police officer. Since you are in MA, go talk to folks there, even if not going to that school.