<p>DS, who is a junior in high school, would love to follow his sister to Bama. He would also love to be in the Million Dollar Band. We have started to talk about possible majors/career choices and he said that he is really interested in law enforcement. We have no clue what kind of education this requires, so I thought I would ask here. I see that Bama offers a criminal justice major. Is that what someone would who wants to be a cop would major in?</p>
<p>[Home</a> | Department of Criminal Justice](<a href=“http://cj.ua.edu%5DHome”>http://cj.ua.edu)</p>
<p>I’d assume that this would be the best route.</p>
<p>Edjumacation is correct. Also, CJ 220 is a class titled “Law Enforcement” one can take while on the criminal justice route. I highly recommend both the class and the professor, Christine Ivie Edge.</p>
<p>DD has a friend who is doing exactly what your son is interested in doing. He is in the MDB and pep bands and is majoring in Criminal Justice and has a minor either in marketing or public relations. He has always wanted to be in Law enforcement. He is a student ambassador for Early College. I’m sure if you contacted the Early College program they could put you in touch with him!</p>
<p>Yes, Criminal Justice is the path. And if your son has FBI aspirations, that’s the route to take as well.</p>
<p>If the FBI is the agency your DS has in his sights then an accounting/financial background or computer forensic background would be the most helpful. Fluent in a foreign language is a huge plus. Criminal Justice is VERY broad with most classes geared toward the psychology/sociology of the criminal mind/behavior . Some classes are management oriented and geared toward a public administration style. I speak from experience. I spent 20 plus years in Law Enforcement and the best advice I received was to switch my Criminal Justice major midway thru to Security Management. Security Management is a hugely popular field right now and growing very rapidly. It helped me tremendously after my LE career.</p>
<p>NYBama, thank you for your input. I am going to have my ds take a look at your post. So far all he is thinking is that he would like to be a cop, but he has no clue what path to take to get there. Any advice is much appreciated as he begins his college search. He was happy to see that Bama has criminal justice.</p>
<p>Is Security Management actually a major? Is it offered at UA?</p>
<p>I don’t think Security Mgmt is a specific major. </p>
<p>I think it’s a company’s dept that identifies its assets and develops a Plan of Action and Policies to protect those assets.</p>
<p>I don’t think that there’s only one major that a person could do to be qualified.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for a job in the future of preventative law enforcement, computer science would be a great minor.</p>
<p>Security Management and Security Management Administration are absolutely majors. Homeland Security Management, Emergency Management/Crisis Management are also new majors. These majors are relatively new and are offered at many schools post 9/11. Although not wildly popular yet in mainstream universities, you will find them at well known NYC colleges such as John Jay College of Criminal Justice and many others.</p>
<p>But if a school didn’t have that major (or track), what majors/minors would you suggest?</p>
<p>Since UA only offers an introduction to Criminal Justice course with no other courses Law Enforcement related I would recommend Computer forensics with a psychology or sociology minor or even vice versa if the chosen field is to be a member of a Municipal or local Law Enforcement agency. If your looking to go into the FBI, I.R.S. or U.S. Secret Service you will need either a strong accounting/ financial course background or most computer related majors. You will pull ahead of the pack if you are fairly fluent in a foreign language particularly Russian, Chinese or Middle Eastern. Having study abroad experience in the country that speaks those languages is an even greater advantage.</p>
<p>If Law Enforcement is truly what you want to pursue then your better off attending a college or university that offers the Criminal Justice or Security Management majors. You will be better prepared and incredibly marketable over those with generic areas of study. Avery good friend of my families who is the HR Director of a Top 50 Fortune 500 company told myself and my DS that having a specialization and mastering it is much better than having a general degree with no mastery. It will set you apart from the pack. Law Enforcement is a little different since entrance to a municipal Police department is using civil service test based. Where the specialization degree will come into play is when you look to advance into other areas of that department when you’ve completed your Patrol time. I’ve seen folks pulled out of the Police Academy midway because the department had a very urgent need for a specific specialization particularly computer related and foreign language related specializations.</p>