Morgan
I am pursuing my degree in Criminal Justice emphasizing in forensics?
My question is, I am pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice, along with Anthropology and Psychology. I will pursue a bachelors in CJ, currently finishing my Associates in that. Are there good schools in California that I should look into applying for? Also, are there any certificates or anything specific I should focus on to get into the forensics field. I do not have a specific concentration but I want to work in the forensics field of Criminal Justice. #criminal-justice
2 answers
Daniel Sells
Daniel’s Answer
I can't speak to specific colleges in California, however I would suggest that you look into a school that offers a Forensic Science minor possibly. If you are serious about getting into forensics as a career, chemistry is an important science to be well-versed in. If you want to work as a police officer, continue in Criminal Justice. If you want to focus on a civilian forensic science role, you might want to look into a more scientific major. Biology or chemistry is a safe choice! You can also take some photography courses as electives too. Photography is a huge part of crime scene investigations.
Kaycee Peterson
Kaycee’s Answer
I am currently studying a double major in Forensics and Criminal Justice. The forensics side gives students an overview of all the different forensic disciplines. From there you get to focus on what your course work is centered around.
The University of Central Oklahoma offers classes in digital forensics, lab work, crime scene processing, crime scene reconstruction, blood spatter analysis, photography, behavioral aspects of crime scenes, and many other specific areas. All of these classes are taught by professors who have previously worked in the field they are teaching or may still be working in it. This is an amazing tool as you are trained in your area properly and have acess to your professor's knowledge and experience.
If you cannot study forensics as a degree then I would suggest studying the different disciplines and deciding what side you want to go into. I personally want to be a crime scene processor when I graduate. They are civilians that work alongside the various police departments specifically for collecting and processing evidence at crime scenes. That field of work goes nicely with a degree in criminal justice and many of the processing units will train you once you are hired.