Law-Forums.org

[teyo]

I'm barley a freshman college student. I have always wanted to pursue a career in the law enforcement. Although to be in a state level law enforcement the minimum education level would be a HS diploma(unless your trying to advance yourself you would need college education). My ambitions are to start working for my local police dept. and hopefully after a couple of year attaining work experience apply for a federal agency(F.B.I/DEA/ICE). Would a bachelor's in CJ be useful though?

[ricard83]

The majority of criminal justice programs are glorified “cop shops,” and are therefore worthless. In the cop-shop approach, courses are often taught by retired police officers who regale their students with war stories from the good old days. These programs attempt to model themselves after the curriculum normally taught at police academies. They even go so far as to offer courses in DNA forensics to students who could hardly pass a basic chemistry class.

In order to make this degree worthwhile, you need to choose an institution carefully. There are a few legitimate criminal justice programs. SUNY Albany at Rutgers Newark are two examples.

Here's an article about a couple graduates from the Albany program. As you can see, they learned more than handcuffing techniques.