Career research paper – Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Table of Contents
Table of Content………………………………………………………2
Introduction……………………………………………………………3
Criminal Justice History….…………………………………………….3
History of Criminal Justice as a Career…………………………………4
Careers and Salaries in the Criminal Justice Discipline………………..5
Future of Criminal Justice Career………………………………………6
Conclusion………………………………………………………………7
References……………………………………………………………….9
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice is a structure of governmental institutions and processes which aim at attaining crime control, reduction of delinquency as well as penalty imposition for committed crimes. In other words, Criminal Justice is a law enforcement system that includes the judiciary, police, probation, and corrections. Additionally, it is directly involved in the capture, defense, imprisonment, prosecution, supervision, and sentencing of individuals or organizations charged or suspected to be involved in delinquency. Criminal Justice Systems include various levels such as the federal, state and local levels all of which perform differently but have similar goals: crime control and issuance of punishment on those accused or charged with the commission of a felony. This paper discusses Criminal Justice as a career of choice and expounds on various areas including the field’s history, career opportunities, and its future.
History of Criminal Justice
The Criminal Justice System in America dates several centuries back in an era during which Americans were subject to the rules and laws of the British.

This period was often characterized by unjust and unfair British policies and penalties. Nevertheless, William Penn started encouraging reforms in the then Criminal Justice System and participated in ensuring the application of these changes. The United States Constitution came after the American Revolution war which secured rights and freedoms that lacked in the past colonial governance. The formation of the Constitution marked the beginning of setting guidelines for felonies, penalty, and processes necessary for guaranteeing the protection of the rights of innocents.
History of Criminal Justice as a Career
Compared to other fields of study, Criminal Justice as a scholastic field is comparatively new. The study has progressed for the past half century with considerable development in past several decades. Criminal Justice varies from criminology which involves studying of behaviors driving the commission of crimes. In contrast, the study of Criminal Justice aims at understanding the law enforcement systems, corrections, and judiciary. Traditionally, it is presumed that August Vollmer initiated the study of Criminal Justice. August Vollmer was Berkeley’s first chief of police n California. Realizing that there existed little documentation on the U.S. Criminal Justice discipline following his appointment as police chief, Vollmer used European materials to acquire related information. As a result, Vollmer restructured police force at Berkeley by forming a bike patrol, taught his deputies, designed a central records structure and shortly necessitated college degrees from hi officers. Vollmer founded a Criminal Justice initiative later in 1916 at the University of California.
The program aimed principally minimizing dishonesty in law enforcement as well as professionalizing policing. The establishment of Criminal Justice programs extended to other learning institutions including San Jose State University and Michigan State University (Savelsberg, Cleveland and King 2004). It is, however, surprising that the subject had had about 1,000 learners only by 1950 and still solely specialized in police science only (Savelsberg, 2004). The foundation of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration occurred following increased and rampant corruption and increased racial unrests in the late 1960’s. This body offered federal financial support for crime projects, local and state law enforcement institutions. The body also improved the Criminal Justice subject by providing grants formed towards the end of 1906’s and beginning of 1970’s for Criminal Justice and Criminology academic quests and research. Also, the administration became eliminated, later on, the U.S. Office of Justice Programs succeeded it and still operates in the current America. Savelsberg et al. (2004) estimate that 729 U.S. Criminal Justice scholarly initiatives were operational by mid-1970’s with about 100,000 learners registered in these programs. Currently, hundreds of thousands students are enrolled in the Criminal Justice Field, either online of traditional classrooms, in numerous learning institutions throughout the United States.
Careers and Salaries in the Criminal Justice Discipline
Criminal Justice professions are found in the private sector, federal, state, county as well as local levels. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016) indicates that there were nearly three million employees employed in the Criminal Justice field. Some of the career opportunities in this field include judges, lawyers, private investigators, CIA officer, DEA agent, crime scene investigator, emergency management director, financial examiners, and college instructors. Other job areas involve police officers, correction managers, customs officials, state trooper, and fire investigators. While there are other areas within the Criminal Justice field, the mentioned areas constitute some of the best-paid professions in the field.
Lawyers and judges earn the highest salaries in the U.S. Criminal Justice subject in which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016) estimates lawyers to get an average of $136,260 and judges $116,100 salary per annum. Private investigators earn about $58,840, DEA agent about $ 54,460, CIA officer roughly $ 105,000 and Crime Scene Investigator approximately $ 79,620 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016). Additionally, an emergency management director receives a salary of $ 73,750, fraud investigator about $52, 840, and college instructors about $64,460 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016). Police officers earn roughly $61,270, Custom officers about $36,972, Correctional Counselor $ 42,920, state trooper $ 67, 190, and fire investigator $ 59,800 U.S. (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016). Harr and Hess (2010), however, acknowledges the difference in compensation between private and government criminal justice employers in which a majority of private organizations pay more compared to their government counterparts. Nevertheless, Harr and Hess (2016) admit that government employees enjoy other benefits from their work including health insurance, pensions, and sick leaves among other advantages.
Future of Criminal Justice Career
Pursuing a degree or other higher qualification in the Criminal Justice subject is versatile because it opens a broad range of job opportunities. In fact, a Criminal Justice degree can allow one to obtain employment at a state or local level law enforcement, judiciary, and higher education among other areas previously highlighted. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) indicates 6 percent growth in the employment rate for lawyer profession from 2014- 2024. This increase is typical to the average growth rate in other occupations. Nonetheless, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) points out persistence in job competition given that more students continue to graduates yet opportunities remain limited. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) suggests a less than average employment growth in the detective and police sectors of about 4 percent between 2014 and 2024. However, the increase in criminal behaviors especially in today’s world of increased techs will result to a need by the Criminal Justice System to have new work openings though this may vary depending on countries and counties (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015).
Projections for judge employment level indicate little to no change between 2014 and 2024 at both federal and state levels (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015). In fact, the body suggests a -1 percent change and cites that almost each new work opportunity for a judge necessitates authorization and approval from the legislature. It is, however, important to note a considerably impressive increase in postsecondary employment by up to 13 percent between 2014 and 2024 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015). This rise is relatively greater than that of other occupations due to an expectation of more students’ enrollment to pursue the course. And although this development rate is slower than one recorded in the past, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) allege that a majority of opportunities will be for part-time, faculty.
Saint Joseph’s University (n.d) points out criminologists will record a significant growth level of nearly 15 percent and criminal investigators about 11 percent increase between 2012 and 2022. Dworak (n.d) suggests an 8 percent rise in fire investigator job opportunities by 2021 which estimates about 100,000 vacancies in related field. Additionally, Dworak (n.d) allege the creation of nearly 43,000 jobs by 2021 in the correction department of Criminal Justice which is roughly 5 percent growth rate.
In conclusion, a career in Criminal Justice is lucrative, especially when one selects the high-ranking positions such as in judiciary, detective and policing units, correctional and investigative fields. While some of these areas require extensive educational input, for instance, court systems, others need average education such as college degree, for example, police officers and detective. However, for one to secure top jobs in the Justice Systems, some positions necessitate prior experience in lower areas. It is apparent, therefore, that choosing a career choice such as Criminal Justice is demanding just like any other profession but the benefits are attractive. Additionally, prospects for this career are favorable in that crime will always exist especially with increased populace and globalization and therefore, there will always be opportunities in this field. Also, acquiring a degree in Criminal Justice offers a variety of possibilities in the subject, hence one has a chance to choose or change jobs with the same educational qualifications.

References
Dworak, T. (n.d). Criminal Justice Job Outlook. Columbia southern University. Retrieved from
http://www.columbiasouthern.edu/criminal-justice-job-outlookHarr, J. & Hess, K. (2010). Careers in Criminal Justice and Related Fields: From Internship to
Promotion. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth.
Saint Joseph’s University.(n.d). Master’s in Criminal Justice Outlook. sju.edu. Retrieved from
http://online.sju.edu/programs/criminal-justice-careers.aspSavelsberg, J., Cleveland, L., & King, R. (2004). Institutional Environments and Scholarly
Work: American Criminology, 1951-1993. Social Forces, 82(4), 1275-1302. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3598437U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015). Occupational Outlook Handbook. Bls.gov. Retrieved
from https://data.bls.gov/search/query/results?cx=013738036195919377644%3A6ih0hfrgl50&q=future+of+Justice+system+careersU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2016). Protective Service Occupations. Bls.gov. Retrieved 21
December 2016, from https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes330000.htm#nat