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If I get a bachelors in Criminal Justice what would the next step be for me to become a crime scene investigator.

#criminal-justice #criminology #forensics #law

law criminal-justice forensics criminology
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T.’s Answer

Hello. If you are looking to analyze evidence found on scenes then you would need more of a scientific background. Many place look for the minimum of an Associates in biology, chemistry or forensic science. Many of these jobs are done by civilians so you do not have to worry about becoming a sworn officer. I am a Crime Laboratory Technician with the Baltimore Police and my job is to go out on the scenes to document, recover and analyze any evidence that is found on scene.

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Kim’s Answer

Blake,

You basically have two available avenues.

  1. Become a police officer, and work your way into the position. Keep in mind that in smaller agencies you may have better opportunities than in larger agencies, but the pay/benefits may not be as good.
  2. Apply for civilian evidence tech positions. Please see these crime scene (and other investigative) positions in San Antonio. All of them are civilian, non-police jobs except the ones titled "police. . . ." They receive continuing training throughout their careers.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/sanantoniotx/classspecs?keywords=crime%20scene%20investigator&page=1

notice that all except the entry level position require an IAI certification. A full-time college student can join the IAI for $45 a year. https://www.memberleap.com/members/newmem/newmem1.php?mid=3654219599&lid=3223312&sf=A

hope this helps!

Kim
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Sara’s Answer

Better off with a Bachelors in Forensic Science. Minor in Criminal Justice if you have time. Criminal Justice won’t give you these core classes
Examples of courses in a forensic science degree curriculum include:

Introduction to Forensic Science
General Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Forensic Pathology
Forensic Trace Evidence
Physical Evidence
Forensic Toxicology
Crime Scene Processing
Forensic Science Laboratory Internship

I’d recommend taking this program on campus- these classes just don’t translate well to online programs.
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Estelle’s Answer

I have a good friend who is a forensic scientist. One of the biggest challenges she faces is the difficult situations when she is called in from the coroners office to investigate a death. Most of the time she does her job with little mental stress, but some times due to the situation or the person who died, it stress her greatly mentally. Otherwise the lab work is very typical and could get repetitive at times and somewhat boring. You have the credentials necessary, but I would suggest taking some classes in forensic science, especially the ones concerning work with the police and legal systems. You will be called upon to investigate deaths and give your expert opinion on what happened and when it happened. You will need to know the legal aspects, chain of custody, confidentiality, how to present you opinion to the court etc If all this sounds good, then you would need to get a second degree in forensic science. A lot of your classes will count towards it , but you would need to take heavy chemistry classes and anatomy classes.
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