Types of Criminal Justice Jobs

The United States' criminal justice industry is vast. It includes a variety of jobs---ranging from those that require just a high school education to those that require advanced professional degrees. Therefore, it can be a daunting task to try to sort through all of the options when trying to learn about the types of criminal justice jobs available.

Job Levels

Criminal justice jobs are everywhere, literally. Criminal justice jobs are available on the city, county, state and federal levels, as well as in the private sector. Which level and sector is right for you depends on the actual type of criminal justice job you're interested in. You will have plenty of options, though, because many of the types of criminal justice jobs are available on multiple levels.

Agents

By far, the United States government is the largest entity with criminal justice jobs for people who want to be an agent of some sort. Therefore, if your dream career is being an agent, look for jobs with the Treasury Department, Immigration and Customs, Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Each agency has a specialized focus overall, but, in many cases, such as with the FBI, the agency has multiple divisions that allow agents to work on a variety of types of cases.

Officers/Investigators

While federal agencies certainly do employ investigators (often part of an agent's job), there are also dozens of career options for officers/investigators on the state, county or city level, too. These types of criminal justice jobs often include sheriff's deputies, detectives, forensic/crime scene investigators, police officers, bailiffs, corrections officers and probation officers.

Analysts

If you're interested in a criminal justice job, but working in an office is more appealing than being "out in the field" a majority of the time, then you might want to consider being an analyst. Analysts may be charged with reviewing any number of things---from evidence and scenarios to documents and statistics---to formulate an opinion, theory or course of action; some analyst criminal justice jobs may require investigation.

Support Personnel

Government and law enforcement agencies do not have a monopoly on criminal justice jobs. In fact, several industries assist traditional criminal justice outlets with criminal justice-related tasks. Professionals who may work directly or indirectly with criminal justice professionals to ensure that justice is served include (but are not limited to) paralegals, lawyers, physicians, psychologists/psychiatrists, nurses, lab technicians, penologists, accountants, social workers and information technology specialists.

References

• Criminal Justice Defined
• Criminal Justice Career Center