Suggestions

[Shadow45]

Truthfully,
I want to be on a team SRT/HRT/SWAT/DEA/USMS-SOG etc.....
No military eperience http://www.specialoperations.com/ubboard/frown.gif
Am I wasting my time in school trying to get
a degree in CJ? posted reply or E-Mail suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Gunpoint]

First of all, I'm glad you are not lying.

Second of all, show some initiative and do some friggin' research. ALL the questions you've just asked have been answered ad nauseum in this and other forums. Narrow your questions down and then ask. I'll be glad to help...

Start with the WWW sites of each agency you just mentioned (www.fbi.gov, www.dea.gov, (http://www.dea.gov,) etc.)

Check out the pages of each on here and on specwarnet.net. Try www.google.com (http://www.google.com) as a search engine. Check Amazon.com for books on the things you are interested in.

Try ordering videos from The Discovery Channel or The Learning Channel.

Also, try something other than CJ as a major. If you ever want to do something else, its a worthless degree.

[This message has been edited by 1811 (edited 12-17-2000).]

[Shadow45]

I have searched this site a little
and read that a degree in Criminal Justice
is not of much value.
wondering why as this is the starting point
and if there is anything else that I should
be/could be doing to get to my goal.

1811 thanks for your help.

[ski]

As a holder of a Criminal Justice degree and a ten year law enforcement veteran and current federal agent applicant, I can totally and honestly tell you that a CJ degree will not get you much, if anything at all. Now if you are getting ready to graduate or something close, go ahead and keep CJ and IMMEDIATELY plan on getting a master's in something ELSE if you want federal employment...management, math, computer science, accounting, even political science. If you are a freshman or sophomore, CHANGE MAJORS NOW. Some local departments might like a CJ degree, but most wont give a rip what you have, so get it in something useful, especially if a LE career does not pan out or you just plain hate LE (which a lot of former and current coppers/agents do). Not trying to scare you, just have a "Plan B" always.

Ski

[ski]

Oh yeah...Spanish, Chineese, Japaneese, and Russian are big ones, too. If you can swing a degree in a language, do it. As 1811 and others have said before, diversity and "uniqueness" in education and/or experience is a must. You gotta be able to offer something most others can't.

Ski

[jnc36rcpd]

I cannot really knock the CJ/LE major. It does offer some perspective that the average Russian language or computer science major may not get (e.g.: why DO we have an exclusionary rule; why not have a national police force). The CJ/LE degree may (emphasis on MAY) indicate to an agency that you have an interest in the job as opposed to any other B.A. applying for a job. (The converse side of that is the number of dolts who major in CJ/LE because they've seen the X FILES or NYPD BLUE too often.) A CJ/LE major will allow you to network with some people in the business, especially on the local level.

All of this being said, there is a strong argument for a major in something different and a minor in CJ/LE. This will give you many of the advantages of the CJ/LE major along with the advantages suggested by 1811 and Ski.

Good luckand be safe.

[mdb23]

Stay away from the big CJ. In all honesty, larger departments don't give a flying frigg what your degree is in, so you might as well get a degree in something that will help you get a job if you end up getting burned out on LE (Trust me bro, no matter how gung ho you are about LE right now, it might happen).

All large deptartments are going to teach you whatever they want you to know during their academy, so the fact that you know EVERYTHING about Sir Robert Peel and the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 isn't going to get you anywhere.

The feds certainly aren't going to give preference to a CJ major. They want a unique skill (language, computer skills, JD, accounting, experience on a task force, etc.) and, lets face it, CJ degrees certainly don't show the world that one is an Einstein (no math courses required for the major, no hard science, very little writing compared to the liberal arts degrees, no computer courses--all in all, one of the easier degrees to receive).

Small depts might give preference to the degree,but if you have your heart set on being on a full time tac team, then a small dept is not the place to be.

Go for an engineering or computer science major. You can still be a cop, will have something the feds will smile upon, and will be able to get another job in a minute if you ever get fed up with all of the BS that LE entails.

mdb23

[Shadow45]

Thank you guys for all the info.
http://www.specialoperations.com/ubboard/smile.gif