Whats a good degree program for a person as wanting to be a police officer?

snow

accounting is the best major to follow for a police career. so much of modern law enforcement revolvers around finding the money trail.

Eric K

Im majoring in Adminstration of Justice, and getting a minor in spanish. But when I talk to police officers, they say most departments just want some kind of college degree because your real training comes in the academy. I have known officers with degrees in teaching, math, pychology...

leslie S

There is no best program. Anything from an accredited school is good. I always advise staying away from majoring in CJ unless you have already been the police.
The bulk of departments like 60 semester hours, if anything. The bulk will take good military time in lieu of college.
Different states have different methods of allowing people to attend an academy . Some do not allow attendance until you are hired and sponsored by a department. some allow you to go through on your own, take a state certification test and hire yourself out to a department. Some have a mix.
Some departments have a cadet program that starts you out at 18 or 19 in a college setting, they often pay for school or pay you a stipend for doing clerical work in the department. These are often administrated via a community college in the area.
Some have cadet program that is a 20 hour part time job if attending a local college.
Some states allow you to attend a real academy at age 19 1/2.
Try the web sites of different departments and state commissions or licensing authorities that you can have access to.
There are a large number of legitimate on line schools like Phoenix and Kaplan. Just make sure that any you sign up for is accredited by the North Central Association.
http://www.accreditedschools.org/school-search/
Commercial on line schools are expensive. Be careful their counselors are really sales people and they work out "easy payment" plans.
You cannot go wrong with attending a local community college as far as price, flexibility and legitimacy goes.
good luck

Public Administration, Organizational Leadership, Business Administration, Psychology, Sociology, Communications are all great degrees that would help you getting hired / promoted. I agree to stay away from the CJ / AJ classes unless you're already hired because that's all stuff that you're going to pick up in the academy. A lot of majors can be applied to law enforcement, the question is what interests you? Truth be told though I don't see any degree that won't make you a better prospective employee - the fact that you chose to continue your education shows maturity and initiative.

As far as credible online schools, check with your local REGIONAL accrediting agency for information on schools, many community colleges and universities, including state colleges run online programs for the working adult that are the same as if you attended classes in person.

If you're interested in getting hands on experience I would suggest researching student intern jobs at an agency or work study. Lots of agencies have programs for people attending university classes that let them study and perform support duties like traffic control, desk duty, clerical, etc.

Good luck to you!

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