10.2 Criminal Justice Careers

Anne Nichol

10.2 Criminal Justice Careers

Criminal justice careers can include work in law enforcement, legal services, or corrections (figure 10.2). Most criminal justice careers involve working for a government entity, although there are also non-profit and private opportunities, such as working for a victim advocacy organization or a private law firm that does criminal defense work. The choice among these careers depends on which aspect of the criminal justice field you find most appealing or rewarding, as well as what role suits your goals in terms of educational investment, day-to-day job activities, and lifestyle. Consider, as you read about these roles, what interactions each type of professional may have with our focus population and how that interaction can impact the professional as well as the justice-involved person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru9dyuV7KcU

Figure 10.2. This optional video offers a very general overview of careers in public safety, law, and corrections. Transcript.

Some entry requirements for criminal justice jobs are mentioned in the descriptions in this section, but if a particular type of work interests you, you will want to research further to best position yourself to access job opportunities. Most professions discussed here require a criminal background check. The Oregon Department of Corrections, as an example, requires that applicants be “law-abiding . . . with no felony convictions” and “of good moral fitness [with] no acts or conduct which would cause a reasonable person to have substantial doubts about the individual’s honesty, fairness, respect for the rights of others, or for the laws of the state and/or the nation.” Applicants for law enforcement and corrections jobs must also be able to pass medical and psychological screenings and be eligible to possess firearms (Oregon Department of Corrections, n.d-b).

Law Enforcement and Beyond

Law enforcement personnel work to serve and protect the community. Law enforcement officers perform a variety of public safety duties, such as traffic stops, criminal investigations, and crisis response. Officers carry weapons—an enormous responsibility—and they have significant behind-the-scenes obligations, such as filing reports (Occupational Outlook Handbook [OOH], 2024h). Law enforcement officers at the local level work for cities, counties, or states in sheriffs’ offices or police departments. Many police bureaus have specialized units that focus on particular tasks or needs, such as the behavioral health and crisis response teams discussed in Chapter 5. Officers working in these roles access additional training and gain valuable experience in managing particular types of encounters. Some law enforcement officers have very specific roles, such as bailiffs, who maintain order in courtrooms (OOH, 2024h). Overall, more than 80% of police officers are male. Women make up only 16% of officers. About 18% of all officers are Latinx, and 13% are Black. Only 7% of police officers identify as LGBTQIA+ (Zippia, 2024c).

Optionally, watch the short video in this section (figure 10.3) for a quick overview of the action-packed job of a Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy. Keep an eye out for mention of the county’s Mental Health Response Team at minute 2:14, which touches on law enforcement diversion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhejBu71x4k

Figure 10.3. Washington County, Oregon, touts some important roles of that county’s sheriff’s office, including the operation of the Mental Health Response team that works to divert people away from the criminal justice system. Transcript.

Law enforcement also occurs at the federal level—operating on behalf of the U.S. government. Officers working for federal law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security will frequently encounter people who experience mental disorders, requiring adequate crisis response and other appropriate training as discussed earlier in this text (GAO Highlights, 2018).

There is a wide range of educational and experience requirements for law enforcement officers, depending on the hiring agency and the specific role. Some local police departments require only a high school diploma or GED. Others require a college degree or, in some cases, a graduate degree or other specialized training (OOH, 2024h). Special agents with the FBI, for example, typically must have a certain level of experience and/or an advanced degree.

There are also numerous law enforcement roles beyond that of a sworn officer. Law enforcement agencies employ various clerks, technicians, and supporting staff who are critical to the work of law enforcement. Forensic science technicians, for example, might do crime-scene work, such as photography, and/or lab work, such as testing (OOH, 2024b). Some law enforcement agencies also have roles for people who work with and serve victims of crime in various ways (figure 10.4). Victim advocates are discussed later in this section.

An FBI worker sits next to a man who pets the FBI dog — **Figure 10.4.** An FBI employee interacts with another person and a working dog.

Although they are not part of law enforcement, it is worth mentioning here the important—and growing—group of professionals who respond to mental health crises and other calls related to mental disorders in place of police. Fire Departments, as well as some of the other police-alternative responders discussed in Chapter 5 of this text, are vital community safety workers often tasked with resolving problems related to mental disorders, including substance use disorders. The value of these responses is clear when they avoid the risks and problems associated with armed police responses. Noting the growing movement toward reducing police responses to non-criminal situations, one fire professional observed: “What appears to be emerging in many communities is a model with a fire department unit responsible for responding to behavioral health emergencies instead of a police officer. Many fire department units consist of a specialized team, including those trained in crisis intervention, maybe a sociologist, a psychologist or another trained mental health expert” (Ludwig, 2021). Alternatives to law-enforcement first responses can also be entirely separate from police and fire agencies. For example, the model police-alternative program CAHOOTS, in Eugene, Oregon (and spotlighted in Chapter 5), operates independently of both police and fire. Regardless, these alternative responders must be prepared to work closely with police to ensure effective community responses.

Likewise, people who work in public safety telecommunications, including 911 call-takers and emergency dispatch workers, are front-line responders who play a critical role in interacting with the public, making rapid decisions about call responses, and communicating with first responders. If you would like, you can learn more about this important work, which requires a calm nature under pressure, a high school diploma, and certification, at this short video describing public safety telecommunicators [Streaming Video].

Legal Services

The law is a very broad field that encompasses far more than criminal justice, but numerous roles within legal services relate to the issues addressed in this text.

Lawyers working in or adjacent to the criminal justice system may represent the government as prosecutors (state or federal) in charging and trying people who are accused of crimes, or they may serve as criminal defense attorneys, representing people who have been charged. Defense attorneys can be court-appointed public defenders representing accused people who cannot afford to hire a private attorney, or they may be privately-retained attorneys paid by or on behalf of the person they represent. There are also lawyers who handle legal cases adjacent to the criminal system (such as civil commitment cases or victim representations), lawyers who appeal criminal convictions, and non-criminal lawyers who work to protect the civil rights of people who are harmed by the criminal justice system. For example, many important rights of police detainees or prisoners (e.g., limits on police searches or the right to receive mental health treatment in custody) have been established in the course of civil lawsuits. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys are more likely to be male (55% of prosecutors and 52% of defense attorneys) and white (75%). Only about 5% of these lawyers are Black, even though Black people make up about 12% of the U.S. population (Zippia, 2024e; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022).

Lawyers are required to have a bachelor’s degree and attend law school. Lawyers must then gain admission to the bar, which oversees practicing lawyers, in any state in which they wish to practice law. Lawyers, like many of the professionals discussed in this chapter, often work for many years to gain skills and expertise in a particular specialty (OOH, 2024d).

Other key legal professionals in the criminal justice field include investigators, who often do work like gathering witness statements and other information for both prosecutors and defense attorneys, and paralegals, who can perform legal tasks under lawyer supervision. A paralegal may have an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree (OOH, 2024f). Oregon recently became one of just a few states that will begin licensing paralegals to independently perform some legal representation of clients in limited cases, such as family and landlord-tenant matters. As of this writing, criminal law is not yet an area where licensed paralegals can provide these services (Oregon Paralegal Association, 2024).

Most judges have a law degree and experience as lawyers before taking the bench (OOH, 2024c). Ideally, judges also have the temperament and wisdom needed to make good decisions on legal matters that impact individuals and the larger community. Judges may preside over trial-level courts where they will hear civil and criminal cases, or they may sit on appellate courts where they make decisions about legal matters that will apply to future cases as well as the ones they are deciding. While judges remain overwhelmingly white and male, efforts to increase racial and gender diversity at this higher level of the legal world offer the promise of increased fairness for people in and connected to the criminal justice system (figure 10.5) (American Bar Association, 2022).

**Figure 10.5.** The four women who, in 2024, serve as justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are pictured here. From left to right, they are Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan.

The nation’s highest court, the U.S. Supreme Court, has an enormous impact on criminal justice throughout the nation, as it has the final say in interpreting the Constitution and the protections that it provides to individuals. Of the 116 people who have been appointed to the highest court since it was created, only eight were not white men. The first Black justice, Thurgood Marshall, was appointed in 1967, and the first woman, Sandra Day O’Connor, was appointed in 1981. Ketanji Brown Jackson was the first Black woman on the court, appointed in 2022. Sonia Sotomayor, appointed in 2009, is the first (and only) Latina justice—as well as the only justice to have a reported disability, with type 1 diabetes (Campisi & Griggs, 2022).

Corrections Roles

As in law enforcement and legal services, there are many different jobs within the large field of corrections. Professionals working within correctional facilities like jails and prisons include criminal justice staff who oversee the safety, security, and accountability of incarcerated people, as well as behavioral health staff, such as treatment providers, who are discussed more in the next section (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH], n.d.). Correctional officers are more likely to be male (more than 60%) and white (more than 50%), but about 18% of these officers are Latino and about 16% are Black (Zippia, 2024b).

Correctional officers in prisons and jails have oversight of inmate populations and work to reduce or prevent security risks, doing jobs such as enforcing rules, conducting searches, and transporting incarcerated people between facilities and courtrooms (figure 10.6) (OOH, 2024a). With respect to incarcerated people with mental disorders, corrections officers may have special duties and obligations towards this group who are dependent on facility-provided care. It is critical for correctional officers to have training about mental disorders, including risks of self-harm and suicide, so they can respond to inmate needs and safety concerns both compassionately and effectively. Correctional officer jobs usually have minimum age requirements and at least high-school-level educational requirements. Some jobs may demand additional education or experience (OOH, 2024a).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie0XJoykVJQ

Figure 10.6. If you are curious about corrections careers in a prison environment, take a look at this optional recruiting video created by Oregon’s Snake River Correctional Institution, in which officers describe the work environment and training opportunities, as well as the variety of different roles that need to be filled in the corrections environment. Transcript.

The field of corrections includes many professional roles supporting people who are being supervised outside of custody. Probation officers supervise people who are living in the community in lieu of incarceration after a conviction. Probation is meant to ensure that the person is not a danger to the community and to promote rehabilitation (OOH, 2024i). Parole or post-prison supervision officers work with people who have been in prison serving a sentence but have been released to complete their supervised time in the community. Like probation, post-prison supervision involves providing resources as well as oversight and enforcement of release conditions, with the aim of reducing a person’s risk of reoffending (OOH, 2024i). Pretrial services officers also play a supervisory role, but for unconvicted people who have been permitted to leave or remain out of custody pending a criminal trial. The pretrial officer ensures that the person follows the conditions of release and appears at required court proceedings (OOH, 2024j).

Some community supervision departments have officers or divisions with specialized caseloads that address the particular needs of people with mental disorders. The required video linked in figure 10.7 revisits the parole and probation Mental Health Unit in Multnomah County, Oregon, which was first introduced as an Intercept 5 intervention in Chapter 4. As the officers explain how they support a population that experiences mental health issues and disabilities, consider what skills and personal qualities likely help these professionals succeed in their roles.

https://youtu.be/NjMXSUwq4GY

Figure 10.7. This short video offers a glimpse into the work of the parole and probation Mental Health Unit in Multnomah County, Oregon. Transcript.

Community supervision generally involves the officer engaging in personal contact with the supervised person, as well as with their families and other people in their lives. Regular calls, visits, and check-ins are part of the process and provide opportunities for the supervising officer to note mental health concerns, oversee drug testing, and offer other support as needed (OOH, 2024j). As discussed in Chapter 8 of this text, several specific community interventions have been shown to increase success (e.g., reduce reoffending) in the community for people with mental disorders.

Another role discussed in Chapter 8 of this text, a case manager, also falls into the category of community correctional jobs. Case managers may be known as correctional treatment specialists or correctional counselors. These professionals advise people under supervision and help develop case plans for them, referring the individual to resources to meet their needs. This type of support can be provided while a client is incarcerated or in the community. A correctional treatment specialist at a prison, for example, may conduct an evaluation to determine an incarcerated person’s needs and then follow up with other professionals at other agencies, as well as the incarcerated person, to create a release plan aimed at reducing risks. These plans might include education programs, substance use treatment, or other approaches to reduce the risk of recidivism (OOH, 2024j).

Community supervision professionals such as parole and probation officers or case managers are typically required to have a bachelor’s degree. They may also have to pass certain tests, including psychological examinations (OOH, 2024i). Parole and probation officers are just slightly more likely to be women than men, and about 66% are white, 15% are Latino, and 13% are Black (Zippia, 2024d).

Victim Support and Advocacy

A victim advocate, or victim support person, provides direct services to victims of crime. Crime victims may have experienced trauma due to their victimization, and crime victims are already significantly more likely than other people to experience a disability or mental disorder, as these populations are especially vulnerable to victimization (Platzman Weinstock, 2018). Victim services staff in some roles may serve the dual purpose of supporting people who have been harmed and ensuring that victims can serve as witnesses to secure the conviction of the people who harmed them. Victim advocates may perform a variety of tasks, including helping the person they are serving navigate and understand the criminal justice system and assisting them to cope with the physical and mental harms associated with crime victimization. An advocate can work for a police department, a medical facility, a prosecutor’s office, a court, or a non-profit organization (Indeed Editorial Team, 2024). The majority (nearly 90%) of victim advocates are women, about 11% are Black, and 11% identify as LGBTQ+ (Zippia, 2024f).

To some extent, the nature of an advocate’s employer will dictate the advocate’s role. For example, an advocate working with law enforcement will likely be sharing information they obtain with police, while an advocate at a women’s shelter may be working more directly in service of the person impacted by domestic violence. A victim advocate usually needs to have a college degree. There are also certifications available to establish that the person has achieved certain levels of training and experience in the field (Indeed Editorial Team, 2023). Advocacy certification may be important (as it is in Oregon) to protect the confidentiality of communications between a working advocate and the person they are supporting (Oregon Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, 2024).

If victim services are of interest to you, watch the optional videos linked in this section. The first video (figure 10.8) shares the perspective of a domestic violence victim advocate in Vancouver, Washington, and the second (figure 10.9) offers information about victim advocacy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In both cases, helping a person manage the trauma of victimization is a key component of this role.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znCA-uY4wME

Figure 10.8. A member of the domestic violence prosecution team in Vancouver, Washington, the victim advocate in this video discusses the importance of community impact in her career choice. Transcript.