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Okay let me preface this by saying I'm in Canada, not the US, but I can't help but chuckle when I see civilian college students taking FS degrees (I have worked in policing 10 years) and they want to do investigating.
Have you done a job shadow? Do you know what the job is really like? It is really quite boring. Great if you absolutely love being in a lab coat and doing chemistry or filing samples or hours of paperwork but it is nothing like the public thinks it is. You won't have anything to do with investigation. You will know that sample 294342 is from case abc and that's pretty much it.
If you want to do any sort of investigation you need to be a cop first. And a good one at that too. Years of experience on the job is the only way to teach someone what is required for investigation.
I found the job ad I applied to for crime scene investigator I. While "investigator" is included in the title, it was really just a technician job and the starting pay was $16.61 per hour. I hope this helps.
thank you for this info.
yeah, i wondering if it will be worth double majoring. but the forensic science curriculum doesnt have too many criminal justice courses; it's usually consists of intro to cj, intro to forensic science, and everything forensic science related, not criminal justice.
as far as criminal justice i would be interested in law enforcement. if it will be hard for me to find jobs with either degree, i can always fall back on vet tech school.
Okay let me preface this by saying I'm in Canada, not the US, but I can't help but chuckle when I see civilian college students taking FS degrees (I have worked in policing 10 years) and they want to do investigating.
Have you done a job shadow? Do you know what the job is really like? It is really quite boring. Great if you absolutely love being in a lab coat and doing chemistry or filing samples or hours of paperwork but it is nothing like the public thinks it is. You won't have anything to do with investigation. You will know that sample 294342 is from case abc and that's pretty much it.
If you want to do any sort of investigation you need to be a cop first. And a good one at that too. Years of experience on the job is the only way to teach someone what is required for investigation.
i dont have an BIG issue with being a cop, i just didnt want to be one. but if i have to be an officer before being a csi, then thats what i'll have to do.
the school im transferring to doesnt have a track that you have to choose, just forensic science courses so i like that.
You can skip the whole "forensic science" degree if you want to, but you need a degree in chem or bio to get hired by a crime lab, so don't spend any significant extra money to get a forensic science degree when a science degree is just as valid.
You can skip the CJ stuff altogether; you don't need it and it will do nothing to prepare you for forensic or police work.
If you want to be an investigator, you are going to have to be a police officer or get lucky enough to get picked up by a state or federal agency that hires investigators as entry level positions.
My suggestion is to get the science degree as it will put you in the best position to take advantage of openings in either law enforcement or forensics, with the understanding that good jobs are in short supply and very competitive.
yeah, i dont want to do the crime lab anymore. but i do like the idea in double majoring in forensic science and cj.
i just feel like a loser because ive been here for 4 years. and with my changes of majors in the past, i just wasnt happy/passionate about like i thought i would be. but with this recent change of major, there's just a feeling that i made the right decision. i love mystery, stuff about investigating, etc.
i dont have an BIG issue with being a cop, i just didnt want to be one. but if i have to be an officer before being a csi, then thats what i'll have to do.
the school im transferring to doesnt have a track that you have to choose, just forensic science courses so i like that.
what is it like being a cop? a female at that.
If you don't want to be a police officer but will put up with it to be a detective, I suggest you explore federal and state agencies that hire entry level investigators because you are setting yourself up for failure as a police officer. You become a police officer because you want to be a police officer, find your niche/groove and expand from there. Do you understand that you can be in uniformed patrol for 10 or 15 years before you get the opportunity to become an e-tech or a detective? The regional crime lab we use won't even train officers to be evidence techs who don't have at least five years in uniformed patrol (most have much more) and 10 to 15 years is typical time on the job to make it to the detective section.
If you don't want to be a police officer but will put up with it to be a detective, I suggest you explore federal and state agencies that hire entry level investigators because you are setting yourself up for failure as a police officer. You become a police officer because you want to be a police officer, find your niche/groove and expand from there. Do you understand that you can be in uniformed patrol for 10 or 15 years before you get the opportunity to become an e-tech or a detective? The regional crime lab we use won't even train officers to be evidence techs who don't have at least five years in uniformed patrol (most have much more) and 10 to 15 years is typical time on the job to make it to the detective section.
you know what, i think it's me not having confidence and thats what i need to work on. and when i do imagine myself as an officer, i just think what if im not cut for it. if that makes sense
you know what, i think it's me not having confidence and thats what i need to work on. and when i do imagine myself as an officer, i just think what if im not cut for it. if that makes sense
The bigger point is understanding that you are probably going to be in uniformed patrol for 10 or 15 years before you get to do all that fun TV cop stuff that is often inaccurately portrayed.
The bigger point is understanding that you are probably going to be in uniformed patrol for 10 or 15 years before you get to do all that fun TV cop stuff that is often inaccurately portrayed.
yeah,i understand.
i already know the tv shows are not like real csi work.
I hate to break it to you, but contrary to popular TV shows there are almost no civilian crime scene investigators in the U.S. Those positions are filled by people who have extensive experience as uniformed officers who move into the evidence collection role. Evidence techs and detectives are not the same job, nor do they require the same skill set. Being a evidence tech does not mean that you will ever get into the detective section.
Neither biology or chemistry is needed to be an effective evidence tech or detective. A bio or chem degree is needed to be a civilian forensic scientist who works in a crime lab. This person does not investigate crimes and rarely sees a crime scene. They test and analyze evidence that has been collected and submitted by an e-tech. The detective comes up with hypothesis, interviews witnesses, creates association matrixes, obtains search warrants, etc., etc. in order to piece together a probable chain of events. Generally speaking, detectives don't collect evidence and evidence techs don't conduct criminal investigations. Neither one does forensics work. Forensics folks don't investigate crimes and rarely (sometimes never) go to the field to collect evidence.
Regardless of what you see on TV or what your school may have told you, it sounds to me like you do not understand the actual role of these positions and what the job market is for them.
so jobs like on dexter's "blood spatter analyst" practically don't exist then, right?
so jobs like on dexter's "blood spatter analyst" practically don't exist then, right?
Yes and No. Blood spatter analysts exist but spatter analysis would just be a small part of their job. Depending on their level of training, the evidence tech may do the initial blood spatter analysis (photographing, measuring the spatters, tracing the tail back to a point of origin, etc.) or someone from the crime lab may be called in. Very few cases hinge on blood spatter evidence and blood spatter analysis is not someone's full time job.
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