CRJ - Criminal Justice Course Descriptions
Course outlines the most crucial and fundamental issues relevant to contemporary police practice in the American experience. Course commences with an historical overview of police, its evolution and changing mission over the life of the nation and how policing deals with the challenges of crime, social disorder and social problems. Other topics include the impact of police culture has upon police perception and operational command, efforts to integrate the police role into community life and how critical public support and cooperation is to a successful police command.
Course assesses and evaluates the fundamental core concepts essential to any effective justice model—namely the concept and idea of justice as well as discernment of a legal or human right. Course invites students to tackle the many nuances of justice, its definition and meaning, its application and use, and to examine injustice as its contrary meaning. At the other end of the course sequence, the idea of right is fully critiqued, asking perennial questions relating to the origin of a right, the power or permanency of any right, the distinction between legal rights and human rights and the metaphysical grounding rights in Catholic tradition and the grant of any right based on human dignity
Course covers foundational issues relative to the criminal side of the justice system, namely the definition, its interplay with morality, the codified structure of crime and criminality, the criminal law review of major felonies and misdemeanors, as well as morals offenses and the recent efforts to decriminalize once negatively viewed human behavior. In the second portion of the course, the process side of the criminal system is fully analyzed including steps to adjudication, constitutional rights and obligations and pre and post-conviction remedies.
Course analyzes the typical administrative structures, processes and professional expectations for police managers and administrators. In addition, the course scrutinizes the diverse rationales for police in community settings, the question of police professionalization and education; the proper use of discretion; the nature of ethical policing as well as the current and future trends and issues confronting modern law enforcement agencies.
This course explores the history, structure, and function of probation and parole and a critical analysis of the substance and procedural requirements of probation and parole. Topics include the theoretical foundations of probation and parole, the importance of pre-sentence investigations, and the role of probation and parole officers in supervising offenders and how these practice interplay with sentencing and judicial entities. The course always emphasizes the distinctive differences between the probationers/parolees, the services available to each group, and to critically assess and measure program efficacy,
This seminar in police and law enforcement problems applies the theories and common methods in policing to practical street-based law enforcement. Students critique police policy and evidence-based best practices relevant to urban policing and crime prevention, police culture, patrol methods, the war on drugs, corruption, “broken windows” theory, use of force, race, police/community relations and terrorism.
This course introduces students to the role and functions of private security in the American justice system. Private sector justice encompasses security entities in either individual or corporate/business form that deliver a wide array of services including crime prevention, asset and property protection, protection of persons, investigation, and disaster recovery services, and information security. Other security specialties covered are: risk analysis, expert and investigative services for litigation and technological advancements. Cooperative arrangements and protocols between public police entities and public agencies and the private security sector receive significant attention. Course assesses the wide range of career options in the fastest growing arm of the American Justice system.
Evidentiary proof and rules are the prime aims of the course coverage. Other considerations at center in this course offering are proof of facts in civil and criminal cases in state and federal courts; the integrity of evidence in litigation; the functions of the judge and jury; qualification and examination of witnesses; proof required in documentary evidence; judicial notice; competence and credibility of witnesses; opinion evidence whether lay or expert in nature; hearsay; burdens of proof; presumptions and inferences; real evidence; demonstrative, expert and scientific evidence, are all fully covered.
An overview of how forensic science and legal study intersect in justice entities like courts, the Office of the Medical Examiner, police and investigative agencies and other justice functions. Course will stress the judicial response and oversight as to the use of forensic science in the analysis of physical evidence. In addition, the course will review how forensic, scientific results play out during crucial facets of justice system processing including investigation, prosecution, and defense of a crime. Course will emphasize legal case decision and the aligned evidentiary rules regarding admissibility. Ethical and professional principles regarding scientific evidence will also be covered.
Course provides an experiential exposure to the various agencies of crime and justice, including but not limited to police and law enforcement, code and enforcement at the regulatory level, correctional and prison facilities, courts and legal agencies, as well as private sector entities dedicated to safety and security. Students may also enroll in order to conduct agency research on complex questions relating to crime and justice.
The culminating class for all majors in Criminal Justice calls for authorship of an advanced, esoteric and scholarly research product, whether in the form of a traditional research paper, a policy paper or analysis, authorship of an applied handbook or other project for use by practitioners. Capstone expectations are at senior level and with the understanding that the major has successfully mastered the content of the program at its many levels. Citations and sources for authority in the paper or project are mandatory.
Various topics relating directly to criminology will be taught at the discretion of the department.