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.
Among the primary functions of a civilized society is the protection of its members from criminal victimization. While this is fundamental, a broader notion of justice to victims is equally fundamental in such a society. The Criminal Justice apparatus is made up of several agencies and actors who all, to one degree or another, work to find those guilty and punish them. But the process used to do that must also be just in the victims’ eyes in order for confidence in the system to be achieved. This course examines the philosophies underpinning victims’ rights, what has and has not been promulgated and done to achieve victims’ satisfaction, and to explore the moral and ethical issues involved.
The course explores the history of forensic science, and an overview of the multitude of forensic disciplines. Through this format the student is provided exposure to the variety of professions that exist within the field of forensic science -to include the field, investigations, laboratory analysis and data analysis. Criminal justice majors need introduced to how all of these integral roles come together for the common goal of truth, justice and allowing the evidence to speak. Concentration will be placed on the standard forensic guidelines for the scientific community, the value of a quality management system as it lends to credibility for court testimony, and the essential importance of ethical and moral integrity.
Course will provide an introduction to the field of criminalistics, with a focus on the recognition, collection, preservation, and analysis of physical evidence. Students will be introduced to fingerprints, digital photography, forensic document examination, firearms, toxicology, serology, explosives and arson. Course also evaluates the critical issues in crime scene preservation and processing through the application of forensic science to assist legal authorities in apprehending and prosecuting those involved in a crime. A central theme of this course involves the applying of industry standard and legal processes in the collection and preservation of items of evidentiary value through forensic science.
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 covers foundational issues relative to criminal process, namely application of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U. S. Constitution for the benefit of persons alleged to have committed criminal offenses. Course also covers the various criminal processes that every accused and defendant encounter from day of arrest through trial, sentencing and appeal. Special emphasis is dedicated to how criminal processes work; what are the best practices associated with each step in the mechanics of a criminal case and new and innovative approaches to how defendants flow through the justice system.
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.
Course examines the basic functions, structure and organization of the federal and state court system, with special attention on the criminal and civil court systems. Levels of courts, from magisterial to high-level appellate divisions are fully analyzed. Roles and occupations essential to court operation and the management of case flow, are given significant attention. Finally, the course focuses on the influence of judicial behavior by examining judges’ policy preferences, legal considerations, group processes within courts and courts’ political and social environments.
This course introduces cybercrime as a multifaceted subject from a criminal justice perspective, with an emphasis on a philosophical and practical understanding of the phenomenon. In light of technological innovations, the course invites students to debate moral implications and social norms in the context of cybercrime, while analyzing illicit and deviant behavior in cyberspace, as well as offenders and their strategies to execute global cybercrime schemes. The course fosters awareness on cybercrime concerns and examines police practices and private sector prevention techniques.
This course addresses the various components of homeland security in the United States. The mission, organizational structure, capabilities, functional components, and selected policies of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be examined. The legal and regulatory foundation of U.S. homeland security will be explored. The course focuses on homeland security from a broader concept than one Federal agency by examining the supporting roles of state and local governments and their contributions to providing homeland security for the U.S. against international and domestic threats to domestic preparedness. The course addresses the role of FEMA in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
Course raises awareness of financial crime, including methods, schemes, motives, risks, laws, regulations and the organizational conditions that facilitate such crime. Course provides an overview of the most prevalent types of financial crime, including accounting schemes, bribery, corruption, cybercrime/electronic crimes, embezzlement, fraud, legal violations, market manipulation, money laundering, mortgage fraud, ponzi schemes and terrorist financing. Course provides case studies of each offense and considers ethical and moral issues in the context of these crimes.
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 course analyzes the typical administrative and practical applications within use of force involving lethal and less lethal systems that are currently being used as the industry standard within law enforcement. Training structures, processes and professional expectations for police use of force trainers are analyzed. In addition, the course scrutinizes the diverse rationales for police use of force in community settings, the question of police professionalization and education in properly applying force; 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 based upon case law and constitutional law
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.
Course introduces students to selected advanced concepts within the criminal investigations field. Beginning with death investigations, students will examine case studies involving the different manners of death, fatalities involving infants/children, and the recovery of buried human remains. The course continues with topics involving sexual assaults of adults to include rape typologies of offenders, linkage analysis involving serial rapists, and false allegations. The course examines the increasing role digital forensics plays with violent crimes, such as rape/murder. The course will culminate with the topic of criminal investigative failures, explaining how cognitive biases, groupthink, and tunnel vision negatively affect criminal investigations.
This course exposes students to various forms of corruption encountered by criminal justice professionals who labor in the legal and judicial professions. The course stresses the ethical and moral expectations of the legal and judicial professions and law enforcement intersects with these functions. Course more specifically highlight types of corruption encountered by law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, court officials, judges, and corrections personnel. Each occupational category is examined, and various forms of corruption are analyzed and assessed.
This course addresses the critical issue of police ethics from a Catholic- Christian perspective. A central theme of this course involves the applying traditional moral reasoning to police practice, from police officers on the street to the chief executives of the law enforcement agencies. Police officers adopt a “noble cause” perspective of policing but can fall victim to the ends justify the means mentality. Because of this moral laxity, corruption often overtakes the police personality and the respective department. A major focus of the course will be examining how Catholic teaching based on the natural law can be a method for police officers to avoid corruption and develop a moral and ethical vision of policing that is consistent with moral tradition as well as the legal and constitutional expectations of American policing.
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.
Course provides students with the tools needed to understand the concept of white-collar crime and the skills and techniques needed to prevent, detect and investigate fraud. It will also assist students in communicating investigative findings in cases of complex financial fraud.
Educates participants on the phenomenon of fraud, the methodologies of fraud examination, the fraud investigation process, the role of financial statements in capital markets and the nature of financial statement fraud. Course provides an overview of fraud, including reasons as to why and how fraud is committed, how it is fought, and the methods of fraud prevention, detection and investigation. Management fraud is also discussed, and its relationship to financial statement fraud.
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.