Careers in Criminal Justice: Police

Job and career opportunities in policing are many and varied. The early years of American policing were typified by political appointment of officers and frequent turnover in departmental personnel (Fogelson). This is no longer the case. Policing currently offers an attractive and stable profession to many people. The realm of employment in policing is quite vast, therefore the following section will present a brief overview of potential job opportunities with law enforcement agencies in the United States in two parts. The first section will describe the various types of agencies, how many people they currently employ, salaries, and employment requirements. This overview should give the reader a fair understanding of the field of policing. The second part will detail three issues about American policing: the gender and ethnic make-up of officers, the use of specialist versus generalist officers, and the use of civilian employees.