Having an educational background in law field of study might lead you to seek for some high paying jobs criminal justice. These kinds of jobs are related to the public services in serving other people. The question is whether jobs for criminal justice students really existed.
When most people have perception of being a cop in choosing the criminal justice, there are apparently other jobs that offer good salary besides cops. Indeed, being a cop gives you good title and high status yet it has more responsibilities and more tasks to finish.
Some High Paying Jobs Criminal Justice to Refer
Those professionals who want to work in the field of criminal justice need to have proper knowledge about law, criminal justice, forensics, and also psychology. During this fast evolving industry, the rate of criminals keeps increasing, thus these highest paying law enforcement jobs are spread everywhere. Here are the jobs you can find when you are interested to work in this field.
Lawyer
Are there any jobs in criminal justice without being a cop that give good salary? Yes, and one of them is lawyer. Lawyer is a professional that represents parties during the trials to help their clients reach the right and also obligation that they pursue.
People can hire lawyers to represent clients either in personal lives or in business field. They have good salaries since they have bigger responsibilities in helping the clients reach the goals.
In order to be a lawyer, someone has to finish taking the undergraduate degree for 4 years and if they want to get the license program, they need to take another 3 years of law school.
The lowest salary: $75,100
The median salary: $128,335
The highest salary: $165,210
Forensic Psychologist
The following high paying jobs criminal justice that will earn a lot of money are forensic psychologist. From time to time, the salary of a forensic psychologist keeps increasing. No wonder, there are a lot of people who wish to be a forensic psychologist.
Before having the title of a forensic psychologist, you have to undergo some extensive training as well as the academic preparation to be able to pass the test. A forensic psychologist has passed countless hours of practices before they are able to work on their own in this field.
What does a forensic psychologist do? They will have a wide range of jobs but in general they work with lawyers and also investigators in analyzing some cases. They will be dealing with interviews with both witness and suspects, analyzing based on standard psychology philosophy, and also making judgment for the suspects.
The opinion of a forensic psychologist is very important for the judge to make sentences. Forensic psychologist also deals with the state of mind of the suspects when they were committing the crime before making judgment.
The lowest salary: $77,030
The median salary: $97,740
The highest salary: $124,520
Police Officer
Another one of the high paying jobs criminal justice is becoming a police officer. Working in a public service enables you to earn a lot of money and gain much experiences in life.
They have a lot of duties to finish such as maintaining public order, catching criminals, collecting evidences related to some cases, testifying in a court when needed, reporting suspicious activities, and also decreasing the rate of crimes occurred.
Being a police officer also needs you to deal with medical team to have some physical and emotional tests. When you want to be a police officer, you have to complete studies at least an associate degree or bachelor degree would be better. The candidates also have to have good physical state to be able to pass all the trainings.
The lowest salary: $41,280
The median salary: $55,100
The highest salary: $70,550
Private Investigator and Detective
When you are interested in deeper and detailed evidences related to some cases, you might be interested in becoming a private investigator and detective too. Both investigator and detective are hired for maintaining law, catching criminals, collecting evidence, examining records and public witnesses, solving crimes, and ensuring that people are out of danger.
A private investigator also deals with interviews, researches through the historical documents, observations, and many more. Similar to being a cop, private investigator and detective needs to go through some trainings. They also have to have associate degree as the minimum standard or bachelor degree would be even better.
The lowest salary: $59,000
The median salary: $70,850
The highest salary: $92,700
Arbitrator and Mediator
Other jobs in criminal justice which can also earn a lot of money are arbitrator and also mediator. These two jobs which are under legal services have the potential for having greater income in the future.
In order to be an arbitrator or mediator, you have to complete bachelor degree or magister degree. If you want to pursue a career as a mediator, you can join some programs that offer 6 different specializations that attract you a lot.
The duties of arbitrator and mediator are quite many. They have to facilitate any kinds of communication between both parties who are in disputes to make an agreement. They have to conduct initial meeting during the arbitration process, clarify issues and the goals they want to achieve, set up some further appointment during the mediation.
Arbitrator and mediator also have to prepare settlement agreements for both parties to sign, settle procedural matters including the fees, the total number of witness and the time needed to make everything settled. Moreover, they need to evaluate all the information from the documents and any kinds of records.
The lowest salary: $78,950
The median salary: $105,225
The highest salary: $142,100
Forensics Analyst
If you are capable of examining evidences to find out the suspects and going in and out crime scene, forensics analyst might be your cup of tea. A forensics analyst will be responsible for assisting the crime scene investigator during the evidence analysis and examination, such as collecting blood, fingerprint and hair.
They will conduct some field test, doing the documentation through some tests, making reports, and also making sure that the tools used in the laboratory are well-maintained.
There are some requirements to be a forensics analyst. First, they have to get a bachelor degree in genetics, forensic science or related field of study. When you have some experiences in relevant job, it would bring you more chance for being accepted. You also have to be able to work in a team and have strong skills in doing researches.
The lowest salary: $48,225
The median salary: $53,180
The highest salary: $62,500
Criminologist
As a criminologist, you will deal with the nature and also the causes of why a crime happened. You will also need to know who did the crime, apply the theoretical principles to make a certain hypotheses.
Criminologists also have some duties and responsibilities, such as obtaining data and analyzing both the causes and natures of the crime to know the pattern of the crimes. They need to make profile of what kind of crime to find out the potential suspects. Criminologists have to make regular reports and make statistics about their findings to be used for further researches.
Meanwhile, some requirements need to be fulfilled when you are interested to be a criminologist. You need to have bachelor degree in criminology or sociology. It will be much preferable when you have a magister degree. Besides, you need to have strong communication skills to be able to work in a team with a lot of people.
The lowest salary: $80,250
The median salary: $110,550
The highest salary: $145,000
Paralegal
Working in a law firm can be a good thing especially for those who have educational background in law. One of the most favorite and wanted profession that people wish to have is paralegal. A paralegal usually works in some organizations or law firms or even work independently as a consultant.
They will help you do some number of tasks including doing some researches, analyzing all the data obtained, and also holding some meetings. For some cases, paralegals also deal with the preparation of tax return, creating trust fund and maintain some financial records.
The lowest salary: $38,050
The median salary: $54,100
The highest salary: $69,255
Probation Officer
Another high paying jobs criminal justice that people might be interested to try is becoming probation officer. Offenders or criminals who are waiting their sentences will all be supervised and also rehabilitated by the probation officer.
Working as a probation officer needs you to investigate the complete background of the offenders, all of their crimes, their environment at work and at home, and all the cases related.
An undergraduate degree is needed when you want to be a probation officer. They have to pass all the written, oral and psychological test to get the license in criminal justice field.
The lowest salary: $36,100
The highest salary: $62,275
When you have high interest to have criminal justice jobs, all of these 9 high paying jobs criminal justice could be your references to earn money. You need to have undergraduate degree to be able to apply in these positions mentioned above.