Criminal Justice

This course explores the managerial aspects of effective and efficient police administration. Emphasis is directed towards increasing organizational skills and overcoming interdepartmental and inter-agency non-communication. Topics include: environmental management, human resources, and organizational concerns.

This course presents the fundamentals of criminal investigation. The duties and responsibilities of the investigator both in field and in the courtroom are highlighted. Emphasis is placed on techniques commonly utilized by investigative personnel as well as the procedures used for investigating various crimes.

This course presents students with practical exercises dealing with investigating crime scenes and gathering various forms of physical evidence. Emphasis is placed on crime scene assessment, search, fingerprinting, and evidence collection. Topics include: crime scene management, evidence characteristics, identification, documentation and collection as well as techniques for developing and lifting latent fingerprints.

This course introduces criminal law in the United States, but emphasizes the current specific status of Georgia criminal law. The course will focus on the most current statutory contents of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) with primary emphasis on the criminal and traffic codes. Topics include: historic development of criminal law in the United States; statutory law, Georgia Code (O.C.G.A.) Title 16: Crimes and Offenses; statutory law, Georgia Code (O.C.G.A.) Title 40: Motor Vehicle and Traffic Offenses; and Supreme Court rulings that apply to criminal law.

Explains and demonstrates the effectiveness of the entire criminal investigation process by the quality of notes reports, and accurate documentation. An examination of what goes into the preparation, content, elements, mechanics, and format of documenting the criminal investigation process. Topics include: Field notes, initial information, observations, evidence, victims, witnesses, property, neighborhood canvass, crime scene, laboratory analysis and results, investigative follow-up, suspect statements, and the characteristics essential to quality report writing.

This course provides an exploration ethics and cultural perspectives in criminal justice. In presenting ethics, both the individual perspective and the organizational standpoint will be examined. Four areas of ethical decision making opportunities are studied including: law enforcement ethics; correctional ethics; legal profession ethics; and policymaking ethics. The presentation of cultural perspectives is designed to aid law enforcement officers to better understand and communicate with members of other cultures with whom they come in contact in the line of duty. Topics include: defining and applying terms related to intercultural attitudes, role-play activities related to intercultural understanding, developing interpersonal/intercultural communication competence, and development of personal intercultural growth plan.

Introduces the nature, extent, and factors related to criminal behavior, and the etiology of criminal offenses and offenders. Topics include: sociological, psychological, and biological causes of crime; effectiveness of theories in explaining crime; theory integration; and application of theory to selected issues.

The course provides an introduction to the principles of homeland security, roles and responsibilities of constituencies and implications for criminal justice fields. Topics include: intelligence and warning, border and transportation security, domestic counterterrorism, protecting critical infrastructure, defending against catastrophic threats, and emergency preparedness and response.