The Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration embraces John Jay College's mission of engaging multiple disciplines to understand the nature of crime and how society should best respond to violence and injustice. The classes, which blend theory and vision with hands-on experience, are taught by faculty that includes full-time and adjunct professors from diverse backgrounds with research interests in all areas of policing, corrections, security and law. Their academic credentials are equally diverse. In addition to those who concentrate specifically on criminal justice studies, others include lawyers, sociologists, criminologists, historians, philosophers and psychologists -- all united by their interests in research, teaching, and public policy development affecting the national and international criminal justice professions. To accommodate this complex field of study, our department offers a variety of undergraduate majors and minors that prepare the students for public safety and criminal justice careers as well as for graduate and professional schools.
Classes in LAW fall within the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration. Law courses offer an interdisciplinary approach to the study of law and legal institutions, their impact on society, and society’s impact on them. The major is organized around the central theme of understanding law as an instrument of political and social change and examines questions concerning how law matters in people’s lives; how law and law–like systems of rules empower and constrain individuals, groups, organizations and communities; and how the structures and values in social institutions shape and are shaped by law. Learning outcomes for courses in LAW focus on the students 1) Demonstrating knowledge of law, legal phenomena and legal institutions from a variety of perspectives outside the discipline of law, with a focus on the relationship between law and political and social change; 2) Initiating, developing, and presenting independent research addressing and analyzing the relationship between law and society and 3) Developing written and oral communication skills to express informed opinions about issues in law and society.
Police Science (PSC) courses provide a comprehensive understanding of the police in the American criminal justice system. It is a dynamic curriculum that responds to issues of diversity as well as innovations and changes in the social and technological arenas that inform police professionals. The Police Studies major focuses on the police as an institution with concentrations on management and administration, crime analysis and investigations. The classes provide a solid academic foundation for those students who wish to pursue graduate study. The program also allows students to enter the workplace with the theoretical and applied knowledge to accomplish four simply stated but vitally essential mandates of fair and effective policing:
Learning outcomes in the PSC courses focus on the students 1) Using and critically evaluating a variety of practical and theoretical approaches relevant to policing, 2) Using and critically evaluating a variety of practical/hands-on/research approaches relevant to policing, and 3) Analyzing and assessing the quality of operations and methods in policing, 4) Integrating policing theory, research and policy in written reports and presentations, and 5) Explaining and discussing the importance of diversity, ethical considerations and statutory requirements that police and law enforcement professionals encounter as community care takers and providers of public safety that impacts the level of crime and quality of life within the communities they serve.
ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) classes offered in Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration:
PSC 324: Police Use of Force: Legal, Theoretical and Practical Implications
CJBS 250: Research Methods and Statistics for Criminal Justice
