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Legal & Law Programs ►Law Enforcement Professional Certification & Externship Program

Program includes National Certification & an Externship Opportunity

The Law Enforcement Professional

Considering a career in law enforcement? Law enforcement officials conduct fascinating and difficult work across all American cities from street to street. To give professionals the most in-depth look at law enforcement possible, this program examines the history, structure, actions and strategies of American police. Students will explore a number of interesting topics including the structure and purpose of federal, state and local police forces, their inner-workings and interconnectivity as well as the various ways each individual force plays a role in the collective effort to are on the front lines of everyday police functions, criminal accountability and the relationship between law enforcement and the community that maintains public order.

The Law Enforcement Professional Program

Law Enforcement Professionals operate every day inside an ever-evolving world of crime and violence. Facing an array of issues from localized criminal activity to emergency and public health issues that constitute a national or international threat can come up at a moment’s notice, Law Enforcement Professionals are on the front lines of defense for our communities. To this end, all professionals involved in law enforcement from must have an array of applicable skills from combating and preventing crime in the first place, to solving crimes through strategic interviewing and interrogation of involved individuals and proper, legal criminal procedures necessary for the success of the legal system as well. Recognizing the need for skilled professionals that understand the difficult and highly-nuanced issues authorities face every day, My Ed Today offer a Law Enforcement Professional program to take students through the ins and outs of day-to-day police activity and introduce students to the complex criminal justice system. Students who complete this program will understand various police interviewing and interrogation techniques alongside investigation practices necessary to prevent crime and mitigate potential effects. Moreover, this career track ensures students come away from the program with a firm understanding of the criminal justice system as a whole and the ethical considerations that ensure its proper function every day.

Program Objectives

At the conclusion of this program, students will be able to:

  • Define terms related to law enforcement
  • Examine the organization of law enforcement
  • Examine the roles, functions, and styles of policing
  • Describe the impact that history has had on the current law enforcement system
  • Analyze the use of forensic science and criminalistics in the criminal justice system
  • Examine challenges faced by law enforcement
  • Analyze laws as related to policing
  • Appraise the use of technology in policing
  • Analyze issues related to policing in foreign countries
  • Describe the personal qualities that affect the interview process
  • Research, using articles from the Internet, and describe how to successfully interview and interrogate witnesses
  • Differentiate an interview from an interrogation
  • Formulate a list of questions that can be used in purposeful interrogation
  • Identify the steps in the interview process
  • Compare the traditional interview method with the cognitive interview method
  • Identify the constitutional and legal considerations that must be made during a criminal interrogation
  • Using case studies, analyze the techniques used by officers in obtaining a confession and make suggestions for improvement
  • Describe interview approaches for special populations
  • Use Microsoft Office

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND ITS AGENCIES

  • Define terms related to the history and function of law enforcement
  • Identify the levels and functions of law enforcement
  • Compare and contrast the differences and similarities among the various agencies within law enforcement
  • Describe the Old English system of policing
  • Outline the history of police in America
  • Trace the movement toward professionalization in policing

THE POLICE

  • Define terms related to policing
  • Identify the methods, challenges, and problems connected with the recruitment of police
  • Describe methods used to train law enforcement
  • Discuss the traits of a good law enforcement officer
  • Define the role of police
  • Examine the roles, functions, and styles of policing

THE ORGANIZATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

  • Define terms related to law enforcement
  • Define and explain characteristics of organizations
  • Identify methods of organizational communication
  • Describe agencies as organizations
  • Analyze the structure of a basic police organization
  • Identify the roles and responsibilities of individuals in law enforcement
  • Discuss policies and procedures of a professional law enforcement agency

THE PATROL FUNCTION

  • Define terms related to the patrol function
  • Describe the purposes of police patrol
  • Review a police patrol job description
  • Explain the importance of the patrol vehicle
  • Analyze the link between patrol and function and the discretionary use of police authority
  • Indicate the basic principles of community policing
  • Describe problem oriented policing
  • Define the basic principles of Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS)
  • Examine methods used for crime prevention

FORENSIC SCIENCE AND CRIMINALISTICS

  • Define terms related to criminal investigation
  • Discuss the concept of criminal investigation from its evolution to current day uses
  • Describe the stages and activities of investigation
  • Analyze recent developments in forensic science and criminalistics

CHALLENGES TO POLICING

  • Define terms related to the challenges to policing
  • Discuss the means available to law enforcement agencies to deal with terrorism
  • Identify the challenges to homeland security and addressing terrorism
  • Examine the challenges law enforcement faces to address issues related to bioterrorism, hate crimes, organized crime, and gangs
  • Discuss challenges to policing the U.S. borders
  • Analyze the laws established to address the challenges to policing

LAW AND LIABILITY

  • Define terms related to constitutional amendments
  • Identify the purposes of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments
  • Differentiate between civil and criminal law
  • Discuss areas of liability related to policing
  • Map the evolution of civil liability

POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

  • Define terms related to police accountability
  • Examine the laws that protect the public from police corruption
  • Describe the law enforcement code of ethics
  • Identify the factors that contribute to police corruption

POLICING ISSUES AND TRENDS

  • Define terms related to policing issues
  • Trace the history of women in law enforcement
  • Identify the unique issues related to women and minorities in law enforcement
  • Describe contemporary policing trends and issues that law enforcement is facing
  • Discuss issues and laws as related to labor relations and law enforcement

POLICING IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

  • Define terms related to policing in foreign countries
  • Discuss the structure and function of international criminal justice systems
  • Summarize how policing is achieved in various foreign countries
  • Compare and contrast the U.S. criminal justice system with others around the world

POLICING AND TECHNOLOGY

  • Define terms related to technology and policing
  • Debate the issue of development of less than lethal weapons
  • Summarize the use of wireless technology in policing
  • Illustrate how technological advances assist in policing

THE FUTURE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

  • Define terms related to law enforcement
  • Discuss future challenges in policing
  • Examine solutions to the future challenges in policing

AN INTRODUCTION TO INTERVIEWING AND INTERROGATION

  • Explain how rapport affects the quality of the interviewing process
  • List and explain numerous forms of nonverbal communications for developing rapport
  • Explain the problem of misinformation and contamination
  • Describe personal qualities that can reduce the effectiveness of an interview
  • Explain the difference between using open-ended and closed-ended questioning
  • Compare and contrast an interview with an interrogation
  • Describe the three phases of the interview process

INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES AND MEMORY ENHANCEMENT

  • Explain the problem of misinformation and contamination
  • Apply the concepts of statement analysis to the field statement analysis
  • Explain how the structural interviewing approach differs from the traditional approach
  • Define the traditional interview method
  • Identify how the traditional and cognitive interview methods are alike, how they are different, and how an officer would decide to use one over the other
  • Explain the mnemonic principles of cognitive interviewing

BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES AND INTERVIEWING CHILDREN

  • Explain how rapport affects the quality of the interviewing process
  • List and explain numerous forms of non-verbal communications for developing rapport
  • Explain who is best at catching liars
  • Explain how sensatory verbal communication and eye movements can be used in interviewing and interrogation
  • Explain how rapport affects the quality of the interviewing process
  • List and explain numerous forms
  • Explain the mnemonic principles of cognitive interviewing
  • Compare and contrast the forensic and cognitive approaches to interviewing children

INTERVIEWING THE ELDERLY AND THE MENTALLY ILL

  • Explain how rapport affects the quality of the interviewing process
  • Discuss how interrogation with an individual who has mental retardation can affect the process
  • List the questions that would be helpful when making a field evaluation of a person suspected of having a disability
  • Describe issues that can impact the interview of an elderly person
  • Describe the evaluation process to improve interviews of an elder
  • Explain the field evaluation for people with mental illness and mental retardation

THE INTERROGATION PROCESS AND OBTAINING A CONFESSION

  • Explain the problem of misinformation and contamination
  • Describe the additional personal qualities of the interviewer that enable him or her to conduct successful interrogations
  • Explain the difference between the right to counsel under the Miranda standard and the Sixth Amendment
  • List the forms of coercion that would invalidate a confession even if the suspect's Miranda rights were properly waived
  • Explain the difference between a noncustodial and custodial interrogation for purposes of Miranda warnings
  • Review the case of Kaupp versus Texas, 2003 and discuss what could have been done differently to change the outcome of the case
  • Discuss the controversy about torturing military detainees

TECHNIQUES FOR INTERROGATION

  • List and explain numerous forms of non-verbal communications for developing rapport
  • Discuss how an interrogation is different from an interview in terms of preparation and assessment
  • From the list of the most frequently observed tactics used for interrogations, formulate a list of questions consistent with the approach
  • Explain the difference between a non-custodial and custodial interrogation for purposes of Miranda warnings

Note: This program can be completed in 6 months. However, students will have online access to this program for a 24-month period.

Education and National Certifications

  • Students should have or be pursuing a high school diploma or GED.
  • There are no state approval and/or state requirements associated with this program.
  • There is a National Certification exam available to students who successfully complete this program:
    • Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification Exam

National Certification

Upon successful completion of this  program, students would be eligible to sit for the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) exam. Although there are no state approval, state registration or other state requirements for this program, students who complete this program  will be prepared and are eligible to sit for this national certification exam. Students who complete this program are encouraged to complete the externship option with their program. Students who complete this program can and do sit for the MOS national certification exams and are qualified, eligible and prepared to do so. works with each student to complete the exam application and register the student to take their national certification exam.

Externship / Hands on Training / Practicum

Although not a requirement, once students complete the program, they have the ability to participate in an externship and/or hands on practicum so as to practice the skills necessary to perform the job requirements of a professional in this field. Students will be assisted with completing a resume and/or other requirements necessary to work in this field. All students who complete this program are eligible to participate in an externship and will be placed with a participating organization near their location.  works with national organizations and has the ability to place students in externship opportunities nationwide.

Note: No refunds can be issued after the start date published in your Financial Award document.

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