Criminal justice programs thrive in Maryland

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At Montgomery College in Rockville, criminal justice students can learn about criminal law and the sociology and psychology of the criminal justice system. But they won’t learn much of anything about fighting terrorism or how to fire gun.

“Our view has been to focus on the social science aspects,” explained Sean Fay, an associate professor and former coordinator of the school’s criminal justice program. “We want them to be well-rounded when they enter the workforce, exposed to psychology and sociology so they have a broad view of the world. The academy is going to be where they learn how to handcuff people, how to drive the patrol car.”

At Anne Arundel Community College, on the other hand, students learn the basic social science behind criminal justice, but they also get police academy-quality training in the basics of law enforcement, Moreover, the school plans eventually to require courses in weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.

“Our goal is to make sure that what we offer is consistent with what’s needed in the field,” said Tyrone Powers, director of the school’s Homeland Security and Criminal Justice Institute. “So when they get the degree, we know they are prepared to do the work, not just to have a theory about criminal justice.”

The two schools illustrate the range of approaches offered by criminal justice programs at Maryland colleges and universities.

But if the range is wide, the programs, based on a sampling of schools, are similar in one respect: popularity.

Fueled in part by television shows that depict glamorous careers in crime fighting, enrollments at the schools are rising.

“Most schools in Maryland, if not all, offer criminal justice curriculum,” said Patrick Bradley, chairman of the criminal justice and legal studies department at the University of Maryland University College. “It’s a very popular area.”

UMUC, which largely serves adults, has about 7,000 students taking criminal justice classes each year. Bradley said. Most take online classes.

The only exception to the enrollment increase is the University of Maryland, College Park, where enrollment dropped a few years ago after administration-imposed cuts. But if the limits were lifted, UMCP would have no trouble returning to its record-high levels, according to Criminal Justice Department Chairman James Lynch.

“For a lot of students, the idea of criminal justice is very appealing,” he said.

Like Montgomery College, College Park is heavy on the social science aspect. It also offers one of the widest ranges of degrees among the schools — from bachelor’s degrees to doctorates — and perhaps the widest range of career choices for graduates.

Bachelor’s degree students, Lynch said, tend either to go straight into the criminal justice system (as police officers, for example), on to law school or, for those for whom crime fighting lost its luster, into completely unrelated fields.

Master’s degree graduates typically end up working for criminal justice-related non-governmental organizations or nonprofits, such as the National Center for Victims of Crime, Lynch said.

As for doctoral students, he said almost all end up teaching or doing research in the field.

“Ours is pretty much a social science-y treatment of the issue of crime and criminal justice,” Lynch said. “But there’s no shortage of those issues.”

And while crime rates are at historically low levels, he noted, schools must address new issues that keep popping up.

For example, he said, population shifts that have brought more well-to-do millennials into the cities and pushed more low-income, marginal residents into the nearby suburbs are changing the way the criminal justice system handles crime.

UMUC’s Bradley said current events, such as the focus on police brutality and international terrorism, require a deeper understanding of the sociology and psychology behind crime.

“Our program has less training of skill sets, more on understanding the psychology and philosophy behind criminal justice,” he said.

UMUC’s program, he said, aims to give students a “deeper understanding of the social contract between criminal justice and the community, and the expectations of the community itself.”

Still, Bradley said, the school has purposefully hired instructors with practical criminal justice experience. “Our instructors are in a position to tell students how philosophies and concepts apply on a day-to-day basis,” said Bradley, himself a retired Baltimore City police officer.

UMUC graduates typically end up in law enforcement jobs, he said, including in the private sector, which he said was a large and often-overlooked industry.

In fact, no college or university completely ignores either the practical aspects of criminal justice or the social science behind it, believing both are essential for anyone entering the field.

“We don’t see the line between training and the academic pursuits as clearly demarcated as it had been in the past,” said AACC’s Powers. “The social aspect is part of weapons of mass destruction, for example, and why people use them.”

Whatever their offerings, leaders of criminal justice programs at area colleges and universities expect the programs to remain popular as students look for a steady, stable career.

“You’re probably not going to become a millionaire, but these are good stable jobs with good benefits,” said Montgomery College’s Fay. “And the one thing we know about crime is that it’s not going away.”