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Criminal Justice Programs
Western New Mexico University's Criminal Justice Program offers students the opportunity to prepare for careers
in law enforcement and corrections. Students learn about the practical
aspects of work in these fields. The program is also interdisciplinary...
that is, students not only study the procedures and legal issues related
to law enforcement and corrections, they also study sociology, psychology,
political science, management, social work and other subjects relevant
to an understanding of crime and the criminal justice system.
WNMU's Criminal Justice program offers three levels of training. The Law
Enforcement Academy is a five-month program that meets legislative
requirements for police officer training in New Mexico. When a student
completes the program, he or she takes the state certification examination.
If the exam is passed, the student is automatically certified as a
police officer upon employment with a law enforcement agency. Our students
are very attractive to law enforcement agencies because they are saved
the time and expense of training.
WNMU also offers associate
(2 years) and bachelors
(4 years) degrees in Criminal Justice. Many larger police departments
now require an associate or bachelors degree. A bachelors degree is
required for many jobs in corrections such as probation officer and
parole officer and for most Federal law enforcement jobs. Both associate and bachelors degrees are available online.
No other program in New Mexico offers the range of degree and certificate
programs that are available at WNMU. The Criminal Justice faculty have
years of professional experience in law enforcement, corrections and/or
the court system. They are able to provide the practical training you
need to work in the criminal justice field.
The Criminal Justice Program sponsors two of the most active student
groups on campus: a chapter of Alpha
Phi Sigma, a national honor society for criminal justice students,
and the Criminal
Justice Club. Both organizations participate in community service
projects such as Identi-kid, food drives, and helping with university
events such as Homecoming and the Great Race. They also take trips to
visit law enforcement and corrections employers throughout the Southwest
and to attend national and regional criminal justice conferences. |
