10-1 Discussion: Putting It All Together
There is two parts to this paper. Part I you will respond to the question posted by the teacher. Second, you will respond to the post to two other peers and first person. Responding to their post in first person such as Tiffany, you made good points, etc.
Part I
In this course, you have had the opportunity to identify, analyze, and discuss some of the most prevalent issues affecting the delivery of criminal justice and public safety services today. Now that you have completed the course, you should have a better understanding of the field of criminal justice.
• In your initial post, reflect on what you have learned and discuss how you will use this knowledge in your future career as a criminal justice professional.
• Next, discuss your future career goals in the field of criminal justice. Having examined the civic responsibilities of criminal justice professionals and the challenges facing the criminal justice system, what areas of criminal justice are you most interested in?
• Where do you see your career five years from now? Twenty years from now?
Part II
When responding to your classmates, compare their experiences in the course and their future goals to your own.
Student A- Ashlea Wilson
In this class I have learned how to be able to identify key issues involving the criminal justice system, and am now able to use more professional decision making skills in order to figure out a solution to the problem as a leader. The criminal justice system is not perfect, but it is up to us to be able to mold it into something better than it is now in order to better serve the community we’ve sworn to protect. I will use these reasoning and problem-solving techniques in my future career in order to continue to improve on my specific job area.
I want to be able to teach criminal justice in a college setting at some point, however that might be a long way from now. However, it is really helpful to be able to get these classes that have you think about the criminal justice system in more than one way, and look to better it as we go along. I hope to one day show students how to determine issues in the CJS system, and figure out ways to fix those problems rather than letting them continue.
I’m honestly unsure where I see myself in five years time. Hopefully with a masters degree, of course. However we are about to move halfway across the country, and I’m still looking for jobs. I want to be able to help people, either by helping them advance their education, or by helping victims get through a hard time in their lives. I hope to be settled down in my career and looking to make a change to our society.
Student B- Ashley Lee
I have enjoyed these 10 weeks of this class. I have learned a lot especially about public defenders and their work and how overloaded they are with their caseloads, even though I see it in the courtrooms I work in every day. I have learned that more and more people mostly people who used to be public defenders are starting to bring more attention to this issue to try and fix this problem so they can have more time to dedicate to their clients. I also learned that only North Carolina and New York are the only 2 states that prosecute and house 16- and 17-year old’s as adults and with adults. I thought every state did that. I also learned more about using discretion. In my job as a probation officer, we do have to use discretion especially if we are ever put in a dangerous situation.
Currently, I work for the state of North Carolina as a probation officer and while it has its ups and downs and can be stressful at times, I love my job very much and would love to make it a career. I have thought about my future a lot and I know I want to stay on the law enforcement side. I have thought about moving to Virginia and working as a probation officer in the Virginia Beach area; they do way less work than a probation officer in North Carolina and also I have thought about moving to Orlando, Florida. Hopefully, in 5 years I would have made up my mind about where I want to live and work. A long-term goal would be to have a career as a federal probation officer, hopefully, in 20 years I can call that my career.