Criminal justice

Introduction to Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security (LPSCS) is the pre-requisite for all other courses within the Career Cluster. This course provides students with career-focused educational opportunities in various LPSCS fields. It examines the basic concepts of law related to citizens’ rights and the responsibilities, and students will receive instruction in critical skill areas including: communicating with diverse groups, conflict resolution, ethics, CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Training, or similar program), basic firefighting, report writing, terrorism, civil and criminal law. Career planning and employability skills will be emphasized.   

Criminal Justice Essentials provides an overview of the criminal justice system. Starting with historical perspectives of the origin of the system, the course reviews the overall structure. Students will become immersed in criminal and constitutional law and will review basic law enforcement skills. The course ends with a mock trial to provide participants with a first-hand experience of the criminal justice system. The course will also provide in-depth competencies and components for the co-curricular SkillsUSA student organization that should be incorporated throughout instructional strategies of the course. Participation in additional student organizations that align with Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security pathways (i.e. mock trial) is encouraged to enhance standards addressed in the curriculum.  

This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to explore the basic processes and principles of a criminal investigation. Students will learn the legal responsibilities and challenges of the patrol officer, investigator, and crime scene technician at a crime scene. Students will learn the importance of preserving and documenting the crime scene along with the identification, collection, and processing of evidence and the contribution to the criminal investigation. This course is one of two choices that may be selected for the law enforcement pathway. The prerequisites for this course are Introduction to Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security, and Criminal Justice Essentials.