Policing Studies (BS)

Summary

Policing Studies BS is designed for individuals seeking a professional career as a peace officer in a law enforcement or related agency who serves multicultural and diverse communities at the individual, local, state, federal, and global levels. This program meets the academic requirements to be eligible to be licensed in the State of Minnesota.

Catalog Year

2023-2024

Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Credits

53

Total Credits

120

Locations

Mankato

This program satisfies licensure-to-practice standards for Minnesota and may satisfy standards for other states or US territories.

Licensure/Certification Disclosure

Program Requirements

Required General Education

Examines the making of criminal law, the evolution of policing, the adjudication of persons accused of criminal law violations, and the punishment of adult offenders.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

A critical consideration of definitions of juvenile delinquency, emphasis on micro and macro level of struggle in which delinquent behavior takes place, critique of current theories on delinquency, and the juvenile justice response to delinquency from a criminal justice lens.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Become informed enough to play your part in governing the United States. Start by learning about the Constitution, our rights and freedoms, how the national government works and the opportunities and challenges of citizen influence. Political Science methods, and the challenges of citizenship are emphasized.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-09

Overview of the structure and processes of social life; impact of social forces on individuals and groups; interdependence of society and the individual; social significance of social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality; emphasis on critical analysis of social inequalities and injustice.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Experiential Diverse Cultures - Choose 3 - 4 Credit(s). Must complete at least one course

Study of interpersonal skills, motivation and group skills. Applied to educational settings. Meets State of Minnesota human relations requirement for teacher licensure.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07, GE-11

Diverse Cultures: Gold

Students will participate in field trips, activities, and guest discussions that will enable them to interact with people ethnically (race, religion, lifestyle, etc.) different from the students, to understand their perspectives and to appreciate their unique experiences and/or contributions to the U.S. pluralistic society. Students are expected to learn actively in and outside the classroom by experiencing events or people from diverse cultural groups.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Gold

An introduction to the study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities and identities, including challenges to homophobia and heterosexism. We will explore social and historical constructions of LGBT identities as they vary across ethnic, class, and gender lines.Fall, Spring

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Gold

An introduction to the study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities and identities, including challenges to homophobia and heterosexism. We will explore social and historical constructions of LGBT identities as they vary across ethnic, class, and gender lines.Fall, Spring

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Gold

This course provides an historical and interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Islamic world. The course examines Islam and Islamic cultures within a global context, from its beginnings through the contemporary period.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Gold

This class traces the evolving history of race from its creation in early modern Europe to political uses of this history in the twenty-first century United States. Students will learn about whiteness and blackness as social constructions that implicated the trans-Atlantic slave trade, patterns of imperialism, systems of oppression, and notions of beauty in western society. Students will also be involved in historical commemoration and/or racial justice projects involving communities of color in Minnesota to reflect on how the historical context informs these activities and how history continues to be used politically.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-09, GE-11

Diverse Cultures: Gold

Promotes an understanding of the impact of physical and mental disabilities on people in their daily livesthrough in-class contacts and exercises with and about persons with disabilities.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Gold

Values, Ethics, and Critical Thinking - Choose 3 Credit(s). Must complete at least one course

This anthropology course explores the areas of anatomical forensic science. Students will learn the techniques and methodology involved in collection, preservation, and analysis of evidence pertaining to human remains. The course will include such subjects as analysis of skeletal trauma, victim identification, bite-mark analysis, and crime scene recovery methods. Ethnics and standards in medico-legal investigations will also be stressed.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-03

The purpose of this course is to help students develop critical thinking, problem solving and decision making skills necessary to manage the challenges they face now (choice of major) and in the future (career choice and balancing work and life roles). Meets General Education requirements for critical thinking.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

Provides the knowledge and skills necessary in an emergency to help sustain life, reduce pain, and minimize the consequences of injury or sudden illness. Includes First Aid certification for the non-professional and all aspects of CPR for the non-professional and professional.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

Traditional syllogistic logic and an introduction to the elements of modern symbolic logic.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-02, GE-04

To what extent do the differences among races and between genders represent biological differences, and to what extent are they constructed by society? Is racism best conceptualized as an additional burden to sexism or as one different in kind?

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-07

Discussion of theories of value and obligation.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-09

Discussion of the ways that a culture both creates human community and shapes self-identity. Exploration of similarities and differences between and interdependence among cultural traditions, and of vocabularies for assessing traditions.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-08

Introduction to community leadership-elected, professional, or voluntary-and the skills and values which support it.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-09, GE-11

Introduction to community leadership-elected, professional, or voluntary-and the skills and values which support it.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-09, GE-11

Diversity and Human Relations - Choose 3 - 4 Credit(s). Must complete at least one course

Language provides not only communication but identification of oneself and one's group. Humans are extremely sensitive to language, dialect, jargon, and slang. An understanding of language and its relationship to culture is basic to any understanding of human beings.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Beginning ASL - Level I aims to develop a basic understanding and use of American Sign Language through learning parameters of sign, fingerspelling, basic grammar and a basic understanding of Deaf culture.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

The course explores communication with people from other cultures, why misunderstandings occur and how to build clearer and more productive cross-cultural relationships.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

A study of American racial/ethnic minorities, especially the histories of Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. Their roles and contributions to American society will be emphasized.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course introduces students to multicultural and ethnic knowledge and values in and outside the United States. Students are exposed to such issues as race, culture, ethnicity, dominance, immigration, stereotypes, discrimination, and intergroup relations through interdisciplinary approaches-anthropological, economic, historical, political, psychological and/or sociological.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Cultural aspects of interactions between people and their environment focusing on spatial patterns of population, agriculture, politics, language, religion, industrialization, and urbanization. Emphasis is placed on the processes that create the cultural landscape and on management of land and natural resources.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course familiarizes students with the field of Gender and Women's Studies. It focuses on major questions and approaches to understanding gender alongside race, class, and sexuality, among other identity categories.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course familiarizes students with the field of Gender and Women's Studies. It focuses on major questions and approaches to understanding gender alongside race, class, and sexuality, among other identity categories.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Cultural and artistic traditions of groups that have experienced discrimination or exclusion in U.S. society and how these groups express themselves through the visual, literary and performing arts and other forms. May be repeated when topic changes.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This class will cover the psychological experiences of diverse individuals in American educational, work, health care, consumer, and legal environments. Diversity in this course will be broadly defined to include race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, obesity, pregnancy, disability status, and others as deemed appropriate. Topics of prejudice, discrimination and stigma will be discussed. We will also discuss potential solutions to diversity-related problems in these environments.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07

Relationships, marriage, and families are studied from a sociological perspective. Focuses on the connections between society, culture, social institutions, families, and individuals. Particular attention is given to the ways that race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and sexuality shape family patterns and dynamics.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Diversity and Social Justice in Society - Choose 3 - 4 Credit(s). Must complete at least one course

Class introduces students to history of the discipline and surveys both historic and contemporary topics of importance to American Indian Studies including gender roles, education, sovereignty, treaties, and oral traditions.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Oral traditions are at the base of all American Indian cultures. This class will provide students with the necessary tools for a better understanding of traditional knowledge and its importance within diverse traditional cultures.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Course introduces students to the legal side of being American Indian. Politics and policies will be examined to show how a contemporary native experience is shaped through American courts, Presidential chambers, and Native activist movements.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course will explore the historical, social, political, and cultural experience of African Americans. It will also examine the contributions of African Americans to the growth and development of the United States.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Introduction to the history and cultures of the major Asian American ethnic groups with a comparative approach to their similarities and differences.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

A survey of the history and present status of Hispanics/Latinos in the United States from 1848. Emphasis will be on culture, history, and socio-political patterns.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Students will examine the gendered and systematic nature of violence. Special attention will be given to the ways in which violence against women is perpetuated through interpersonal relationships and through institutions such as schools, the judicial system, welfare policies. The effects of internalized oppressions, such as internalized sexism, racism, and homophobia will be discussed. Emphasis on feminist analysis and building skills for educating ourselves and others about constructing non-violent cultures.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Students will examine the gendered and systematic nature of violence. Special attention will be given to the ways in which violence against women is perpetuated through interpersonal relationships and through institutions such as schools, the judicial system, welfare policies. The effects of internalized oppressions, such as internalized sexism, racism, and homophobia will be discussed. Emphasis on feminist analysis and building skills for educating ourselves and others about constructing non-violent cultures.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

We explore the influence of gender on legal rights in the United States historically and today, focusing on constitutional rights, employment, education, reproduction, the family, gender-based violence, and related issues. We will study constitutional and statutory law as well as public policy. Race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and additional intersecting identities will be examined.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Social and Political Perspectives - Choose 6 - 8 Credit(s). Must complete at least two courses from at least two different disciplines.

This course will explore the scientific, pharmacological, neurochemical and cultural aspects of psychoactive substances. The material is presented intuitively, with no mathematics. Course topics will include discussions of the major classes of pharmaceutical and psychoactive substances, basic neurochemistry, the role of psychoactive substances in medicine, the ritual use of psychoactive substances by traditional cultures, the FDA approval process, the significance and implications of drug testing, the controversy of drug-induced behavioral modification, national and global perspectives of substance abuse and the ethics of legalization. V

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-03

Addresses the justifications and the historical development of punishment, the legal and policy issues concerning capital punishment, and the use of incarceration as a response to crime.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-08

xplores social media and their impacts on society through consideration of technologies, social networks, markets, communities, politics and social movements, and major companies. Special focus on individuals¿ roles as users, producers, consumers, and laborers toward becoming responsible online citizens.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-09

This course will focus on the struggle for civil rights by diverse groups in the United States. Emphasis will be on how these struggles have impacted their communities and cultural pluralism in the U.S.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Explores how popular culture shapes and mirrors our understandings of gender and sexuality and their intersections with race and class. Critically examines representations of gender and race in popular culture forms such as film, television, music, books, and the internet.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-02, GE-06

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Through a series of historical simulations, students develop communication and oral reasoning skills by researching, writing, and participating in debates about key global political events that changed the course of history. Students will study primary and secondary sources related to the historical events. Students will draft, rewrite, and defend oral arguments based on their research, and they will conduct debates with other students in class.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-09, GE-1B

Students will develop communication, reasoning, and collaborative skills through history-based exercises interrogating diverse and changing understandings of democracy in what is now the United States. Students will analyze historical sources highlighting American traditions of disagreement as well as creative compromise over the character and features of self-government, the narratives by which to understand the past, and the legacies and lessons of the past for the present. The course puts current divisions among Americans into historical context to help students widen their perspectives, work productively across differences, and learn to substantiate their opinions on public issues with historical and contemporary evidence.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-09, GE-1B

This course provides information on a variety of topics related to chemical use, abuse and dependency. Students will be exposed to chemical dependency counseling, assessment and intervention techniques. Different drug classifications will be discussed in detail. Counselor core functions and ethics will be discussed also.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05

Consideration of the basic philosophical approaches to the idea of justice and how this idea relates to other fundamental ideas in political philosophy, ethics, and law.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-09

Combine study with action to remake yourself into a democratic citizen. Consider your beliefs, debate issues and learn political skills. Integrate these in practical public work on a real issue or project in a student group or community organization.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-09, GE-11

Rejoin the political debates of 1787 to understand the US Constitution. Compare the founding document with amendments, later usage and Supreme Court interpretations. Examine controversies over the meaning of the Constitution using the methods of political philosophers, historians, and legal scholars.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05

This course is designed to provide a thorough introduction to the broad spectrum of theories and applications that make up the field of psychology

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05

Introduces students to major issues in society that impact their lives, behaviors, and the way they think. Course requires student to critically address controversial and non-controversial issues through clear argumentations, intensive writings, research and presentations.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-02

A critical description and analysis of selected social problems, as well as the social problems process through which problems are socially constructed and defined. A social constructionist approach examines how people and social systems define and react to social problems. Emphasis on the sociological perspective, critical thinking, roots of social inequality, and exploration of solutions and alternatives to existing social problems.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

he objective of this course is to explore social welfare as a social institution. Consideration will be given to formal and informal efforts to meet common social needs of diverse populations. This course emphasizes social challenges and impact of oppression facing American society and the program and policy prescriptions designed to minimize or eliminate these problems.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

The objective of this course is to explore social welfare as a social institution. Consideration will be given to formal and informal efforts to meet common social needs of diverse populations. This course emphasizes social challenges and impact of oppression facing American society and the program and policy prescriptions designed to minimize or eliminate these problems.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course will identify and analyze global social, economic, political and environmental problems impacting community viability and explore the full range of solutions to these problems. The course will view communities as complex, sustainable organisms and bring together the works of the great minds working on sustainability.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-10

Major Common Core

Lower Division Core Courses - Choose 16 Credit(s).

The foundational tenets of peacekeeping are based on building relations between peace officers and the communities they serve. The student will be introduced to the value of positive interactions between peace officers and the populations they serve, as well as how negative interactions can impact public perception, funding, and trust. Students will also learn ways to incorporate problem-solving strategies and critical analysis on both micro and macro levels to address community and peacekeeping concerns.

Prerequisites: none

The history, development, and application of criminal laws and criminal procedures in the criminal justice system.

Prerequisites: none

An extensive study of the rules, statutes, criminal laws, and traffic laws that directly relate to the role of a peace officer in the State of Minnesota.

Prerequisites: none

The history, legal aspects of investigation, the evolution of investigations and forensics, procedures of crime investigations, procurement and preservation of evidence and interviewing.

Prerequisites: none

This course will introduce students to theoretical concepts in sociology, social psychology, psychology, and criminology pertaining to human behavior. Students will gain an understanding of how individual and societal factors influence the behaviors of the people they serve, as well as how those same factors influence the peace officer personality. Students will also be introduced to many of the mental disorders they will encounter in the field so that they may more easily identify those in crisis when in the field and determine the most appropriate course of action to assist them.

Prerequisites: none

Upper Division Core Courses - Choose 28 Credit(s).

Research methodologies as they apply to correctional evidence-based practices are covered, as are strengths and limitations of various research practices, especially with respect to central correctional concepts such as risk, recidivism, and program evaluation. Students will gain experience with data sources, data collection, and basic interpretation of data analysis.

Prerequisites: none

Overview of the characteristics of victims, victim-offender relationships, societal victimization, victim's rights and services, and restorative justice. The focus will be on developing effective criminal justice responses to the victims/survivors and the perpetrators.

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to provide peace officer students with the foundational information, tools, and skills needed to improve interpersonal communications with coworkers and the public from all ethnic and cultural groups. This course also provides some historical information so students can contextualize and better understand why particular groups may distrust and resist peace officers and the criminal justice system as a whole.

Prerequisites: none

The mental and physical wellbeing of peace officers will be focused on and students will be required to assess their vulnerabilities to intrapersonal and interpersonal stressors. Students will develop tactics and strategies for managing their mental and physical wellbeing, while understanding how those strategies may have to change over time. Must be a major or minor in Corrections, Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement, or Peace Officer Program.

Prerequisites: none

The course will provide the student with a solid foundation in effective peace officer communications and prepare the student analytically for a career as a peace officer. This course also has a writing intensive requirement that involves drafting, editing, and reviewing a variety of written assignments.Must be a major or minor in Corrections, Criminal Justice, and/or Peace Officer (Law Enforcement) Programs.

Prerequisites: none

Advanced Crime Theory & Prevention provides an overview of the nature and causes of crime and victimization. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the course surveys theories of criminal behavior at the macro- & micro-level. Students will learn how to evaluate criminological theories. The course also covers the link between theory and crime prevention efforts, focusing primarily on how crime prevention efforts employed by legislatures, police, courts, and corrections agencies in the United States are derived from theory.

Prerequisites: none

The course will examine ethics and leadership theory, interpretation, and application. Concepts such as vision, ownership, integrity, accountability, attitude, teamwork capability, monitoring, evaluation, and decision making will be interpreted through case studies of ethics and leadership in criminal justice.

Prerequisites: none

This course will cover the basic techniques of writing reports, memoranda, forms, and other documents used in the peace officer profession. This is a writing-intensive course that will not only fulfill MN POST Report Writing requirements, but will also require students to compose numerous documents and respond to writing feedback throughout the semester.

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to provide peace officer students with a more thorough understanding of a variety of ethnicities, cultures, and groups in Minnesota and elsewhere throughout the country.

Prerequisites: none

Senior Seminar is a capstone course that is specifically designed for Peace Officer Program students to be eligible to become licensed peace officers. This course will assist the student in several areas to include preparation for the MN POST test, interviewing skills, critical thinking and decision making skills, scenario based learning, and job application skills.

Prerequisites: none

Community Engagement - Choose 2 Credit(s). Course must be taken twice in different terms for a total of 2 credits

Students will engage in community experiences, public service interactions, experiences with a variety of diverse groups, and/or interactive panels that will provide for opportunities to reflect, observe, conceptualize, and grow as a future criminal justice professional.

Prerequisites: none

Major Restricted Electives

Required Physical Fitness Electives - Choose 1 Credit(s).

Prerequisites: none

Concepts and development of lifelong healthy exercise and nutritional habits.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

Theory and practice of aerobic conditioning.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

Includes street fighting techniques and personal safety tips.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

Participation and increase skill knowledge through activity in body building, physical conditioning, and aerobics.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

This class is open to all students. Please note, this is a physically demanding class. It is a comprehensive fitness program based on the latest military fitness techniques and principles. Students participate in and learn the components of an effective physical fitness program, with emphasis on the development of an individual fitness program and the role of exercise and fitness in one's life. In addition, students will achieve the highest standards of physical fitness in preparation for the Army Physical Fitness Test. This class is a pre-requisite for MSL 403.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

Program Restricted Electives - Choose 6 Credit(s). Choose 6 credits, 3 credits must be at the 300-400 level

Prerequisites: none

Students will learn about the legal, cultural, and political factors that contribute to sexual assault and gendered violence. This course will combine hands-on training in activism from course instructors and community members in the field of sexual assault advocacy, as well as a background in theories of gender and sexual assault. Sexual assault advocates provide confidential services to victims of sexual violence, including hospital and legal advocacy, crisis counseling, and emotional support. Students who satisfactorily complete 40 hours of training will be certified as sexual assault advocates at the end of the semester.

Prerequisites: none

Diverse Cultures: Purple

4-Year Plan

The 4-Year Plan is a model for completing your degree in a timely manner. Your individual 4-Year plan may change based on a number of variables including transfer courses and the semester/year you start your major. Carefully work with your academic advisors to devise your own unique plan.
* Please meet with your advisor on appropriate course selection to meet your educational and degree goals.

First Year

Fall - 15 Credits

Examines the making of criminal law, the evolution of policing, the adjudication of persons accused of criminal law violations, and the punishment of adult offenders.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Overview of the structure and processes of social life; impact of social forces on individuals and groups; interdependence of society and the individual; social significance of social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality; emphasis on critical analysis of social inequalities and injustice.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-08

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Become informed enough to play your part in governing the United States. Start by learning about the Constitution, our rights and freedoms, how the national government works and the opportunities and challenges of citizen influence. Political Science methods, and the challenges of citizenship are emphasized.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-09

The history, development, and application of criminal laws and criminal procedures in the criminal justice system.

Prerequisites: none

Spring - 16 Credits

The foundational tenets of peacekeeping are based on building relations between peace officers and the communities they serve. The student will be introduced to the value of positive interactions between peace officers and the populations they serve, as well as how negative interactions can impact public perception, funding, and trust. Students will also learn ways to incorporate problem-solving strategies and critical analysis on both micro and macro levels to address community and peacekeeping concerns.

Prerequisites: none

The history, legal aspects of investigation, the evolution of investigations and forensics, procedures of crime investigations, procurement and preservation of evidence and interviewing.

Prerequisites: none

General Education Course * 3 credits

General Education Course * 3 credits

General Education Course * 4 credits

Second Year

Fall - 15 Credits

An extensive study of the rules, statutes, criminal laws, and traffic laws that directly relate to the role of a peace officer in the State of Minnesota.

Prerequisites: none

This course will introduce students to theoretical concepts in sociology, social psychology, psychology, and criminology pertaining to human behavior. Students will gain an understanding of how individual and societal factors influence the behaviors of the people they serve, as well as how those same factors influence the peace officer personality. Students will also be introduced to many of the mental disorders they will encounter in the field so that they may more easily identify those in crisis when in the field and determine the most appropriate course of action to assist them.

Prerequisites: none

General Education Course * 3 credits

General Education Course * 3 credits

Writing Intensive Course * 3 credits

Spring - 15 Credits

A critical consideration of definitions of juvenile delinquency, emphasis on micro and macro level of struggle in which delinquent behavior takes place, critique of current theories on delinquency, and the juvenile justice response to delinquency from a criminal justice lens.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-09

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Research methodologies as they apply to correctional evidence-based practices are covered, as are strengths and limitations of various research practices, especially with respect to central correctional concepts such as risk, recidivism, and program evaluation. Students will gain experience with data sources, data collection, and basic interpretation of data analysis.

Prerequisites: none

The mental and physical wellbeing of peace officers will be focused on and students will be required to assess their vulnerabilities to intrapersonal and interpersonal stressors. Students will develop tactics and strategies for managing their mental and physical wellbeing, while understanding how those strategies may have to change over time. Must be a major or minor in Corrections, Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement, or Peace Officer Program.

Prerequisites: none

General Education Course * 3 credits

Diverse Cultures Course * 3 credits

Third Year

Fall - 16 Credits

Overview of the characteristics of victims, victim-offender relationships, societal victimization, victim's rights and services, and restorative justice. The focus will be on developing effective criminal justice responses to the victims/survivors and the perpetrators.

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to provide peace officer students with the foundational information, tools, and skills needed to improve interpersonal communications with coworkers and the public from all ethnic and cultural groups. This course also provides some historical information so students can contextualize and better understand why particular groups may distrust and resist peace officers and the criminal justice system as a whole.

Prerequisites: none

Students will engage in community experiences, public service interactions, experiences with a variety of diverse groups, and/or interactive panels that will provide for opportunities to reflect, observe, conceptualize, and grow as a future criminal justice professional.

Prerequisites: none

Elective Course in Major * 3 credits

General Education Course * 3 credits

General Elective Course * 3 credits

Spring - 15 Credits

The course will provide the student with a solid foundation in effective peace officer communications and prepare the student analytically for a career as a peace officer. This course also has a writing intensive requirement that involves drafting, editing, and reviewing a variety of written assignments.Must be a major or minor in Corrections, Criminal Justice, and/or Peace Officer (Law Enforcement) Programs.

Prerequisites: none

Advanced Crime Theory & Prevention provides an overview of the nature and causes of crime and victimization. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the course surveys theories of criminal behavior at the macro- & micro-level. Students will learn how to evaluate criminological theories. The course also covers the link between theory and crime prevention efforts, focusing primarily on how crime prevention efforts employed by legislatures, police, courts, and corrections agencies in the United States are derived from theory.

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to provide peace officer students with a more thorough understanding of a variety of ethnicities, cultures, and groups in Minnesota and elsewhere throughout the country.

Prerequisites: none

Elective Course in Major * 3 credits

General Education Course * 3 credits

Fourth Year

Fall - 15 Credits

Concepts and development of lifelong healthy exercise and nutritional habits.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

Students will engage in community experiences, public service interactions, experiences with a variety of diverse groups, and/or interactive panels that will provide for opportunities to reflect, observe, conceptualize, and grow as a future criminal justice professional.

Prerequisites: none

The course will examine ethics and leadership theory, interpretation, and application. Concepts such as vision, ownership, integrity, accountability, attitude, teamwork capability, monitoring, evaluation, and decision making will be interpreted through case studies of ethics and leadership in criminal justice.

Prerequisites: none

This course will cover the basic techniques of writing reports, memoranda, forms, and other documents used in the peace officer profession. This is a writing-intensive course that will not only fulfill MN POST Report Writing requirements, but will also require students to compose numerous documents and respond to writing feedback throughout the semester.

Prerequisites: none

General Elective Course * 3 credits

General Education Course * 4 credits

Spring - 13 Credits

Senior Seminar is a capstone course that is specifically designed for Peace Officer Program students to be eligible to become licensed peace officers. This course will assist the student in several areas to include preparation for the MN POST test, interviewing skills, critical thinking and decision making skills, scenario based learning, and job application skills.

Prerequisites: none

General Elective Course * 12 credits