CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice

CJ 225

BREYER STATE UNIVERSITY

Instructor: John Moran, BS

SYLLABUS

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to "Criminal Justice Information Systems", a Bachelor Level course in the curriculum for the Degree, Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. I am pleased to instruct you in this course, which will allow you study the criminal mind and the law enforcement mind-set in the world of information systems and technology.

This course is about criminal justice information systems and technology. There will be no tests or textbooks required for this course. All the information you will need is either online or will be supplied by me.

This course will be divided into two parts; the first part being the law enforcement point of view, and the second part being from a criminal point of view. For the first several weeks you will be learning about the different types of information systems and technology available to the various law enforcement agencies in the United States. These agencies can be from the local police department to the federal level. During the last couple of weeks you will learn about the technologies used by criminals and how they use them. (DISCLAIMER: I nor Breyer State University are not responsible for what you do with this information. This is being shown to you for educational purposes only!)

Computers are the future of not only criminal justice but crime and criminal acts as well. This is the reason I am teaching you this course from both perspectives. In order to catch a criminal you must be able to think like one. My ultimate goal is to make you think like a criminal but at the same time keep you on society's side.

I am looking forward to mentoring you through this course and enjoy seeing you through this step on your way to completing your Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice.

TIME FRAME: This is a six (6) semester hour course. The course assignments must be completed within ten weeks. The first day of week one will begin the day that you register for the course or the day that you advise me that you are ready to begin your studies. Please monitor the time frame as extensions are very rare without special circumstances. Upon successful completion of this course you will be awarded six (6) semester hours of credit. You may accelerate and finish the course prior to the ten week mark, but not in less than four weeks. There is NO mandate to accelerate, it is simply an option for those students who are able to devote extra time to this course.

TEXTBOOKS: There are no required textbooks for this course. I, however, do have a few optional texts that you can read so that you may further your knowledge on the criminal justice system. Please note that none of my assignments will come from them.

Book 1: Internet Guide for Criminal Justice. Christina Dejong, Daniel J. Kurland. Thomson Wadsworth, August 2002: ISBN # 0534572634.

Book 2: America's Dumbest Criminals. Daniel R. Bulter, Leland Gregory, Alan Ray. Random House Value Publishing, Incorporated May, 2000: ISBN # 0517208903.

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EXAMINATIONS: There will be no exams for this course.

GRADING: The grading scale for the course is as follows:

90%-100% = A
80%-89%   = B
70%-79%   = C
Below-70% = Fail

Each week is worth 8% of your total grade, for a total of 80% for the ten weeks. The other 20% will be from a topic paper. Failure to submit a paper will lower your final grade by one letter.

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS: Each week I will give you a main assignment topic, with many different sub-topics for that main topic. Here is the interesting part; you pick your own sub-topics. The reason for this is so you can learn more about your field of study that you desire to specialize in. For example, the main topic might be computer use in Criminal Justice. Some of the sub-topics that you might decide on would be; computer use in corrections, computer use in the court system, and computer use in law enforcement.

After you decide on your area of specialty, you will go online and find websites about your topic(s).

TOPIC PAPER: You are to write a paper on one of the weekly assignment topics. Basically you will take something that you have learned in class and write about it. It should be around ten fifteen pages which does not include the cover or the bibliography. This will count as 20% of your total grade. Failure to write a paper will reduce your grade by one full letter.

COMMUNICATION: You are encouraged to communicate with me via e-mail, group chat in BSU's virtual chat room, or even by telephone if necessary. Depending on how many students are enrolled in this course, we may have one or several group chats scheduled, of which you will be notified. If your e-mail address changes at any time during this course, please notify me right away.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: I, John Moran, graduated from Youngstown State University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Criminal Justice. During my studies there I took many psychology and computer science courses. I also am a graduate of the Youngstown State Police Academy, where I graduated with the third highest grade of a class of 50 cadets. I plan to, in the future, earn my Masters in Policing Science. In my spare time I enjoy weight lifting, jogging, music, and pistol shooting.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1). Understand the different types of databases available in Criminal Justice.
2). Understand the different types of information and data used in Criminal Justice.
3). Know what types of computers are used in the different fields of Criminal Justice.
4). Prevent computer information theft.
5). Prevent identification theft.
6). Know the most up to date technologies used by the different fields of Criminal Justice.
7). Understand more about computers and the internet.
8). Steal someone's identification.
9). Make a computer virus.
10). "Hack" into another computer.
11). Identify the different types of hackers.
12). Have a working knowledge of computer crimes.
13). Protect children from online predators.

COURSE CONTENT: The following is a sample of the course content.

1). Criminal Justice databases.
2). Criminal Justice information systems.
3). Types of hardware used in Criminal Justice.
4). Most up to date technologies used in Criminal Justice.
5). Police equipment.
6). Modern Forensics.
7). Modern Police Stations.
8). Modern court rooms.
9). LEADS.
10). 911 centers.
11). Less-than-lethal devices.
12). Future of computers in Criminal Justice.
13). Identification theft.
14). Computer Hacking.
15). Types of protection from hacking.
16). Computer Viruses.
17). Police speed devices.
18). Computer hardware.
19). Modern police cruiser.
20). Future training programs for police officers.
21). Types of Criminal Justice information available to the public.
22). History of computers.
23). How computers are used in corrections.
24). How computers are used in the court system.
25). What type of data is usually kept in Criminal Justice.
26). Different ways of storing data.
27). DNA identification.
28). Fingerprint identification.
29). Types of computer criminals.

INFORMATION: If you have any questions regarding this program, you may address them to adm@breyerstate.com. An administrative faculty member will respond to all questions.