Program Overview
The Police Science program at College of the Desert offers training for careers in law enforcement, corrections, and related fields. Students can earn a Reserve Police Officer Certificate, Basic Peace Officer Certificate, Basic Correctional Officer Training Certificate, or an Associate's Degree in Police Science. The program includes POST and CPOST certified courses, as well as required and elective courses in criminal justice, communication, psychology, and sociology. Graduates are prepared for careers in law enforcement, corrections, probation, security, and community service.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The Police Science program at College of the Desert provides training for careers in law enforcement, corrections, probation, security, and community service. The program offers three levels of job-entry training, as well as an Associate’s Degree designed to enhance professional skills and qualifications. The job-entry training levels include the Reserve Police Officer Certificate of Achievement, Basic Peace Officer Certificate of Achievement, and the Basic Correctional Officer Training Certificate of Achievement. These levels consist of the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certified Module III, Module II, and Module I Basic Peace Officer Training courses and the Correctional Peace Officer Standards and Training (CPOST) certified Basic Correctional Officer course. Satisfactory completion of the POST Training requirements for hire as a Level-III or Level-II or Level-I Reserve Peace Officer or the CPOST requirements for hire as a Correctional Deputy establishes eligibility for hire in the State of California.
Outline:
With the BPOT 001-Module III (7 units) and BPOT 002-Module II (12 units) or BPOT 003-Module I (19 units), a Police Science Associate’s Degree is attainable with an additional 18 units of required courses, 18 units of General Education, 3 units of electives, and 2 units of Kinesiology activity courses. With the BCOT 010 - Basic Correctional Officer Training Course (16 units), a Police Science Associate’s Degree is attainable with an additional 18 units of required courses, 18 units of General Education, 6 units of electives, and 2 units of Kinesiology activity courses.
Required Courses
- BPOT 001 - Basic Peace Officer Training-Module III (7 units)
- BPOT 002 - Basic Peace Officer Training-Module II (12 units)
- OR BPOT 003 - Basic Peace Officer Training-Module I (19 units)
- OR BCOT 010 - Basic Correctional Officer Training (16 units)
- CJ 001 - Introduction to Criminal Justice (3 units)
- CJ 002 - Concepts of Criminal Law (3 units)
- CJ 004 - Criminal Court Process (3 units)
- CJ 006 - Criminal Investigation (3 units)
- CJ 024 - Investigative Report Writing (3 units)
- CJ 030 - Introduction to Corrections (3 units)
Elective Courses
Students can choose 3-6 units from the following elective courses:
- CJ 003 - Legal Aspects of Evidence (3 units)
- CJ 005 - Racial Issues and the Police (3 units)
- CJ 010 - Juvenile Procedures (3 units)
- CJ 025 - Introduction to Homeland Security & Terrorism (3 units)
- CJ 026 - Homeland Security and Intelligence Gathering (3 units)
- CJ 095A - Criminal Justice Work Experience (1-3 units)
- COMM 009 - Intro to Interpersonal Communication (3 units)
- COMM 013 - Small Group Communication (3 units)
- COMM 017 - Intercultural Communication (3 units)
- COMM 025 - Argumentation and Debate (3 units)
- PSY 001 - General Psychology (3 units)
- PSY 003 - Developmental Psychology (3 units)
- PSY 029 - Abnormal Psychology (3 units)
- SOC 001 - Introductory Sociology (3 units)
- SOC 002 - Social Problems (3 units)
- SOC 003 - Fundamentals of Statistics (3 units)
- SOC 014 - Introduction to Race & Ethnicity (3 units)
- ASL 001 - Elementary American Sign Language I (5 units)
- SPAN 001 - Elementary Spanish I (5 units)
- SPAN 021 - Spanish for Heritage Speakers I (5 units)
Kinesiology Activity Requirement
- KINE 037 - Physical Training for the Public Safety Academy (1 unit)
Careers:
The Police Science program prepares students for careers in law enforcement, corrections, probation, security, and community service. Graduates may find employment as police officers, correctional officers, probation officers, security guards, or in other related fields.