Masters in Criminal Justice Salaries
Masters in Criminal Justice Salaries
There are a slew of career options that are enhanced by a Masters inCriminal Justice. Many professionals obtain this degree as a mid-careeradvancement and move into senior or management positions in a field where theyhave already acquired years of experience. But there is no question that agraduate degree in criminal justice is going to further a career in lawenforcement, corrections, rehabilitative services or criminal justice resourcesmanagement. Our brief salary surveyrepresented by the jobs listed here represents salary ranges for the mostcommon career choices in the criminal justice field where a graduate degree iseither desirable or necessary.
Supervisor of Police and Detectives: This job descriptionis taken from the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook. Itdoes not necessarily refer to a police chief, deputychief or captain although it could in a small department. But the overallcategory is a good match for law enforcement personnel that have obtained agraduate degree in criminal justice as a step towards a supervisorial role.Moving up the ladder in law enforcement ranks is more than just a civil serviceexam today; it requires additional education as well. According to the Bureauof Labor Statistics the median salary for this job is $76,500.
Chief Probation Officer: This job is probably most oftenawarded to a career employee with years of experience, but there are manyadvertised jobs for the position in jurisdictions across the country as well.There are positions available as federal probation supervisors along with thelocal positions that are more common. Most require a graduate degree althoughsome are willing to accept a bachelor's degree and several years' supervisorialexperience. A salary survey from 2009 shows the pay range for this position inthe Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh, PA was $71,000 - $84,000. In BexarCounty, Texas it was $135,000 - $170,000. For Juvenile Probation in MaricopaCounty Arizona (Phoenix), the range was $96,000 - 149,000.
Sheriff/Police Chief: In many cases county sheriffs areelected officials. Most have come up through the ranks however and run for thespot as the leadership ahead of them has retired. It's also important to notethat there are a hundreds of small cities who have their own police departmentsthat typically have a lower pay scale for management positions than the largerdepartments. According to the website Salary.com the median salary for a Chief of Police or of a Sherriff'sDepartment is $95,500. The salary range is $85,000 - $106,000.
First-Line Corrections Supervisor: Advancement in thecorrections ranks can range to the level of sergeant until the requirements foradditional education become important. It's a little more difficult what ismeant by this term than it is with police supervisors or management officialsin a probation department. Corrections officers at the entry level generally donot have educational requirements beyond a high school diploma; many militaryveterans gravitate to the industry. At the supervisorial level the mediansalary is $57,690 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Corrections Management: Privately operated prisons are areality in over half the states in the Union today; there are also severalfederal institutions managed under contract, making the corrections field acommercial as well as public sector enterprise. The need for managementpersonnel for these facilities and the companies that operate them may typically come from the ranks, buta professional working in this sector is going to need budget management skillsand personnel management abilities as well as corrections experience. Payscales are typically lower for private sector corrections positions, withfacility supervisors paid $75,000 - 90,000 depending on the size and complexityof the facility.
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