Blog Reflection

What I've done: 
This past semester I have given insight on the field of the criminal justice world. Most of my posts include various defense organizations, such as the FBI, CIA, and ATF, and certain colleges/courses that you should think about if you are interested in criminal justice as a career. My posts have links to sites about various topics that I discuss each week, so my readers can learn more about them.

My best post and why it's good:
My best blog post is "Foreign Language", which is where I explained the importance of knowing a second language in the criminal justice field. I believe that it is good because I have a lot of interesting information about how beneficial foreign language is for this line of work. For example, I talked about how special agents of the U.S Secret Service could get a 25% bonus pay if they know a second language. Also, this is my best post because it is one of the few posts that I was able to reflect on, which I think is key for writing a blog.

What I'd like to improve on:
Evidence/Research. I need to work on using more sources, and not rely primarily on Wikipedia. This also includes investing more time in research and searching more thoroughly for the best possible information for my readers. Another thing that I'd like to improve on is precision and depth. Lately, I've given only brief overviews of certain subjects that only give my readers small insight into my topic. I hope next semester that I can go more in depth, so that my readers can really see what goes on in the criminal justice world.

What I've learned about myself as a learner:
What I've learned about myself as a learner is that I need schedules in order to get something done. I can't just go to a computer and write my blog; I have to set aside a specific time, or I will veer away from my objective and get little accomplished. Also, I've learned that I am a visual learner. This means that when I find information on a topic, I have to read it thoroughly and highlight the most important material in order for me to make my blog effective in getting my point across to my readers.

Where I'd like to go:
Next semester, I'd liked to continue researching more criminal justice careers, and not provide just a brief overview, but go more into depth. I want to start explaining more thoroughly what tasks each job does in its line of work. Also, I'd like to go back to talking about college and what students can do now to help them see if they would be interested in a criminal justice career.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

     Since I have been talking about various agencies, such as the FBI and ATF, I knew it was a matter of time before  I would cover the CIA. The CIA is the Central Intelligence Agency, which is one of the main intelligent-gathering agencies for the U.S. government, and is headquartered in Langley, Virginia. It succeeded the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and was formed officially by the National Security Act of 1947, under President Harry S. Truman. The person in charge is known as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA), who is nominated by the President with consent of the Senate. As you can see, being in charge of the CIA seems parallel to picking a Supreme Court justice. The main functions of the CIA are gathering information about foreign governments/corporations; analyze that information in order to provide national security assessments to the President and US policymakers; and to conduct covert activities by its own employees. Here is a picture of the CIA logo, and of the CIA headquarters in  Langley, Virginia.

     One similarity that the CIA and the FBI share is that new employees and existing employees must take a polygraph test. According to a fiscal 2013 budget, the CIA has five main priorities: counter terrorism, counterintelligence, cyber intelligence, nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, and warning American leaders of overseas events. If you were to work for the CIA, you would see that there are a lot of jobs that require a wide variety of specialties, which include: operation officers working overseas recruiting foreign agents, intelligence analyst writing about nuclear forces/terrorism, and a security officer. Some of the professions that are still in demand are engineers, economists, accountants, and computer specialists. Sadly, there are no public tours of the CIA's headquarters because of security considerations and logistical problems, but there is a virtual tour available at www.cia.gov that can provide you with additional information and insight about the organization.

The NSA is watching you . . .

One day I watched the movie, Good Will Hunting, where a kid played by Matt Damon goes through therapy for his damaged past. Despite being in trouble with the law several times, he is very smart, primarily in math; which catches the eye of the NSA, who offers to recruit him. After watching it, I looked up the NSA on my computer. The NSA is the National Security Agency, which is the one of the largest U.S. intelligence agencies (estimated 30,000-40,000 employees), and is the main manager of signals intelligence for the United States. The agency was started on November 4, 1952, and is headquartered in Fort Meade, Maryland. In fact, the NSA is actually the leading employer for the state of Maryland. Here is a picture of the NSA headquarters in Maryland.

 

The NSA is known quite well for their surveillance abilities. Under the Bush administration, the NSA was under the "terrorist surveillance program", which authorized them by executive order to be able to monitor (without search warrants) phone calls, Internet activity, and any other communication involving any party believed to be outside the U.S. According to the newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, the NSA has the single largest group of supercomputers. As a result, it makes sense that the NSA wanted Will Hunting because of his amazing math skills, which are important for computer science. The interesting thing about applying for the NSA is you must go through a polygraph test. It serves as a security protocol, and they even do it for existing employees every 5 years. Since the NSA takes care of the country's most sensitive and important intelligence activities, the application process can include a medical screening, drug test, and a extensive background check. Hopefully this insight that I have provided will spark interest in you to start a career in criminal justice world.

 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

This past week for my AP English class we started the book, Columbine, by Dave Cullen. In this book, the author explains with great detail the shooting and its effects on the community. The book mentioned how the ATF had to come to the school to check that everything was all clear. I researched ATF and learned that the acronym stands for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This bureau is a federal law enforcement organization consisting of 4,770 employees. Its main responsibilities are pretty self-explanatory from the name: investigating violations of federal alcohol/tobacco tax regulations, and violations of federal firearms/explosives laws. To be more specific, the ATF works with the investigation of bombings/acts of arson, track illegal trafficking of alcohol/tobacco products, and many other activities in conjunction with task forces made up of state/federal law enforcement officers. Here are pictures of an ATF Special Response Team (Special Weapons and Tactics team for the ATF) and of an ATF building.

                                                              








In regard to applying, the ATF is competitive; about 5% of applicants actually get hired. In order to become an ATF agent, you need to complete a 27 week training program, which is one of the longest training programs in the United States (much longer that the training process for FBI, CIA, etc.) Despite their smaller size, there are many field offices throughout the nation: Atlanta, GA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Paul, MN; Philadelphia, PA. However, there are field offices outside the country, such as in Canada, Mexico, El Salvador, and Colombia. Once becoming an official member of the ATF, you are given a Glock 22 or a Glock 27 as a sidearm. If you are part of the Special Response Team (the picture above), then you are armed with a Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine gun. The nice thing about being an ATF Special Agent is that they are given lead investigative authority in any federal crime committed with a firearm or explosive. Hopefully, this blog post has given you some interest in the ATF or has made you start to consider pursuing a criminal justice career in the future.

U.S. Marshals

In the past few weeks in my AP United States History class, we have been learning about John Marshall and certain Supreme Court decisions, such as Marbury v. Madison, and Dartmouth College v. Woodward. However, during a lecture, my teacher talked about how the Supreme Court had no authority to enforce the law that it declared. As a result, a question came to mind: How does the Supreme Court enforce its laws? I tried to answer this question, and soon found out that the U.S. Marshal Service is a separate U.S. agency that is the enforcement arm of U.S. Federal Courts. It was founded by the Judiciary Act of 1789, which stated that the U.S. Marshals' main function was law enforcement. Thus, they are the oldest American federal law enforcement office. Here are some pictures of the responsibilities of the U.S. Marshal Service.

Some of the main responsibilities of a U.S. Marshal include: protection of the officers of the court, assistance in court security/prison transport, and for seeking fugitives. Through the years, the U.S. Marshals have done many interesting missions. Some examples of these missions are enforcing Prohibition during the 1920s, protecting American athletes during the Olympics, and being in charge of law enforcement of U.S. personnel in Antarctica since 1989. As you can see, the U.S Marshal Service is quite an exciting job, and is one that I found intriguing. Hopefully, I have helped you grow a passion for criminal justice jobs, just like I do.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

     Since I have informed you on certain college courses that apply to criminal justice and colleges that are good for this degree, I now want get to the fun part: talking about the jobs themselves. In order to be able to effectively explain each job, I received a book a few weeks ago that analyzes each career of the criminal justice world. The first one that caught my eye was the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Here are pictures of the FBI field office in Washington D.C., and of FBI agents gathering evidence.

    
     This book told me a nice overview of the FBI. To start with the basics, it's the main investigative organization of the federal government. As a result, the FBI has a lot of responsibilities, such as investigating organized crime, bank robbery, financial crime, espionage, terrorism, extortion, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and having to inquire into the violations of over 260 laws. If you were to become a special agent, you could conduct surveillance, track movement of stolen property, and participate in undercover assignments. The FBI does provide important services to other law enforcement agencies in the country, such as providing their laboratory (the largest criminal laboratory in the world) without cost to other police organizations. Hopefully after reading this, you now have a better understanding of the FBI or have a new interest in joining it. Next week, I will continue to explain certain criminal justice careers.

 

Foreign Language

     Lately, I've been curious about certain college courses that are beneficial or required for a criminal justice career. Searching through various sites, many articles talked about the importance of proficiency in a foreign language, such as Arabic, which happens to be one of the six official languages of the United Nations (the other five languages: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and Russian). This being so, the Federal Government has increasingly stressed the value of Arabic, as a language vital to US security. Here is a picture of the flags at the UN Headquarters in New York, and a picture of a map identifying all the countries and their specific UN language.



    









    









George Washington University (GW), which is located in Washington D.C., stood out to me because it offers a major and minor in Arabic. At this university, they offer students a multitude of opportunities, such as being able to further their academic knowledge in Arabic by studying comparative literature and international affairs. Also, a requirement for a major in Arabic is overseas studies for a semester, where you would go to a country that natively speak Arabic. It's a great experience! By the end of this program, GW graduates will be well-suited to take on jobs such as counter-terrorism experts, interpreters, and Foreign Service Officers.

     After seeing how a foreign language works in a college setting, I wanted to grasp how you could apply it to a career. The United States Secret Service values the significance of knowing a foreign language. This government agency is mainly known for protecting the president and his family, however, they also do criminal investigations of financial crime and computer-based attacks on the nation's infrastructure. Special agents could get a 25% bonus pay if they are able to speak a second language with sufficient accuracy. Wow! Four years of Spanish in high school is really beneficial! After reading this, I am motivated to continue on with Spanish into college, so that I may be able to get a better paying job. It's amazing how lucky I am to be able to start studying a foreign language at such a young age. Next week, I will begin talking about job descriptions of certain criminal justice careers.