Criminalistics
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminalistics
Resources and Co-curricular Activities
Career Prospects
Criminalistics is the application of science to solve questions that arise in the criminal justice system.
The job of a criminalist is to:
• use scientific knowledge and analytical skills to objectively find and examine the physical evidence that may arise in legal cases.
• provide scientific data, in the form of either written reports or expert testimony, to assist law enforcement officials, lawyers, judges, and juries in making determinations in such cases.
Presently, St. Ambrose University offers the only interdisciplinary undergraduate program in Criminalistics in Iowa and western Illinois. The curriculum follows closely the standards of the Council on Forensic Science Education (COFSE) and takes a broad, interdisciplinary approach that includes studies in criminal justice, chemistry, biology, and physics.
To work in the Criminalistics field, you will need a bachelor’s degree in a science field with a minimum of 24 semester hours in either chemistry or biology. At St. Ambrose, we have created a degree that not only gives you the science you need to be successful in this area, but also the criminal justice courses that enable you to relate the science to the profession.
The Criminalistics degree program integrates classroom
instruction, individual research into various specialized
elements of forensic science, and collaboration with local
law enforcement agencies to help students achieve an
understanding of the forensic sciences within the context of
the larger criminal justice system. Students have the
opportunity for hands-on application of principles within the
classroom, laboratory and in a practicum setting. They
gain in-depth knowledge of the various methods of analysis
specifically used within the field of forensic science,
including mastery of methods such as gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and latent
fingerprint development.
Resources and co-curricular activities
Lewis Science Hall contains audio-visual equipped lecture halls and modern laboratories for hands-on training in modern chemical and biological analysis. Major resources available for faculty
and student use include:
- gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS)
- high performance liquid chromatograph
- atomic absorption spectrometer
- thermal cycler (for PCR)
- and a variety of other instrumentation
In addition, the Criminal Justice Department has contacts with personnel in facilities managed by Iowa and Illinois law enforcement departments that provide students with excellent internship opportunities.
Career prospects
Criminalists usually work in forensics laboratories, which are also called criminalistics labs or crime scene labs. Such labs are found at federal, regional, and state agencies or within better equipped local police departments. Private companies and universities also employ people trained in this field.
According to a recent survey (January, 2008) of job offerings on the American Academy of Forensic Sciences website, entry-level bachelor's degree criminalists at the local or state level can earn between $35,000 and $60,000 per year, depending on location. With a few years experience, the salary can jump to the $60,000 to $90,000 range, again depending on location. Federal salaries are generally higher. Most employers credit a higher degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) applicant with at least one year’s experience.
As most positions are associated with state or federal governments, the actual number of criminalistics jobs open per year depends on the state or federal budgets. However, according to the American Board of Criminalistics, at any given time about 200 positions are usually available.
If you want to teach at the college level or become a supervisor in the forensics field, a higher degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) will usually be required. The SAU program is a great “launching pad” for such advanced studies, and we can tailor your studies for the entry requirements of the graduate program in which you are interested.
For more
information on the Criminalistics program at St. Ambrose, contact the program director, Dr. George Bailey at
(563) 333-6127, or by e-mail at BaileyGeorgeD@sau.edu.
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