Forensic Crime Scene Investigation, AS Degree

The Associate of Science in Forensic Crime Scene Investigation, offered by the Administration of Justice Department, is intended for students who are interested in a pursuing a career as a forensic specialist, crime scene investigator, or identification technician, or who wish to continue on to a bachelor degree program in forensic science.

 

The Associate of Science in Forensic Crime Scene Investigation program offers a "hands-on" approach to topics such as crime scene investigation, crime scene diagramming, photography, evidence collection, and advanced techniques in crime scene investigations such as; blood spatter analysis, dusting and lifting of fingerprints, chemical enhancement of fingerprints, weapon identification and gunshot residue testing. Program faculty are forensic specialists, fingerprint experts, ballistics and weapon experts as well as experts in the forensic field through local agencies.

To earn the AS in Forensic Crime Scene Investigation, students must complete the following:

• Completion of 60 semester units or 90 quarter units of degree-applicable courses,

• Minimum overall grade point average of 2.0,

• Minimum grade of “C” (or “P”) for each course in the major, and

• Completion of LACCD General Education Plan

The core courses from the Forensic Crime Scene Investigation AS all currently exist and had the following offering and enrollment numbers in Academic Year 2018-19:

ADMJUS 001 - 52 sections – 1,894 enrollments

ADMJUS 005 – 12 sections – 542 enrollments

ADMJUS 172 – 6 sections – 195 enrollments

ADMJUS 173 – 3 sections – 128 enrollments

ADMJUS 174 – 3 sections – 131 enrollments

ADMJUS 285 – 2 sections – 63 enrollments

ADMJUS 428 – 3 sections – 93 enrollments

ADMJUS 062 – 7 sections – 261 enrollments

BIOLOGY003 – 54 sections – 1795 enrollments

PHOTO047 –   5 sections – 101 enrollments

 

As seen above, enrollments and offerings for all core courses are healthy, if not, thriving.

 

The existing Forensic Crime Scene Investigation Certificate of Achievement, which will be stackable with this proposed program, averaged 34 completers per year over the last three years, with roughly 80% of those completers being female and 80% being Latino students. Given the healthy number of completers for the existing certificate and current enrollment levels, we estimate that 20 completers at the end of the second year and 30completers at the end of the fifth year

The goal of the Forensic Crime Scene Investigation degree is to prepare the student for entry-level forensic specialist/fingerprint expert//crime scene investigator/property and evidence control officer/law enforcement technician, and ancillary duties as required by police and crime lab agencies; public and private.

The Forensic Crime Scene Investigations course is consistent with statewide and agency requirements for entry-level forensic pathway jobs. The Forensic Crime Scene Investigation Certificate has been in place for 15 years at East Los Angeles College. The current certificate classes have provided sufficient requirements to pass the paper screening and on to department testing. We have numerous hires with our certificate completion. The degree program takes our training further to acquire necessary skills in crime scene investigation. The law enforcement community hires non-sworn personnel to operate all forensic specialist/fingerprint expert//crime scene investigator/property and evidence control officer/law enforcement technician, and ancillary duties as required by police and crime lab agencies; public and private. The hiring of non-sworn personnel keeps our law enforcement officers on patrol, investigating crimes and providing a presence in the community. Forensic positions have had many titles, each agency provides their descriptor for each position. To provide an importance as to our certificate program many job flyer requirements read; “The completion of a recognized forensic identification program affiliated with a two (2) or four (4) year college curriculum with emphasis in, but not limited to, crime scene investigations, crime scene photography, evidence collection, latent print comparisons, and latent print development.”

No new funding or curriculum are required since this training is well established. We are expecting a new facility, new crime lab setting and classroom in the future. This is expected in the next 5 years. 

Required Core	ADM JUS 001 ADM JUS 005 ADM JUS 172 ADM JUS 173 ADM JUS 174   ADM JUS 428 ADM JUS 062 ADM JUS 285   BIOLOGY003 PHOTO 047	Introduction to Administration of Justice Criminal Investigation Criminalistics I Criminalistics II Offender Profiling in Criminal Investigations Ethics in Forensic Science Fingerprint Classification Directed Study – Administration of Justice Introduction to Biology Digital Photography	3 3 3 3 3   3 3 2   4 3

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)

The proposed Forensic Crime Scene Investigation AS Degree is stackable with the existing Forensic Crime Scene Investigation Certificate of Achievement, with all courses in the Certificate being part of the proposed AS degree. As noted in Section 5, we currently average 34 completers per year over the last three years for the existing Certificate of Achievement. The proposed AS degree program will help fill an existing gap in the region. As noted in available LMI resources, the normative entry level requirements for SOC Code 19-4092 are at least a degree, indicating that we currently have an educational gap at ELAC. The proposed program will likely not change enrollment in a significant way, rather, of the large number of students taking the existing core courses many will opt to earn the proposed degrees. Finally, the proposed program shares existing resources with the Forensic Crime Scene Investigation Certificate of Achievement, other awards offered through the Administration of Justice Department, and existing coursework offered in Biology and Photography.

Golden West College – Although Center of Excellence data indicates that Golden West College has completers in TOP Code 2105.40, the last completers (1 completer) was in 2014-15. A catalog search showed there is no longer a forensic science related program at Golden West College. Long Beach City College – Long Beach City College offers a Certificate of Achievement in Criminal Forensics, but not a degree that would be comparable to the proposed program. Over the most recent available period, they had a three-year average of 8 completers per year. Given that the proposed program extends skills beyond the certificate level, and given the strong base of completers in ELAC’s certificate program, we anticipate that our proposed program will be much stronger than Long Beach City College’s and help better meet employer demand.

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