Welcome to the School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics in the new Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center on the Cal State L.A. campus. Thank you for your interest. This Center is unique as it combines academic teaching and research programs with the operating crime laboratories of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s and Police Departments, providing forensic crime laboratory services to numerous law enforcement agencies.
The School offers programs leading to the Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice, and Master of Science degree in Criminalistics. Our programs are some of the most widely known and highly regarded in Southern California. The curriculum provides intensive study in the areas of criminal justice theory, research methodology and data analysis, criminal law, organizational functioning, juvenile delinquency, program planning and criminalistics. The program strives to promote understanding of key criminal, legal and scientific issues affecting contemporary urban society, and respect for racial, ethnic, cultural, and gender diversity.
Programs within the School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics are designed to prepare students for successful positions in law enforcement, corrections, criminal justice planning and/or law, as well as for further study in graduate or professional schools in any of these fields. Students at the School are actively recruited by law enforcement, judicial, correctional and forensic science agencies at the local, state, and federal levels
Criminalistics students learn about forensic science perspectives within the justice system; for example, on DNA testing, controlled substances, and trace-evidence analysis. The laboratory-based Criminalistics curriculum applies scientific concepts uniquely to the special requirements of the forensic sciences—such as crime-scene reconstruction, legal integrity of scientific evidence, courtroom testimony, and individualization of physical evidence.
With nine full time faculty, state-of-the-art lecture and conference rooms, and modern laboratory facilities, the School is embarking on a period of innovation and leadership in the field. While the School continues its strong teaching programs and ties with the criminal justice community, it is also forging research initiatives involving faculty, graduate students, and collaborators to produce original scholarly publications and policy papers for the benefit of the criminal justice system.
I invite you to investigate our website describing these programs and to contact me or other designated faculty heading up our various programs for added information. We look forward to hearing from you.
Joseph L. Peterson
Professor & Director
School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics
Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, Room 253
Phone: 323-343-4613
Fax: 323-434-4646
jpeters@calstatela.edu
Program Impaction (effective Fall 2011)
Program impaction means that the number of applications from fully eligible students to a designated major far exceeds the number of spaces available in that major. However, students can still be admitted to the major if they meet the supplementary admission criteria.
The following are impacted undergraduate programs/majors at Cal State L.A.:
- Criminal Justice
For specific information regarding the supplemental admissions criteria for each major, please visitwww.calstatela.edu/univ/admiss/impaction/program_impaction_0910.pdf.