Careers in Criminal Justice with Dr. Theo Darden

In this episode, Rebecca Harrington interviews Dr. Theo Darden. Dr. Darden is a Professor of Criminal Justice Studies at the College of DuPage with extensive experience in both academia and law enforcement. In the interview, they discuss the wide range of career paths within criminal justice beyond traditional law enforcement, including roles in juvenile justice, victim advocacy, corrections, and data analysis, as well as the education pathways required for these careers. They also explore the importance of internships, transferable skills like communication and critical thinking, and how hands-on learning opportunities help prepare students for the field. After listening to this episode, we hope you have a better understanding of the diverse opportunities and career readiness needed within criminal justice studies.

Full episode transcript can be found on the episode page. Below is a general timestamp summary.  

00:00–02:20 | Introduction & Guest Background 
Rebecca Harrington introduces the episode and welcomes Dr. Theo Darden, who shares his background in criminal justice, including 17 years in law enforcement and two decades in academia at College of DuPage.  

02:20–05:15 | Exploring Criminal Justice Career Paths 
Dr. Darden explains the breadth of the field beyond policing, highlighting careers in juvenile justice, victim advocacy, court services, corrections, and even crime data analysis, emphasizing the diversity of opportunities available.  

05:15–09:55 | Education Pathways & Essential Skills 
The discussion covers degree requirements for different roles, from associate to bachelor’s degrees, and key competencies students develop, such as communication, critical thinking, research, and cultural awareness.  

09:55–14:45 | Internships, Experience & Professional Development 
Dr. Darden stresses the importance of internships across sectors, transferable job skills from any work environment, and professional habits like reliability, integrity, and maintaining a clean digital presence.  

14:45–19:40 | Program Highlights & Hands-On Learning 
The episode highlights unique COD offerings, including site visits, global justice coursework, and specialized experiences like death investigation training and partnerships with professionals.  

19:40–24:40 | Career Preparation & Final Advice 
The conversation concludes with advice on using campus resources, connecting with faculty, and reframing criminal justice as a helping profession focused on service, prevention, and community impact. 

Resources Discussed: 

COD, Criminal and Justice Studies website: https://www.cod.edu/academics/areas/justice-studies/ 

Listeners in the College of DuPage community can visit our website. All other listeners are encouraged to view the resources of their local community college, WIOA training programs, or other local support centers.

Send us YOUR Listener Questions at careerpodcast@cod.edu

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Transcript

0:01

Welcome to the Career Ready podcast. Learn about resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn, interviewing and all the things you need to be career ready with the Career Services Center at College of DuPage. I'm your host for today's episode, Rebecca Harrington. In addition to learning about resources in the job search process, an important part of being career ready is understanding different career paths to help us explore the professions in criminal and justice studies. I have invited Theo Darden on the show today. He is a professor of Criminal Justice studies here at College of DuPage. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, Rebecca. Glad to be here. Awesome. Well, before we get started, we ask everyone this question. Can you share a short introduction? Or of course, as we like to call it, an elevator pitch about yourself or your program, whatever you want to share. My name is Doctor Theo Darden. I'm a professor of criminal and justice studies here at College of DuPage, and I've been here for 20 years now. Prior to that. Congratulations. Well, thank you, thank you. Yeah, that's a feat. I've been here for 20 years, as I stated, but prior to that, I spent 17 years as a professional in the criminal justice field and law enforcement in particular. So, you know, that's just a little bit about my background, but my academic background, you know, is expansive, you know, in terms of my undergrad is in, you know, public administration with a law enforcement emphasis. My master's degree is in criminal justice studies, and I actually have two master's degrees. The other is in higher education, and my doctorate is in criminal justice leadership. So yeah, so I have that academic background and that professional background, did I pray? Oh wow. Yeah that's great. And I think it's always interesting to hear what people studied and kind of how they got to, to where they are, because sometimes it's a different path than people imagine. So. Yeah, absolutely. So maybe can you tell us a little bit about the field of criminal and justice studies and just kind of like some of the different career paths? I know we can't get to all of them. But, you know, I think sometimes people like, you know, you talk about law enforcement. I think that's probably the first one people think of. So maybe talk a little bit about within law enforcement, what are some of the career paths. And then I'm sure there are things outside of that as well. Yeah. As you stated, the field is vast. I think people do when they hear criminal injustice studies. Many people just migrate ultimately to, oh, you know, that's where you go to become a police officer, you know, but the field is well beyond, you know, just that scope. You can go into working with youth. And in terms of juvenile justice and juvenile delinquency, you can go into working with victim advocate services, you know, working with the elderly victims or just people who simply have unfortunately been the victim of a crime. And there are services that assist those individuals. There are the court services, you know, which monitors and looks over people who are matriculating, you know, through the justice system. So it's like probationary services Whether that be the court services in terms of supervision and supervising people to make sure they're making their appointments, getting to their scheduled therapy, therapeutic sessions, you know, within the criminal justice system that they have been, asked to complete as part of their community supervision. So there are many different fields. And even beyond that, some students want to just use this as a precursor to go to law school. You know, there are several different law enforcement organizations you can work for at the state level, at the federal level, you know, and at the local level. So and I didn't even mention working. You know, within the jail or correctional apparatuses in prisons, you know, so there are many, many different fields, I think, that people could explore. I'm just thinking of off the top of my head. Yeah. Data analysis. I just worked with a student yesterday. She was really interested in looking at data analytics and working in crime analysis. And so I was, you know, walking her through that process academically, what that would look like in terms of what type of degrees to pursue. And then, you know, internship opportunities within that field to understand what it looks like professionally. Yeah, that's such a great thing. Great topic to think about, because especially in a world now where we have so much more data, right. That's certainly something that I think organizations are going to be interested in. And I think it's important to you that you talked about the local, state and federal, that there are so many organizations. I remember in the past, we've we had a student that did an internship with the post office, right, because they have their own investigative department and, you know, all of that. So, you know, they're like, that's that's really interesting to think about. All the different career paths. And I think important to is that it sounds like there are some paths that maybe only require an associate's or their certificates as well that you could get that could get you into a career. Yeah, that's a great question. I there are some paths were just require an associate degree. And generally those are for entry level positions. You know you know getting a obtain an associate degree. You can, you know, go into corrections directly. You can go into many police agencies. Local law enforcement only requires, you know, 60 college credits to an associate degree. And so that's a good opportunity for students. And then at the federal level, or you're getting into data analytics or to, you know, working with youth in juvenile services or probation and parole services, those require bachelor's degrees. And so there are, you know, different levels, you know, to this. So students who, you know, are just, you know, finishing high school. And you look, I'm 18 years old, I know I can't work in this field until I'm 21. And so what a really good path is, is to get your associate degree, you know, to get an understanding of the field, you know, maybe do an internship, you know, to see what it's really like as opposed to what people think. It's like, you know. Yeah. And and that helps build that skill set out. Right. And, and then that allows them at the age of 21, 22, to be a little bit more mature, with a lot more intellectual understanding of what they want to do, you know, career wise. Yeah. Excellent. So that's a great lead into my next question, which is what are some of the skills and strengths that students gain when completing that justice studies program? How does it help them prepare for a job afterwards? I think the skills that we really work on, you know, foundationally, are the communication skills which are very, very important to the public service field. And that's where criminal justice studies essentially are. It's a public service field, and you're going to have to talk to people, and you're going to have to talk to people from all walks of life. And so what's embedded in our program is of helping develop those communication skills, helping develop your critical thinking skills, help you develop your research skills, your writing skills. And one of our capstone courses is a course titled Multiculturalism and Diversity, because, you know, you're going to be working with people from all walks of life and to understand the importance, you know, of of what that service is, is to try to meet people where they're at rather than where you're at. And so we've really, you know, bolstered our curriculum, you know, to help build, you know, some people call them soft skills. I call them necessary skills. These are necessary skills to do that work. And this program really helps, you know, provide that understanding for students, you know, to help them develop those skills that are needed to get into that career. Yeah, that you are definitely, I think, echoing something that we talk about on this podcast a lot, we we call them the nice competencies, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, they, they've surveyed all types of employers and asked, hey, what are the skills students need outside of, you know, the technical skills and critical thinking community? Actually, communication is usually number one. And critical thinking teamwork, right. But also multiculturalism is in there as well. And I can see certain certain fields that being, you know, those kind of change around the order of importance. And I think that's great because you're right. Definitely anything that's a public service, whether you're in health care or criminal justice, you have to anyone that comes across your path, you need to be able to communicate with. So love it. All right. Are there any experiences you kind of talked about internships, but are there any experiences or opportunities you recommend developing professionals seek out while preparing to start a career in other? I think, maybe talk a little bit more about the types of internships and then are there any other experiences that you might recommend for students to do? Yeah, let's start with the internships. I think, you know, by the time a student gets the near third semester here at the College of New Page, you know, they should be looking into, you know, what type of opportunities for internships are there. And there are internships that students could get if you want to work in law enforcement. So you mentioned one. People didn't realize, you know, the vast, you know, opportunities at the federal level. And so you mentioned a student of ours, and there have been several that have done internships with the United States Postal inspectors, which is their law enforcement arm for investigating crimes that use the United States Postal system. But we've had students do many internships with local law enforcement agencies and the state, and so we recommend those to help build their skill set out to understand that field. But also we have opportunities for students to have internships with youth facilities or with, you know, the court services. And even in social work, I'm sorry, social services programs. Many people don't realize that criminal Justice associate degree from College of DuPage could easily transfer into institutions that offer bachelor's degrees in social work, you know, or even, you know, sociology. And, you know, it helps build their skill set out to work in those fields to. And so, you know, so that's first and foremost to help build those skills, seek out internships in the field that you really are seeking, you know, your career path in. And then the second thing that I tell students, and it's not really the second thing, you know, many students think, oh, should I work as a security guard? Could that enhance my skills? You know, what about a community service officer position with a law enforcement agency? Is that like an entry level position? And what I tell them is that actually when you work in public service, there are a number of things you can do to build your skill set. We just talked about communications earlier, and that is a huge part of this. And so I give the example, hey, if you work in like the food industry, maybe you work in like, you know, a McDonald's, you know, or Burger King or something like that, I should think about that's customer service. You're going to be working with people, they're going to be asking you for things. You know, they might not come out right. You're going to have to problem solve. You might have to call somebody down. So I say, if, hey, if you seek a job out anywhere and you show up to work on time and you know, you, you have reports to put together and you have to use your communication skills and work with others. Those are all building your skill sets to work in this field. And so don't think of it so narrowly. Think about it expansive. And one thing for sure, to help, you know, build that skill set is especially for criminal and justice studies is show up on time, be dependable, be honest because you know what? You're going to need someone to serve, you know, as a reference for you. And when they do background checks in this field, they're going to look at your last ten years of work, and they're going to contact those employers, and they're going to ask about these things that we're talking about, Rebecca. And, you know, students need to know that. And so, you know, that is really important. It just let me slip this in here, just, you know, because I mentioned background checks, if you are using social media of any kind, you had better be careful because they're going to want your passwords and look at your past history of what you have posted online. So be careful what you are doing out there if you want to work in this field. Oh, that is so interesting. I had not thought about that. I mean, we think sometimes in general about social media, but that makes sense for this area that no, no, they're going to do a deeper dive, you know, than, than maybe some other, other areas when it comes to social media. So oh what a great what a great point. And then yes, at any job experience, when we talk to people at Higher interns and ask, what are you looking for? Their response to me is always students that are doing something. So whether that's being part of student clubs, any kind of job, you know, because like you said, anything that shows that you can show up, be dependable, talk to people, it all counts. Absolutely. That's great. All right. So what are you doing in your program here at College of DuPage to prepare students for the field? I guess if there's anything else that we haven't talked about yet that you want to. Yeah, we've we've we've really done that. We have special programing to, you know, in our. Discipline to help students. Professor Stacy Hayne Darden has done a number of things in terms of working with youth and special programs that she's gotten Perkins grants for. And the Perkins Grants have been very important for our program. And so students have participated in that in the juvenile delinquency courses, and many of them have found career paths by working directly with youth. And so we do things like that where we try to actually have these students work directly with people in the field, whether professionally or people you know, who might have contact with the field. And so we do that. We have our global justice course that's offered every summer that I actually teach. And that course actually is a comparative analysis of the justice system here in the United States and abroad. And so we take students behind the scenes. We go to the DuPage County Jail. We go to the DuPage County Courthouse, we go to the Kane County Youth Facility. We go to local law enforcement agencies who accept us and and show us behind the scenes. And so we talk to those professionals, those judges, those attorneys. We talked to police officers and police chiefs. We talked to youth facilities. And we, you know, go through the DuPage County Jail and they give us a behind the scenes look. And so students get to see hands on what this looks like in real time. And then we travel overseas, Amsterdam to Ireland and to England. And we go behind the scenes and see what other international countries do in relation to criminal justice, to give students a really good opportunity to say, I can expand my thought process and then a wonderful course, you know, that we have with hands on that. Very few people around the country, especially colleges and universities, do, is we have this death investigations course that I developed back in 2007, that we work with the University of Tennessee in terms of their forensic anthropology, and we go down to the body farm to see the Body Farm. I love it. We actually, you know, work with human remains and learn about body identification and body recovery in a sense of death investigation. And the DuPage County Coroner's Office is a big part of that. And as a matter of fact, one of the co instructors with me is Mary Beth Judy, who is also a adjunct faculty member as well as a deputy coroner. You know, so we really try to give students hands on experience, you know, to really get up close and personal in addition to those internship opportunities. And so, yeah, this is, you know, trying to prepare them the right way and very few institutions to and for you around the country do anything of this nature. That's fantastic. You know, College of DuPage, we have resources and and creativity and just so many things that so many programs don't have. So that's amazing to hear about. I I'm very impressed. So I would say even if you're planning and getting a bachelor's degree, starting at Cod would be a great a great way to save some money, but also get opportunities you're not going to get somewhere else. That is correct. And for those people who are out there that may be listening to this podcast, you know, if you're at a four year school, you could take those courses that I just mentioned. You don't have to be, you know, a full time student here at the College of DuPage. You can actually come and take those courses to to help build your skill set to love it. Yeah, especially as you mentioned, you know, in the summer. So that's that's a great idea I love it. All right. Is there anything else you want to recommend to students or young professionals that are preparing for the field? Well, I would recommend that they also be in contact with the Career Services department, I really would I think students miss, you know, all the resources that we have here to help build out their skill set to help them, you know, with their LinkedIn pages, with their resumes and things of that nature and who can connect them, you know, with internship opportunities or at least, you know, inform them how to go about, you know, getting those opportunities. So I'd like to share that with them. And then we have a, you know, full time faculty in our field, you know, with a multitude of backgrounds. And, you know, from our chair, Eric Thompson, to Deanna Davidson with Homeland Security to tie a force in the legal field. And so we really tried to even set up our faculty and our adjunct faculty. I mentioned Mary Beth, Judy, Doctor Stacy Darden, and Doctor Steve. They all have, you know, backgrounds in the field, you know, as well as the academic, you know, background also to teach in the classrooms. And so there's so many resources that we have, you know, for students who want to go into this field and they can contact any of us, you know, just by going on the website and, you know, typing it in the search engine, criminal justice and coming to our page, and they can find all those resources. They're wonderful. And I think that kind of answers the last question there, which is how can interested listeners find out more about the program? I think the website, right, is probably a good place to start. And I you know, just so thank you for recommending career services. I will say we also will refer students back to the programs. You know, when we have students that come to us and they they're thinking about enrolling in a program, you know, that is one of our main resources is to talk to faculty, because you guys are the ones that have that that special knowledge and such diverse backgrounds. And I think, yeah, people don't always realize, know you. That's part of your job is to talk to people that are interested in the program and share more information so that that's really great. Any any other anything else you want to share about the program or how people can learn more? Anything that we've missed? No, I really covered it all. I think the only thing that we didn't cover is the wonderful building that were located in, which is the Security Education Center. You know, that has so many things that we also use for hands on instruction from our forensic science, you know, lab that we have upstairs, you know, to our our street scene that many people have, if they come into that building, they just come in and take a tour, just come in and talk to us. And I think people don't realize, students don't realize that some of their probably passions align, you know, with the criminal and justice studies field, there are so many opportunities, you know, for people to work in the field, as you mentioned early on. And I really appreciate that you did that, that many people focus and think, oh, this is just about law enforcement. No it isn't. It's it's it's about really public service. You know, to people it is a helping field. Is it a helping profession? It is about victim services and victim advocates. You know, it is about crime prevention. It is about restorative practices. It is about community relations. It's a social services. And there are many people who have interest and skill sets that they could find a wonderful career path. You know, in criminal justice. I thank you for saying that. I think that's important. I think oftentimes maybe people have a view of criminal justice as a field of of who, who the people are that work in that field. But we often get students that come to us that want to help people. What better way to make that field a good place and to help people than to to join it and be a part of the solution and, and and finding ways to make it make it better, or to find the good things that are happening and be involved in that, and a way to give back to to everyone in our communities and, and be be a part of the solution. You know, I, I have said that better. I will leave it at that. All right, I love it. Well, thanks to all of our listeners. And special thanks again to Theo Darden for joining us on the podcast today. We hope you enjoyed hearing about careers in criminal justice studies. And remember, if you have a question for us, you can submit it to Career Podcast at or on social media at Career Center, and you may hear the answer on a future episode.