Syllabus for Criminal Justice 302 - Essay Example

Welcome to CRJ302 Effective Professional Communications. The main purpose of this course is to improve communications skills, both oral and written. The secondary purpose is to improve the officer's ability to complete the reports and forms commonly used in the criminal justice system. The best way to improve communication skills is by practicing these skills correctly. Throughout the course are opportunities to do this.

English grammar rules are covered and other writing improvement tips include how to improve improper English and how to refine presentation skills. The communication process begins with the four regions of knowledge and basic type of communication patterns, special communications issues such as dealing with those in other language and culture groups that a street cop especially, might encounter along with public speaking, communicating with the media, and questioning and interviewing techniques for suspects.

Finally, a section on active listening skills and hostage negotiations are explored along with law enforcement records that are used in the criminal justice system and the critical need of officers to understand how to use, fill in, and disperse appropriate records.

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Identify the basic communication process and the concepts and rules in the law enforcers’ oral and written communication.
- Recognize proper usage of words and sentences in police correspondence.
- Recall the formats and templates used in reports, affidavits, search warrants, and warrants of arrest.
- Name the barriers to communication and special communication issues.
- Specify the ultimate questions used in investigation and interrogation, and how to be an effective hostage negotiator.

This course will cover the following topics in eight modules:
Week 1: Module 1: Basic Communication in Law Enforcement.
Week 2: Module 2: Communication barriers.
Week 3: Module 3: Special Communication Issues.
Week 4: Module 4: Communicating in Public.
Week 5: Module 5: Police Reporting.
Week 6: Module 6: Reports, Affidavits, Warrants, & Search Warrants.
Week 7: Module 7: Investigation and Interrogation.
Week 8: Module 8: Hostage Negotiations

COURSE - The course is divided into eight topic-related modules. In general, each module’s concepts and material build cumulatively so the best approach to successful completion of the course is to study these modules in the same order as they appear in the Course Schedule and Topics. Study any supplemental resources provided with your course to give you a greater depth of understanding of the subject matter.  The course content is available to you at all times so that you may read ahead, and review assignments.  This will help you anticipate your workload and to understand how the course concepts are integrated and built upon one another.

TEXTBOOK - Your textbook may be in the form of hard copy or e-text. E-text means your textbook is accessed online. Some courses have no primary textbook but use different sources. Your textbook may have a companion website (and a CD) that offers you opportunities for additional learning and topic reviews covered in the textbook. If so, take advantage of these excellent resources to support your mastery of the learning objectives.