Online criminal justice masters programs with an emphasis on policing could offer a convenient, efficient solution to the growing need of law enforcement agencies across the U.S. to their level of professionalism.

This call for higher professional standards and advanced education among police administrators has come out of rising concerns over homeland security and critical law enforcement issues. A vital issue is the increasing demand on law enforcement to practice greater cultural sensitivity in populations that are developing more culturally diverse.

 Generally, online criminal justice masters programs require degree candidates to a hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college. Online criminal justice masters programs with an emphasis on policing could offer the advantage of flexibility in scheduling—an important consideration for practicing law enforcement professionals who have substantial demands on their time.

 In online criminal justice masters programs, students have the chance to examine:

• Federal and state laws that affect the practice of law enforcement, civil rights, liability, employment rights, and criminal procedure
• Factors that lead to criminal behavior and social deviance in various cultures
• Human resources management, organizational behavior, and organization of criminal justice agencies
• Methods for designing and conducting applied research and evaluating research data

 Specific to online criminal justice masters programs with an emphasis on policing, the course of study may also focus on such subjects as:

• Ethics and fair, nonprejudicial practice of law enforcement when working with diverse cultures within a community, and means of preventing and addressing official misconduct
• Human resources management, including hiring and promotional practices and advancing professionalism and education in law enforcement agencies
• Fiscal duties of law enforcement administrators, such as preparing and managing budgets and developing financing for new policing initiatives
• How employment and policy law influence ethics and leadership in a criminal justice organization, preparing command-level officers to respond effectively to issues that may pose a personal or agency liability threat

 If any of these specialized areas of study are of interest to you, then start researching masters programs that offer a specialization in policing.