The Department of Criminal Justice is the successor body to the Joint Services Staff College which was established in 1978 and tasked with ensuring that members of the protective services and Defence Force had the necessary professional and technical competencies to manage the agencies which fell under their purview. In 2000, the College was one of the six tertiary level institutions incorporated into COSTAATT.
Programmes
The Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies offers the following degree programme options:
Bachelor’s Degree Programmes |
Associate Degree Programmes |
| BA Criminal Justice | AAS Criminal Justice |
| AAS Paralegal Studies | |
BA- Criminal Justice
The programme also offers the students three options in which they can major.
- Criminal Justice
- Police Science
- Corrections
Graduation requirements:
To be awarded the Bachelor in Arts degree in Criminal Justice, students must successfully complete 122 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.0 according to the following distribution:
Required courses in the major area of study 35 credits
Guided elective courses in major area of students 9 credits
Total course in major area of study 27 credits
Core curriculum courses 48 credits
Elective courses 3 credits
Graduation requirements:
To be awarded the Bachelor in Arts degree in Criminal Justice (Police Science), students must successfully complete 122 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.0 according to the following distribution:
Required courses in the major area of study 31 credits
Guided elective courses in major area of students 9 credits
Total course in major area of study 21 credits
Core curriculum courses 48 credits
Elective courses 3 credits
Graduation requirements:
To be awarded the Bachelor in Arts degree in Criminal Justice (Correction), students must successfully complete 122 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.0 according to the following distribution:
Required courses in the major area of study 31 credits
Guided elective courses in major area of students 9 credits
Total course in major area of study 21 credits
Core curriculum courses 48 credits
Elective courses 3 credits
Associate in Applied Science – Criminal Justice
The Criminal Justice programme is targeted at professionals in the Protective Services and the security industry as well as at persons interested in careers in these areas. The aim of the programme is to enhance the student’s professional competence to confront the challenges of crime, justice and public safety. All credits earned in this programme will transfer to the B.Sc. Criminal Justice.
Graduate Requirements: Associate in Applied Science – Criminal Justice
To be awarded the AAS in Criminal Justice degree, students must successfully complete 63 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.0, according to the following distribution:
Courses in the major area of study 27 credits
Elective courses in the major area of study 6 credits
Guided electives in the major area of study 3 credits
Total credits in the major area of study 36 credits
Core curriculum courses 24 credits
Elective courses 3 credits
Total Credits Required for Graduation 63 credits
Career Options:
- Law Enforcement Officer
- Police Officer
- Probation Officer or Correctional Treatment Specialist
- Detective or Criminal Investigator
- Security Manager
- Security Officer
- Loss Prevention Manager
- Loss Prevention Agent
- Security Director (Physical, Personnel, Grounds, et al)
- Security Supervisor
- Correctional Officer
- First-Line Supervisor/Manager of Police and Detectives
- Fraud Investigator
- Private Detective or Investigator
- Loss Prevention Investigator
- Corrections Officer
- Security Officer Armed
AAS Paralegal Studies
This programme is designed to contribute to improvements in the administration of justice by enhancing the knowledge and skills of the large number of persons who currently work in law offices across the country without benefit of formal training. It also welcomes those who do not work in law offices but are also desirous of becoming a paralegal. The curriculum provides students with a thorough orientation to the laws which govern Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean, and helps them to acquire practical skills in areas such as conveyancing, estates law, and legal accounting so that they can assume greater responsibilities for legal work as Para-professionals under the supervision of an attorney-at-law
Graduation requirements:
To be awarded the Associate in Applied Science degree in Paralegal Studies, students must successfully complete 72 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.0 according to the following distribution:
Required courses in the major area of study 31 credits
Guided elective courses in major area of students 3 credits
Total course in major area of study 6 credits
Core curriculum courses 33 credits
Elective courses 3 credits
Faculty Information:
Kirwin Pyle-Williams
Department Chair
Management and Law
Keith Second
Senior Lecturer – Criminal Justice
MA, BA
Research Interest: Corrections and substance abuse
Latoya Gibson
Research Interest: Media influence on the job satisfaction among members of the Trinidad and
Tobago Police Service
Keron King
Senior Lecturer – Criminal Justice
B.Sc., PhD Candidate
Research Interest: Policing, restorative justice and corrections
Wayne De Landro
M.P.A, LLB, LEC
Research Interest: Non-profit organisations controlling for profit enterprises.
Kirwin Pyle-Williams
LLM, LLB
Research Interest: Human Rights and Constitutional Law
Latoya Gibson
M.A. B.A.
Research Interest: Community Corrections, Police job satisfaction, Domestic violence