Family Photo

Bruce Beresford-Redman, former producer of the reality TV show Survivor, is suspected in the murder investigation of his wife, who was reported missing on Tuesday in Cancun, Mexico.

On Thursday, Monica Beresford-Redman’s body was found in the sewer of the Moon Palace resort where their family was vacationing.  According to a coroner’s report, the cause of death was a blow to the head.

Bruce was temporarily detained as a suspect.  While he is not authorized to speak to the media at this time, he reported to the police that Monica left the hotel Monday but did not return.

With friends reporting that Bruce Beresford-Redman had recently had an affair, rumors of marital problems, and a police statement laden with contractions, Bruce Beresdord-Redman has found himself in the middle of a real-life reality show.

Investigations will continue in Mexico to determine the murderer of Monica Beresford-Redman.

For people who have been glued to their computer reading the latest reports as the investigation unfolds, maybe you need to look into a career in criminal justice.

Interesting Facts about Police Uniforms (policeone.com)

In 1969, the police in Menlo Park, California dispensed with their traditional navy blue, paramilitary-style uniforms and adopted a nontraditional uniform in hopes of improving police community relations. The new, nontraditional uniform consisted of a forest green sport coat blazer worn over black slacks, a white shirt, and a black tie. The officer”s badge was displayed on the blazer and the officer”s weapons were concealed under the coat. Once word spread about Menlo Park’s attempts, over 400 other police department in the United States also experimented with a blazer style uniform. In 1977, after wearing the blazer style uniform for 8 years, the Menlo Park Police Department realized that the sport coat uniform did not command respect and returned to a traditional, paramilitary-style uniform.

Our favorite? Russian Lady Cop. Game Over.

For more information about criminal justice training and careers visit My Colleges and Careers.

Criminal justice is a hot career right now and there are actually many careers besides a police officer available in this exciting field. Sure the cops can catch bad guys, but someone has to keep track of them afterwards. My Colleges and Careers would like to introduce you to a very important person in the San Diego Sheriff’s Department: Fred Hunting.

Fun Fact: Fred was once on the TV show Suddenly Susan!

MC&C: So what is your job title exactly?

FH: Sheriff’s licensing and registration interviewer.

MC&C: What do you do on a day to day basis?

FH: Interview and process drug and sex offenders into the State Registration System.  I also interview and process members ofthe public through the licensing process for any of 32 different licenses (eg: State Concealed Weapons Permits, Taxi, Massage, etc.)

MC&C: How did you get into this career?

FH: I worked in marketing for Universal Studios Recreation in L.A. and when I moved to San Diego five years ago, I couldn’t find anything comparable.  So I decided to think out of the box a bit and randomly ended up looking into law enforcement.

MC&C: Was there some type of training you had to do or any certification?

FH: When I was first hired I attended a post certified course related to emergency dispatch and 911.  I worked in this area for my first year and then transferred to licensing and registration and learned the ropes of this division through on the job training.

MC&C: What is the most interesting thing about your job?

FH: The variety and the unexpected.  In our lobby there are wealthy people applying for Concealed Weapons Permits or Business Establishment Licenses.  There are also immigrant taxi drivers from all parts of the world.  And, whether they know it or not, these people are sitting side by side with sex or drug offenders who have just been released from jail or prison.  It is an incredibly crazy mix of people to deal with all day and it is never boring.

MC&C: Can you think of any awesome stories or crazy anecdotes from your career?

FH: Yes, but unfortunately, I can’t tell any of them — though there is a ton of interesting stuff!  We have to maintain confidentiality of all the clients we serve and even anecdotal stories can’t  be shared in a public forum.

MC&C: Are you ever scared of the people you have to supervise?

FH: There are armed sworn officers just an emergency button away at all times and even threatening individuals are aware of this fact and know that they are in a Sheriff’s building.  I have never felt unsafe.

MC&C: What types of people do best in Criminal Justice fields similar to yours?

FH: People who can work with all types of individuals without judgment and those that have the ability to maintain confidentiality.

MC&C: What do you dislike about your job?

FH: Honestly there isn’t anything about it that I dislike.  I enjoy it and actually like being at work.

MC&C: What levels of advancement are available within your field?

FH: Supervision and management of the registration process, and also general administration.  For the licensing portion it, there is a licensing specialist path which involved in-the-field inspections of licensed establishments.

Thanks Fred! For more information about a career in the criminal justice field please visit My Colleges and Careers.

They surveyed 830 randomly selected cops using The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire Scale to get to the bottom of things.

• The majority of those surveyed categorized themselves as a “Typical Cop” with qualities like self-discipline, social boldness, extroverted and emotionally tough.
• Traffic officers and deputies shared many characteristics such as high energy, dominance, independence, spontaneity, socially flexible and free from anxiety-related behaviors.
• Previous research has used the MMPI as a test to determine psychological characteristics of police officers, and it was suggested that the MMPI was the most commonly used psychological test of law enforcement officials and that research on psychological assessment of police officers is so mixed that it may even be questionable to advance generalizations about possible discriminating characteristics.
• A similar study found a wide variety of behaviors between police officers from different departments. The interpersonal skills of community college law enforcement officials were rated higher than major university and inner-city police officers.
• Police officers as a group tend be more homogenous than other career groups. They tend to be cheerful and outgoing with a strong interest in practical matters.
• Female participants were also found to be more likely to present a good impression of themselves, to be less depressed, to be more psychologically mature, more assertive and more aware of the needs of others as compared to the normative population data.

Does this list sound like a comprehensive rundown of you or someone you know? It may be time for a Criminal Justice career!

A wise man once said, “perhaps the crime situation would be improved if we could get more cops off television and onto the streets.” Fictitious police officers are all the rage these days and My Colleges and Careers has compiled a list of Hollywood’s Most Wanted Officers. Sometimes they play good cops. Sometimes they play bad cops. Sometimes they look so good in the process that we don’t really care. So scroll on enjoy our list. You have the right to remain silent.

Clint Eastwood:  Harry Callahan

Clint Eastwood pretty much wrote the book on how to play the gritty, anti-hero cop in “Dirty Harry.” Both Steve McQueen and Paul Newman turned down the role previous to it being offered to Eastwood. And boy, we are happy he got it.

Benjamin Bratt: Det. Rey Curtis

Benjamin Bratt played Detective Rey Curtis on Law and Order.  Bratt play Det. Curtis from 1996-1999 when his character retired from the force to care for his ailing wife.  Come on — admit that you watched Law and Order just to see Det. Curtis!

Russell Crowe: Bud White

Crime movie L.A. Confidential explores the bubbling crime and corruption of 1950s Los Angeles. Russell Crowe plays one of three cops investigating a murder at a local cafe. The movie’s body count is thirty and somewhere in the midst of all that bloodshed you’ll might catch a glimpse of Crowe’s  swagger.

Al Pacino: Lt. Vincent Hanna

Mr. Pacino’s acting chops are a force to be reckoned with and most know him for his chilling performance as a criminal in mobster classics like Scarface and The Godfather. At one point he traded all his dirty money in for a badge, when he played good cop in 1995 movie “Heat.”

Matt Damon: Colin Sullivan

Damon plays a police officer in the Boston PD with less than pure motives. In “The Departed” he feeds information to his gangster pal and in turn helps the bad guys get richer. According to powerhouse  director Martin Scorsese, it was “the first movie I have ever done with a plot.”

Heather Locklear: Officer Stacy Sheridan

Early in Locklear’s career she played Officer Stacy Sheridan in the cop drama T.J. Hooker. As the only female member of the squad the stakes were high and her hair: even higher. Ironically enough, she and both of her ex-husbands have all been arrested. Hmmm….

My Colleges and Careers is looking for real-life hot cops. Visit www.mycollegesancareers.com for more information.

What is Computer Forensics?

These digital files are a new tool in the arsenal of cops and criminal investigators everywhere.  This branch of the criminal justice industry is known as “Computer Forensics” and it focuses on evidence pertaining to crimes that is found through digital files.  Digital evidence can take the form of an email, photo, disk, fax or a cell phone record.

Thanks to technology,  individuals engaged in illegal activities including credit-card fraud, intellectual property theft, terrorism, human trafficking and hacking are now being caught through their digital tracks.

Computer Forensics Jobs

Jobs in computer forensics are growing and available in both the private and public sector.  Several universities have taken notice and added these types of programs to their curriculum, ITT Tech is a pioneer in this area.  Students with a criminal justice degree and computer and/or web training have a competitive edge.

High Profile Computer Forensics Cases

There have been a few high-profile crimes that have been solved using computer forensics skills.  Chandra Levy was a Washington DC intern who frequently used the internet and authorities were able to use information gathered from her files to lead them to search Rock Creek Park, where her body was found a year later.

Another case involved Dennis Rader (aka BTK Killer) the infamous serial killer who started sending letters to local police on a floppy disk.  Digital data within the floppy disk referred to an author named Dennis at Christ Lutheran Church and this evidence helped lead to Rader’s arrest.

Fighting Crime One Click at a Time

Now criminal justice officials can alert people faster than they ever have been able to before.  If a mugger is on the loose in Queens, residents can be alerted via the internet in the amount of time it takes to type a few keystrokes and a click. The internet also provides a way for people to provide tips to police with a degree of anonymity.

It all boils down to this: We are seeing an increased use of the internet and computers and with that comes an increase in cybercrimes.  The only way to balance this equation is to increase our knowledge and tactics to fight cybercrime via computer forensics.

For more information on criminal justice programs or computer forensics visit My Colleges and Careers.