U.S. Marshals, FBI, CIA,police..Main Differences?
I am fully devoted to becoming some type of law enforcement officer. These are just a few that come to mind, feel free to add any others. I am going into my 2nd year of college, what should I study? I heard a sociology degree is basically worthless? Can you tell me the main differences in all these positions? The biggest thing i don't want to do is be sitting behind an office desk all the time. I like everyday to be different. Also, i have heard about private government security companies
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As long as you have a 4 year degree. The degree itself doesn't really matter but stuff like sociology, political science, law, etc. are looked upon a bit more highly a lot of times.
Of what you have listed:
- US Marshals Service is responsible for protecting judges and witnesses who are in danger because of their positions, transporting prisoners, and apprehending fugitives. They also do just about whatever the Judicial Branch orders them to do which can include taking over ships of countries that are in our territories but don't follow our orders.
- FBI is responsible for investigating crimes on a federal level and assisting other law enforcement organizations that just don't have the resources to. This can be everything from child porn to terrorism to basic white collar crime.
- CIA is NOT a law enforcement organization and they are forbidden to operate on US soil. They gather intelligence to protect the US, that can be by surveillance or by actually operating against enemies and gaining information from those operations.
First a sociology degree is not useless, although the main thing is that you have a degree. Second federal law enforcement can be split into two different areas. There is the uniformed division that does force protection and the speical agents that due investigations. The CIA is not law enforcment. The FBI does investigations and the US Marshals are your fugitive apprehension group. Remember that speical agent positions require patience and much desk work. If you want to see action, then you need to go into a uniformed division like the US capitol police or the secret service uniformed division that guards the white house. When in come to private companies, look at the big ones that G4s, ones that have federal contracts. That way you can even get special police officer powers.
CIA has nothing to do with law enforcement.
For Fed LE study law, accounting (FBI especially) language (all including CIA looking for expert linguists).
Despite what people say criminal justice, sociology, psychology are all useless for Fed LE.
Marshals hunt fugitives, take care or people who are witnesses, provide Fed court security.
FBI investigates Fed crimes and terrorism threats (among other things), Secret Service guards the Pres and works on fake money.
DEA works drug conspiracies. ATF works guns and tobacco (if you do not know much of the Islamic terrorist orgs are financed by illegal tobacco sales and thefts in the US). Both started working cases together with the FBI during the Clinton administration.
All Fed LE orgs have recruitment sites. Look them up they all have full info on getting on the job.
A Sociology degree is NOT useless