Criminal Profiler Programs in Alabama

Get started now by contacting Alabama criminal justice schools.

Alabama Criminal Justice Careers in Criminal Psychology

True crime stories have become extremely popular in recent years, with many storylines focusing on the analysis of perpetrators and the paths their lives follow. Consider the new true crime podcast, S-Town, which focuses on a rural town in Alabama (Rolling Stone, 2017). This podcast focuses on a suspect who is alleged to have committed murder, bragged about it, and then gone on to commit a second violent murder.
Experts in crime and criminal profiling look at perpetrators’ lives and actions to understand what leads them to become some of the most infamous criminals in American history.

Alabama Criminal Justice Schools for Criminal Profiling

Criminal profiling is a relatively new niche in the field of criminal justice, but it’s quickly taken hold in this industry. As a result, many Alabama schools now offer traditional and online criminal justice courses that focus on criminal profiling.

To learn how to become a criminal profiler in Alabama, you have to choose a degree program that is aligned with your previous education and any experience you’ve earned in the field of criminal justice.

These programs differ from general Alabama criminal justice schools in several ways. Although criminal profiler degree Alabama programs tend to look at criminology and sociology, they also explore forensic psychology much more extensively. While earning a criminal profiler degree, Alabama students often spend a lot of time learning about psychological interviewing techniques and assessment methods.

Criminal Profiling Courses Required for an Associate’s in Criminalistics

• Introduction to Criminalistics: This course explores the field of criminalistics as a whole, showing students how different tests are used to detect and solve crime. This course ties closely into forensic science and covers some important forensic science concepts.
• Criminal Investigation: Get experience in the field of criminal investigation. Profilers often work closely with investigators to learn more about suspects and solve crimes.
• Fingerprinting: Learn a key criminal justice skill by practicing fingerprinting techniques and learning how to pick up latent fingerprints.
• Crime Scene Investigation: Get comfortable with crime scene techniques, photography, and analysis in this core criminalistics course.

Associate’s Criminal Justice Degree in Alabama Coursework

• Criminal Law and the Constitution: Ensure that you fully understand the rights of suspects and the laws that you must follow in the investigation of crime with this course.
• Criminal Investigations and Evidence Processing: Although you may choose to specialize in criminal profiling in your career, you must still be able to combine your psychological understanding of suspects with forensic and physical evidence. This class covers common investigative and evidence processing skills.
• Communications for the Criminal Justice Professional: As a criminal profiler, you may be part of a larger criminal investigation team. In this course, learn how to effectively communicate with professionals at different levels and contribute to the team.
• Criminology and Victimology: Students start to explore profiling as a career in this course. It looks at the psychology of perpetrators and the psychological effects on victims, both of which can help investigators better understand a criminal’s thoughts and motivation.
• Law Enforcement Operations and Community Policing: This class is key to your education, since many criminal profilers begin as law enforcement professionals.

As you learn more about criminal profiler education in Alabama, look into the practical experience offered by each school. Practical experience is not required in every criminal justice degree; Alabama schools often recommend an internship, however.

Working with criminal justice professionals in different settings can help you apply your education to various criminal cases. Furthermore, the experience you get as a student may help you better understand the culture of criminal justice in Alabama.

Even if you choose to further your education with online criminal justice courses, practical education may give you a significant advantage when you start applying for Alabama criminal profiler career positions.

An Associate’s in criminal justice is a good start to a career in this field. It also paves the way for future study. Some students go on to earn a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice, and some even go beyond that to earn a Master’s of forensic psychology. An Associate’s degree provides core information and hands-on training over a period of two to three years.

This is a great time to get involved in the field of criminal psychology and learn how to become a criminal profiler in Alabama.

Criminal Profiler Jobs in Alabama

Since this field is not a licensed area of study, there’s no specific degree needed to become a criminal profiler. In fact, at many Alabama employers, criminal profilers are grouped in with other criminal justice careers.

As a result, you may use your profiling skills as a police officer, investigator, or detective, depending on the needs of your local criminal justice agency.

In Alabama, those who work as detectives, criminal investigators, and police records officers claim an average salary of $74,780 per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). Police patrol officers bring in an average income of $48,820 per year (BLS, 2022). If you choose to work in the private sector, rather than the public or nonprofit sector, you may be able to become a private investigator. Across Alabama, private investigators earn an average income of $51,830 per year (BLS, 2022).

Demand for criminal justice professionals is growing steadily in Alabama. Through 2030, demand for investigators, detectives, and intelligence analysts is expected to swell 3% throughout the state (CareerOneStop, 2022). During this time period, job openings for police patrol officers may jump 6% in Alabama (CareerOneStop, 2022). A 6% boost in job openings for private detectives and investigators is expected nationwide through 2030 (CareerOneStop 2022).

Some career paths in criminal profiling require a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice, since a well-rounded undergraduate education may build up your critical thinking skills and help you react quickly in high-stress criminal justice situations.

Careers in criminal justice with a Bachelor degree requirement may include police supervision jobs and private investigation jobs. Those that require you to work independently as an intelligence analyst or criminal profiler often require a Master’s of forensic psychology.

The time you spend in Alabama criminal justice schools may carve out a path for you to pursue a variety of criminal justice careers. Use your criminal profiling courses to learn about crime trends in Alabama and the long-term goals of justice agencies in this state.

Discover how you can get involved in one of the most exciting specialties in criminal justice by contacting criminal profiler programs in Alabama.

2022 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment figures for Alabama contained here reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed November 2023.

Get more information on the degree needed to become a criminal profiler and how you can start your criminal profiler education in Alabama with our list of criminal justice schools.