Criminal Justice, BA

The Criminal Justice program at NEC provides a strong academic foundation complemented by a variety of in-class and on-site experiential opportunities.

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Overview

All classes are taught by attorneys and law enforcement professionals with experience in the criminal justice field. Small classes provide an opportunity for students to develop individual relationships with faculty and to explore the areas where academic knowledge meets real-world practice.

You will engage with members of the law enforcement, corrections, and legal communities; visit local courts, law enforcement agencies, and correctional facilities; and participate in a number of law enforcement simulations, all designed to enhance your understanding of the criminal justice system.

The combination of a solid academic base, a strong liberal arts foundation, and hands-on experience will position you well for one of the many exciting career opportunities in the field of criminal justice.

Program Details

Live What You Learn

Internships: Internships are individually designed based on your career interests. Past internships have included placements in local and regional police departments, prosecutor’s offices, juvenile centers, the NH State Prison, probation departments, law offices, and victim assistance programs.

Criminal Investigations: Explore techniques for the collection and preservation of physical evidence, crime scene photography, blood spatter analysis, lifting and storing fingerprints, crime scene reconstruction, and the investigative processes applicable to specific crimes.

Contemporary Law Enforcement: In addition to exploring contemporary law enforcement practices and challenges, you will participate in a two-day law enforcement hiring seminar conducted by independent law enforcement personnel. The seminar includes exploration of the hiring process, including the police officer entry exam, the background investigation process, the polygraph examination, and practice procedures for the oral board/interview phases. Students participate directly in a minimum of two simulated law enforcement oral boards/interviews.

Issues in Professional Practice (Senior Seminar): Prepare for the challenges and responsibilities of working as a criminal justice professional, including the transition from student to employment and opportunities within the field, by preparing résumés, interviewing professionals, and presenting the results of a research project on a contemporary criminal justice issue. In addition, during spring break, students travel to the Washington, D.C. area. On past trips, students have been the guests of the FBI and DEA at Quantico, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Supreme Court and local trial court, the U.S. Capitol Police, local police departments, and the Adult Detention Center in Manassas, VA.
Career Opportunities
- Law Enforcement
- Attorney
- Probation/Parole Officer
- Victim Witness Advocate
- Corrections Officer
- Juvenile Counselor/Detention Officer

The Senior Seminar trip to Washington, D.C., was an amazing experience that you cannot get at any other institution.
Kyle James Gilbert Criminal Justice, BA, 2019

Faculty

Frank Jones
Assistant Professor of the Practice, Criminal Justice
Office: Spaulding 108, Henniker Campus
Phone: 603.428.2395
Email: fjones@nec.edu

Expertise, Awards, and Achievements
Expertise:
- Community policing and problem solving
- Law enforcement hiring processes
- Law enforcement professional development
- Use of force and tactics
- Organizational management and design
Awards:
- NEC ONESHIP Award, 2020
- NEC Adjunct Professor of the Year, 2015
- NEC KGA Collegium Professor of the Year, 2009
- NEC Advisor of the Year (Criminal Justice Club), 2005–2006
Member, Board of Directors for Concord Regional Crimeline

Educational Background
Command Training Institute, Session 243, Babson College
New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Academy
MA in Criminal Justice, University of Massachusetts Lowell
BA in Sociology, Nathaniel Hawthorne College

Research Interests
- Mass incarceration of offenders
- Community corrections
- Police and community relations
Bio
Frank Jones joined NEC in 2005, following a long and successful career in law enforcement for the State of New Hampshire. During his career as a law enforcement officer, Frank served as a supervisor, detective, and chief of police. He also served as an instructor and staff officer for the New Hampshire Police Academy. He continues to serve in a law enforcement capacity on a part-time basis in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Frank has accumulated thousands of hours of in-service training and certifications in areas that include drug investigations, outlaw motorcycle gang investigations, sex assault crimes, evidence identification, collection and preservation, and more. He is a past president of the Hillsborough County Law Enforcement Association. Frank served two five-year terms on the New Hampshire Juvenile Parole Board following the recruitment and selection process by two different New Hampshire governors and members of the Executive Council.

First teaching as an adjunct professor at NEC, Frank was appointed as a full-time faculty member in 2019 for the Criminal Justice Department. Frank teaches Introduction to Criminal Justice, Police in Society, and the capstone Senior Seminar course, and he coordinates off-campus travel to the greater Washington, DC, area for criminal justice students and faculty. He has worked with his criminal justice colleagues to design an associate degree program and to help develop curriculum to keep the Criminal Justice program contemporaneous. He has worked to develop partnerships with several different law enforcement agencies at the Federal, State, County and local levels that has helped alumni from NEC get their careers started. He also serves as a co-advisor to the NEC Criminal Justice Club and the Alpha Phi Sigma National Honor Society for Criminal Justice, a member of the NEC Judicial Board (Appeals), and as an advisor to many students. He is the current Vice-Chair to the NEC Academic Standards Committee. Frank has also served as a Faculty Mentor and has participated in many different community-based functions at the college and in the Henniker area.

Frank has produced written articles for POLICEONE, focusing on the advantages of college-educated law enforcement personnel. He has been successful with the review and commentary of textbooks for publishers such as Oxford University Press and Cengage/Pearson. He enjoys doing research on a variety of topics connected to the criminal justice field.

Outside of these professional engagements, Frank enjoys spending time with his family, reading, hiking, camping in the North Woods, and being with his dog. He resides in Bow, New Hampshire.
Richard Hubbard
Associate Professor, Criminal Justice
Office: Spaulding 105A, Henniker Campus
Phone: 603.428.2451
Email: rhubbard@nec.edu

Recent Press
- “Juvenile Life Without Parole—Where Are We Now?” in ACJS Today, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, November 2019
- “The Search and Seizure Implications for Motor Vehicle Stops Due to the Decriminalization of Marijuana” in Critical Issues in Justice and Politics, March 2019
- “Criminal History That Repeats…and Punishes…Severely: How Career Drug Offenders Relive Their Past Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines” in Critical Issues in Justice and Politics, June 2009
Educational Background
JD, Antonin Scalia School of Law, George Mason University
BA, Plymouth State University

Bio
Rick Hubbard regularly teaches Criminal Justice Ethics, Criminal Procedure, and Introduction to Criminal Justice. Other courses have included Undercover Operations and Use of Informants; Federal Crimes and Procedure; Judicial Processes; and Gender, Race, and Crime. He has been a member of the New Hampshire Bar for 35 years. His practice included a concentration in federal criminal defense. His professional career includes employment with the Legal Counsel Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. At NEC, he serves as a co-advisor to the Criminal Justice Club and is the faculty advisor to the NEC Student Senate. In addition, he is on the NEC Men’s Soccer coaching staff as faculty advisor.

Degree Requirements

Requirements

(48 Credits)

Students must complete each of the listed Core Courses and two of the electives described below. Students must pass Introduction to Criminal Justice with a grade of C‐ or higher in order to be eligible to take courses above the 1000 level. A student may not earn more than two grades below a C‐ within the core requirements for the major.

(40 Credits)

(8 Credits)

Liberal Arts & Sciences Core Curriculum, Bachelor's Degree

Electives

Select additional electives to reach 120 credits for a Bachelor's degree.