Criminal Justice
Information for this sector includes careers in law enforcement, prison services, probation and rehabilitation, and trading standards.
You may also be interested in information on legal services.
Find out more in Prospects Law enforcement and security
Use of AI in the criminal justice system
AI is already used in policing to help with surveillance capacity (eg facial recognition), intelligence and support functions. It has the potential to be widely used across the criminal justice system.
- TechUK: All you need to know about AI adoption in criminal justice (June 2024) summarises various applications used, benefits and challenges
- Police Foundation: Policing and Artificial Intelligence has a downloadable publication (February 2025) on current and potential future uses of AI
- The charity Justice is looking at AI, human rights and the law
Job profiles
- Border Force Officer (Prospects)
- Detective (Prospects)
- Police Officer (Prospects)
- Police Officer (TARGETjobs)
- Prison Officer (Prospects)
- Probation Officer (TARGETjobs)
- Scenes of Crime Officer (TARGETjobs)
- Trading Standards Officer (Prospects)
- Forensic psychology
- Magistrate
- Prison and Probation Jobs (Government website) profiles and training info for prison officer, youth custody prison officer, probation officer, probation services officer (lower risk clients, degree not essential)
- Train to be a probation officer (HM Prison and Probation Service)
- Prison education
- Rehabilitation of offenders (NACRO)
- Trading standards (Chartered Trading Standards Institute)
- Victim support
- Youth Custody Service
- Youth Offending Teams (Youth Justice Board)
- Work with offenders - news and information, and a list of possible career roles in the sector
- The Guardian criminal justice section
- News articles from professional organisations
- College of Policing
- NAPO (Probation and Family Courts)
- Prison Officers Association
- Association of Youth Offending Team Managers
- Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences
Skills and qualities
You are likely to need some or all of the following skills and attributes for work in this sector:
- Communication skills (written and spoken)
- Ability to assimilate and communicate information (eg legislation, data)
- Empathy and non-judgmental approach
- Negotiation and motivational skills
- Ability to stay calm under pressure
- Resilience
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Planning/organisation
- Problem solving
- Project management
- Investigation and observation
- Community and customer focus
Work experience
Look for work experience to help you develop the skills, and demonstrate the personal qualities, needed for a career in this sector. Work experience, paid or voluntary, with vulnerable groups or those with challenging behaviour will be particularly valuable.
- Police UK Volunteering in policing
- What can I do? (PDF
, 1,943kb) guide to volunteering in the criminal justice system - Citizens Advice - Volunteering with the Witness Service
- Support through Court volunteering
- Volunteer to check standards in prison
- See the What can I do at York? section below for more suggestions
Graduate schemes
- Police Now offers two national graduate programmes: National Graduate Leadership Programme and National Detective Programme
- North Yorkshire Police Accelerated Detective Pathway
- Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Legal Trainee Scheme - for law graduates interested in becoming prosecutors. Trainees receive on-the-job training, mentoring, and development opportunities to handle criminal cases and work towards becoming qualified prosecutors.
- Probation Officer Training Programme - Trainees undergo a structured training programme, combining classroom learning with practical experience in probation settings, to develop the skills needed to support and supervise offenders in the community.
Job sites
- All Police Jobs - police officer and support staff vacancies
- Civil Service Jobs
- Crown Prosecution Service
- Local Government Jobs
Recruitment agencies
- Red Snapper Recruitment police and criminal justice jobs
- Sanctuary Criminal Justice Jobs
- Make the most of any chances to build relevant skills - getting involved in college life, societies or part-time work will give you opportunities to use communication skills, team building, negotiation and planning skills for example.
- Volunteer with Careers and Placements volunteering projects. Think about the groups you might work with in your future job and get experience with them - projects related to young people, the elderly, and mental health will all help.
- City of York Council advertise for volunteers, including Appropriate Adults (occasional demand) and volunteers for the Youth Offending Team
- YUSU Nightsafe scheme (usually recruits in March for the following academic year, and offers comprehensive training; register your interest on their web page)
- You could also consider volunteering in victim support or with the police.
- Use York profiles and mentors - find police profiles in "Armed forces and emergency services" sector
- CSI supervisor
- Independent domestic violence adviser
- Citizens in policing - service delivery adviser
- Senior scientific officer
- Police Chief Inspector
- Police constable
- Prison officer with Unlocked graduate scheme (Note: the Unlocked scheme has suspended recruitment for 2025.)
Find the full list of graduate profiles on York Profiles and Mentors.
- Police Now participants' stories
- Probation Service employee stories
- Unlocked (prison service) - participants' stories (Note: the Unlocked scheme has suspended recruitment for 2025.)
- @CTSI_UK (trading standards)
- @Nacro (rehabilitation of offenders)
- @PRTuk (prison reform)
- @UnlockedGrads (prison service)