Switching gears from law enforcement to IT field... what now?

bricox171

I have been pursuing a career in law enforcement for a few years now and I have decided it isnt for me. I am currently working as a protective specialist which is basically a glorified security guard for a mass transit company. I have a BA in Criminal Justice and currently studying towards getting my A+ Cert.

Basically my question is what sort of jobs can I start looking towards applying for once I have this certification. I have been looking for something that could potentially tie in my criminal justice background with the IT field. Obviously the InfoSec sounds interesting but I know that getting to that level will take some time. Is there any other IT jobs that might relate to CCTV operations or crime prevention? Just looking for options.

Thanks for any and all input!!

Russell77

Most modern day alarm and cctv providers need field techs. You will have to pull wire to start but it's a good way to learn the systems from the bottom up. You will need to learn networking. N+ or CCNA as most of the modern devices are IP related. Most companies will get you vendor certified with the equipment you work on.

yoba222

Forensic specialist/forensic analyst. Security guard and forensics don't actually have anything to do with each other, but if HR/non-technical hiring management squints at a resume with law enforcement background on it, it could look appealing IMHO. The problem is that computer forensics is an offshoot of information security--which itself is difficult to get into without 2 or 3 or more years of general IT experience beforehand.

You might have to do a year or so in service desk first for that general IT experience (CCTV specialist probably better). Landing a job (doing anything) at a SOC would be a great foot in the door for this direction.

volfkhat

bricox171 wrote: »

Basically my question is what sort of jobs can I start looking towards applying for once I have this certification.

Best Match:
A+ certification can help you land a Desktop tech position. (Many government-subcontractors will have postings where the A+ is required)
Partial Match:
possibly at a HelpDesk/callcenter position (with room to grow).

Harsher Match:
A+ certification can help you land a Desktop gig working at GeekSquad, Staples, etc.


With that being said...
i like the suggestion of getting a helpdesk kind-of gig somewhere to gain general experience.
Master the Network+ curriculum (truly understand the topics).
Then move onto the Security+ curriculum.
With a little luck... maybe you can jump to a SOC gig...

Good Luck

gespenstern

Good knowledge of CCTV and ACS & burglary alarm systems can get you a job.

A+ or Net+ will help as roughly 1/2 of all CCTV now is IP based and the further down the road the more of it we get. Richer places -- more IP based CCTV. Same story with access control systems, any decent building has a distributed IP based system. Burglary alarm drags behind in terms of digitization.

These jobs IMO aren't as widespread and popular as SOC analyst for example and don't pay as much. But as a starting point of getting into security it's a way to go, and you will have an opportunity to learn networks and infrastructure in the process.

That's actually how I started at it 17 years ago. I'm in security since then, although don't have any purely physical/electronic security certs as they aren't as popular among recruiters as infosec ones. But I do know all electronic security on a rather deep level, on top of purely physical stuff.

Good luck.

kurosaki00

Hmm... from Law to IT.
I would concentrate in something you can use your BA. Try learning some about risk management, audits, policies, etc.
Heath IT sector is very intricate with laws and things you will probably understand better vs someone who has no background in laws and such.

If you want to start from scratch as anyone else, some of the other members have posted very useful advice.