Internships in criminal justice

The internship program is an integral component of the total undergraduate academic program offered by the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. As such, internship studies are designed to enhance the student's academic experience through a planned and supervised program of observation, study, and work in a selected criminal justice agency. Students can receive course credit for their internship on top of valuable real-world experience. 

Starting the search for an internship

If you are interested in doing an internship but have questions about it, please contact the internship director, Dr. Geistman, by email or by phone at (313) 577-1909.

Once you are certain that you want to do an internship, follow the steps in the next section.

Securing an internship

Before securing your internship it is important to consult the Internship Handbook which will help to answer many of your questions.

Next, View the list of local criminal justice agencies for potential internship sites. Please keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive. Students are welcome to contact other agencies and offices related to criminal justice, but they will have to be approved by the internship director.

After choosing an internship site students will have to follow these steps:

1. Contact a site they are interested in to see if they are currently accepting interns for the following semester.

2. Fill out the information sheet and insurance and liability waiver and submit them

3. After the internship has been confirmed, arrange a Zoom meeting with Dr. Geistman to go over the assignments that you will need to complete during your internship.

After completing an internship

Students must fill in and submit a student evaluation of the internship experience and have their supervisor fill in and submit an agency evaluation of the student intern .

Criminal justice internship experiences