John Jay Science Graduate Intro

Welcome to the Master of Science Program of John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The program was established in 1968 and it has a highly respected faculty with expertise in the basic sciences. The program in Forensic Science is designed both to provide further education for directors, scientists, scientists in administration, and other professionals currently employed in crime laboratories and in such related areas as public safety, arson investigation and environmental protection, and to prepare people who are interested in entering such careers. The program draws from the areas of the biological sciences, physics, organic and physical chemistry, and law. It involves the mastery of techniques for the laboratory and the courts. The curriculum meets an urgent national need for personnel trained to administer the new crime laboratories which are rapidly increasing in number throughout the country.

Criminalistics

Criminalistics focuses on learning the techniques for the scientific examination of physical evidence. Physical evidence includes such things as fibers, glass, hair, soil, bullets, fingerprints, and shoeprints. The students review the theoretical bases of methods of comparison and their influence on scientific interpretation. Topics taught in criminalistics lectures will cover scientific photography and microscopy, serology, imprints, impressions, toolmarks, gunshot residue, cordage and textile examinations, blood spatter, hair examination, and crime scene reconstruction.

Toxicology

Toxicology focuses on the use of modern analytical chemical methods for the analysis of toxic substances. These toxic substances can include drugs of abuse, alcohol, and metals. The student in the toxicology tract learns about the basic principles of drugs of abuse including cocaine, marijuana, sedatives, narcotics, stimulants, antidepressants, and designer drugs. Students practice the analysis of these chemicals and drugs in a variety of biological specimens using methods such as thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography, mass-spectrometry and immunoassays.