Many criminal justice agencies have one of the following requirements for employment as a police officer:

• Two year degree in a criminal justice program
• Two year degree in a related field of study
• 90 credits toward a criminal justice or related degree

The AAAS degree satisfies these requirements. This option is appropriate for students who are interested more in gaining immediate employment than continuing directly on toward a bachelor degree at a university. While many of the classes in this option will transfer to a university later on, the degree as a whole does not transfer in the same way that the AAS degree transfers. This degree has a higher concentration of required criminal justice courses and fewer required general education courses.

The following courses are required for the AAAS degree:

AAAS students will also take 8 credits worth of criminal justice electives (see planning sheet) and 10 credits worth of academic electives for a total of 94-96 credits

Students who are not yet ready to seek employment in the criminal justice field, but would rather continue on in pursuit of a criminal justice related Bachelor degree should follow this path. This is also the path for students who aspire to a criminal justice career with a Bachelor's degree or graduate degree requirement, which is the case with some federal agencies. Successful completion of the approved courses in the transfer option will allow graduates to enroll with junior class standing in criminal justice or related programs at universities which offer criminal justice related degrees. This includes the University of Washington, Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, Central Washington University, and Seattle University. There are also hundreds of criminal justice Bachelor degree and graduate degree programs at universities throughout the United States.

Students in the this track must take a greater concentration of general education subjects and fewer criminal justice courses, reserving these for their junior and senior years at the university to which they transfer.

The Emergency Dispatcher certificate of proficiency course focuses on the              technical skills and techniques required for working in an emergency dispatch center where value is placed on technical expertise with computers and keyboarding, critical thinking, problem solving, a calm demeanor and the ability to multi-task. The program focuses on computer related technical skills, human relations and stress management, and includes three successive Emergency Dispatcher courses, the last of which is a one-quarter long lab-intensive class designed to train students to work in a 9-1-1 dispatch center. Students who complete this program should be able to communicate effectively in the criminal justice system and with the public in high-stress situations using current 9-1-1 communications technology.

Like the Emergency Dispatcher Certificate of Proficiency program, the 90-credit AAAS                                                           degree also  focuses on the technical skills and techniques required for working in an emergency dispatch center where value is placed on technical expertise with computers and keyboarding, critical thinking, problem solving, a calm demeanor and the ability to multi-task. It also includes the three successive Emergency Dispatcher courses, the last of which is the one-quarter long lab-intensive class designed to train students to work in a 9-1-1 dispatch center. It includes some of the same course work required for the AAAS in Criminal Justice and works well for students who have partially completed the criminal justice program, and have realized they would like to work in the criminal justice field, but not in law enforcement.