Law Enforcement Preparatory Certificate (PFP1)  Technical Certificate of Credit

This course introduces criminal law in the United States, but emphasizes the current specific status of Georgia criminal law. The course will focus on the most current statutory contents of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) with primary emphasis on the criminal and traffic codes. Topics include: historic development of criminal law in the United States; statutory law, Georgia Code (O.C.G.A.) Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses; statutory law, Georgia Code (O.C.G.A.) Title 40 - Motor Vehicle and Traffic Offenses; and Supreme Court rulings that apply to criminal law.

Explains and demonstrates the effectiveness of the entire criminal investigation process by the quality of notes reports, and accurate documentation. An examination of what goes into the preparation, content, elements, mechanics, and format of documenting the criminal investigation process. Topics include: Field notes, initial information, observations, evidence, victims, witnesses, property, neighborhood canvass, crime scene, laboratory analysis and results, investigative follow-up, suspect statements, and the characteristics essential to quality report writing.

This course emphasizes those provisions of the Bill of Rights which pertain to criminal justice. Topics include: characteristics and powers of the three branches of government; principles governing the operation of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment.

Introduces the procedural law of the criminal justice system which governs the series of proceedings through which government enforces substantive criminal law. The course offers an emphasis on the laws of arrest and search and seizure; the rules of evidence, right to counsel, and the rights and duties of both citizens and officers. The course covers in depth appropriate Case Law and court rulings that dictate criminal procedure on the State and Federal Level.