Randy Gonzalez is a Professor of Criminology and has worked in the field for over 33 years.
How did you become interested in this field?
When I was a kid I loved creative story writing about fictional detectives. They sparked my interest for criminal justice.
What type of training or education prepared you for your work in this position?
My undergraduate degree, the police academy, and real world experience as an officer best prepared me for my work. Formal education builds the foundation, but, the craft of the practitioner fortified the rest of the construction. You can’t sit in the ivory towers of academia and truly understand what you’re talking about. It happens every day though, and people, who think they know what they’re talking about, write textbooks. The real practitioners are out there every day dealing with real people, applying the classroom to see if it works.
What is an average day at work like for you?
Interacting with students who feel they have a calling to a career in criminal justice, debating, researching and writing to advance the field of criminology.
What do you like most about your job?
Criminal justice students and researching the craft of criminology; interacting with other practitioners; avoiding the theorists!
What advice do you have for those who are interested in working in this field?
Work hard, study hard, be creative, become a critical thinker, think for yourself, loosen up and question things, develop a serious affinity for the investigative process; get that degree and go to the police academy, then walk in the shoes of the practitioner!
