A Public Safety Management Degree Program Prepares You to Protect Your Community

Whether it is through traditional services such as fire and police departments, or by helping address heightened concerns about homeland security, public safety is defended every day in a myriad of different ways. If you would like to take a leadership role in this effort, consider a public safety management degree program.
The people who have the greatest impact on public safety are the managers who decide how to deploy available resources. An online degree in public safety management can qualify you to make this kind of difference in your community.

Types of Careers in Public Safety Management

Consider firefighting as an example. In total, there are about 361,000 paid firefighters in the United States. Of this total, some 52,000 are supervisors and managers, and another 14,000 are inspectors and investigators. Not only can these higher-tier jobs make a bigger difference, but they tend to be more financially rewarding, and are more conducive to a longer career.
The structure is similar for police work. Of 861,000 total police jobs nationally, some 93,000 are supervisory and management positions. These positions typically offer higher pay, and as with firefighting, may be the best way to extend a career due to the physical demands of the job.

Online Education and Public Safety Management

In many public safety jobs, such as fire and police occupations, it is often possible to work one's way up through the ranks to a certain degree. In many of these occupations it could be argued that a certain amount of hands-on experience is a necessary requirement for good management. With few formal educational requirements at the rank-and-file level, it is thus possible to get started and even advance to a certain extent without a degree.
For higher level jobs, however, a degree may be required or could at least give you an edge. Thus, an online degree program may be tailor-made for someone who wants to both gain practical experience and add advancement potential at the same time.
Source:
Bureau of Labor Statistics

Richard Barrington is a freelance writer and novelist who previously spent over twenty years as an investment industry executive.