Criminal justice has many paths to follow, making choosing which specific area to choose a difficult decision. This is not a choice to be taken lightly or hastily, but one that must be thought through and examined closely. I have done a tremendous amount of research on many areas of criminal justice, narrowing it down to three: forensics, probation/parole, and homeland security. For me personally, these are the three best choices given their challenge potential. Forensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. Forensic science is used in place of forensic science in modern times and is considered an effective synonym for "legal" or "court-related". The term is, however, closely associated with a scientific field related to crime solving. Early forms of forensic science were first used in Europe in the 16th century by army and university physicians to gather information about the cause and manner of death, although little was written on these subjects only began to appear in the 18th century. (Kind S, 1972)Forensic science is now recognized as an essential ingredient in law enforcement and crime solving. Protecting a crime scene from contamination, accurately gathering and interpreting evidence have become some of the most critical elements in solving a crime. With today's technology, law enforcement is able to solve many crimes that would have once been deemed unsolvable. Today, in the 21st century, as more and more unconventional crimes are committed, such as terrorism, forensic science must continue to develop and mature. Lead efforts to develop a new crime-fighting science center...... middle of document ......n/ court-set parole and provide services to assist offender rehabilitation and reintegration into the community. This is not an easy task, unfortunately with budget cuts and lack of agents; as a result, offenders are often left to fend for themselves, only to reoffend and be incarcerated again. (Champion, 1999)Works CitedChampion, DJ (1999). Probation, parole and community corrections. Prentice Hall. Justice, UD (2004). Probation and parole in the United States. Kind S, OM (1972). Science against crime. New York: Doubleday. Punja, S. and Mislan, R. (2010). Mobile device analysis. Journal of Small-Scale Digital Devices. Watanabe, M., Shiohara, M. and Sasaki, S. (2005). Palm vein authentication technology and its applications. Biometrics Consortium Conference Proceedings. Fujitsu Laboratories.