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Transcriptionists with law enforcement experience may find working at home doing law enforcement transcription an ideal job.

Transcription has come a long way since the days of working in an office transcribing cassette tapes. Now, experienced transcriptions can diversify and work at home in specific areas such as medical transcription, legal transcription, entertainment transcription, and even law enforcement transcription. This area of transcription focuses on law enforcement and criminal justice. Examples of audio a law enforcement transcriptionist would transcribe include investigations and police interrogations.

Law Enforcement Transcription Training

People interested in a career as a law enforcement transcriptionist would need to have experience transcribing audio for a law enforcement division or related agency such as a criminal justice department. In addition, since this type of work is highly confidential and deals with information from agencies such as police departments, most law enforcement transcription companies require independent contractors to get criminal background checks. Individuals who do not have experience working at a law enforcement agency may want to consider taking a relevant legal transcription class. According to a paper writer, many community colleges offer legal transcription classes and there are also several legal transcription online schools.

Transcription Equipment Needed for a Home Office

The obvious piece of equipment you would need for a home office to do transcription is a computer. Transcriptionists should also know how to use software programs such as Microsoft Word and be able to transcribe digital audio. Most transcription companies hire independent contractors to log into their Web sites and download the audio from a FTP site or their direct company site. A transcriptionist should also have a software program to transcribe the digital audio. Many of these transcription programs can be found free online. Another important piece of transcription equipment is a USB foot pedal. The USB foot pedal will definitely help increase productivity because it lets the transcriptionist use his or her foot to play, fast forward, rewind, and pause the audio. Last but not least, a high-quality pair of noise cancellation headphones is a must-have for transcription.

Transcription Certification and Other Skills

Other skills needed are an above average typing speed, excellent proofing skills and basic knowledge of the terms used by the law enforcement agencies. Some useful tools of the trade would also be legal and law enforcement terminology books as well as guides on punctuation and grammar. Law enforcement transcriptionists who want to advance their career may want to consider becoming a certified transcriptionist. This typically consists of meeting certain requirements regarding experience, transcription skills, and passing an exam. For more information on transcription certification, see AAERT also known as the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers.