It鈥檚 great being able to create a pathway to put students in a position to succeed. The program not only bridged the gap between police and the 澳门码今期开奖结果 community but created pathways for students to succeed and that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about.
This past year a new program was put in place at 澳门码今期开奖结果 that created paid internships for students with the Plymouth County Sheriff鈥檚 Office.
The program, 澳门码今期开奖结果PD Building Bridges, was created by 澳门码今期开奖结果 Police Department(澳门码今期开奖结果PD) Community Liaison Aboubacar Diakite.
鈥淭he whole purpose behind the program is to create a partnership with the 澳门码今期开奖结果 and local police departments to create connections,鈥 he said.
Since arriving on campus over a year ago, Diakite鈥檚 mission as community liaison has been to build bridges to help close the divide that often exists between police and members of the campus community.
To launch 澳门码今期开奖结果PD Building Bridges he reached out to criminal justice Assistant Professor Dr. Luzi Shi to see if she would be willing to collaborate and incorporate components of the program into her curriculum.
鈥淚 wanted to bring professionals in the field to the students,鈥 Diakite said.
Shi agreed and members of the 澳门码今期开奖结果PD and Plymouth County Sheriff departments visited Shi鈥檚 class to share what it鈥檚 like to work in law enforcement.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to have these meetings for students to learn directly from the folks actually doing the work,鈥 Diakite said.
He wanted to bring in community allies as well as members of the 澳门码今期开奖结果PD to provide diverse examples of how law enforcement operates.
鈥淗aving a full-functioning law enforcement agency here on campus allows our students to learn directly from our officers,鈥 Diakite said. 鈥淚 also reached out to the Plymouth County Sheriff鈥檚 department because I felt it would provide an opportunity to expose our students to the corrections world.鈥
Through 澳门码今期开奖结果PD Building Bridges, students also made an off-site visit and traveled to the Plymouth County Sheriff鈥檚 Department headquarters located in Plymouth.
鈥淲e were taken into a unit, a cell and were able to really see what it鈥檚 like to work in those environments,鈥 Diakite said.
With a relationship now established, Diakite wanted to do more for the students and worked with the sheriff鈥檚 department to see if they could possibly create internship opportunities for 澳门码今期开奖结果 students, not just majoring in criminal justice, but in all fields.
The sheriff鈥檚 department was agreeable and together they were able to create eight paid internships for students studying not only criminal justice, but also in other disciplines including social work and communications.
鈥淭here are a lot of transferable skills involved in law enforcement, you don鈥檛 have to study criminal justice to be in the field,鈥 Diakite said.
More than 20 students applied for the internships and went through the interview process. Those selected participated during the spring semester and at the conclusion of the internship presented what they learned to members of the sheriff鈥檚 department.
Things went so well that two students plan on pursuing careers as correction officers, Diakite said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great being able to create a pathway to put students in a position to succeed. The program not only bridged the gap between police and the 澳门码今期开奖结果 community but created pathways for students to succeed and that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about,鈥 he said.
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