These students might save your life someday

These students might save your life someday

 Al Stover / Reporting

 Britney Locati / Images

Published in issue 41.10 of the SFCC Communicator

Roy Hardin is surrounded by bodies covered in fake blood, gunshot wounds made of paper, and empty bullet shells. Around him three students approach, examining the bodies and the evidence on the ground.

Hardin is one of over 70 students currently enrolled in SCC's Criminal Justice program.
According to the SCC website, the criminal justice program is a curriculum in which students take classes that prepare them for a career in law enforcement.

Hardin, who will be graduating in the fall, said all of the program's instructors are either active or retired police officers.

"We got so lucky, some of them are 20-to-25-year veterans," Hardin said. "What better way to learn than to learn from cops."

According to Hardin, students must also complete a certain amount of cooperative education hours outside of class. Some students are able to work off these hours by joining SCC's security department. Travis McCanna, is one of the students who is working off his co-op hours in the security department.

"You do things like write tickets and get experience with basic radio traffic," McCanna said.

In addition to learning the basics of law, students also learn crime scene investigations, traffic and patrol procedures, and marksmanship. Brad Zook, a first-year student, said one thing he has learned is interviewing techniques.

"I'm not the loudest when it comes to talking with people and the program has helped with that," Zook said.

Another aspect of the program is the physical training. Colin McKenzie, a graduate of the program, said SCC has recently put together a permanent obstacle course on campus.

"We just broke ground," McKenzie said. "It has 18 obstacles and 400 meters."

Hardin said that many students who graduate the criminal justice program go outside of Spokane to look for police work. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington employs a little over 8,000 police officers while other western states such as Arizona and California employ over 10,000.

Although getting police work after school may be difficult to find, Hardin said the knowledge and skills he has acquired from the program will help him when he does become a police officer.

"It's a practical education, everything you could learn from the academy and use on the streets," Hardin said. "I could not have chosen a better field to get into."

*******

To read the story on the Communicator website

Campus auto thefts escalate