INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING Administration Building, Suite 136 355 N. Lansing Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-2896 317-274-7711 Fax: 317-274-5457

PROGRAM THROUGH IUPUI POLICE OFFERS STUDENTS POLICE
TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION

INDIANAPOLIS - Driving an IUPUI police squad car may seem far removed from the Indiana Supreme Court, but Police Cadet Tricia Wright believes it is an experience that will help her excel in a legal career she hopes may take her to the state's highest court.

It is a step the 26-year-old IUPUI criminal justice major says she could not have taken anywhere but IUPUI.

Through a two-year Police Cadet program that no other university in the country offers, IU Police allow full-time students like Wright to become certified police officers and get real-world policing experience while earning their undergraduate degree.

Wright, now in her second year of the program, is convinced those real-world policing experiences will be worth their weight in gold as she pursues her goals of getting a law degree, working as a prosecutor and, one day, donning the black robes of an Indiana Supreme Court justice.

When she goes into court as a prosecutor, Wright will have the advantage of knowing first-hand how police do their work, even making arrests.

Wright recently made her first arrest for criminal trespass. The suspect was asked to leave a location, but returned. "Your first arrest is one of those things you won't forget," she says. "It's something that you did that you feel good about."

"I think that a prosecutor should understand what an officer goes through to bring these criminals to court," says Wright. "It gives them a little more understanding of what an officer is doing out on the street."

For Wright, the mother of two young children, the program at IUPUI was a perfect match. The Cadet Program allowed her to earn extra money, supplement her education, and get real work experience, while working flexible shifts.

"While we like students to work eight to 24 hours a week, we are flexible and willing to work around the student's academic schedule," says IUPUI Police Captain Bill Abston, a graduate of the program himself. Students in the program must maintain a 2.0 grade point average.

In their first year of the program, students work in the public safety communications office where they become dispatch-certified. That training alone can prove valuable. "If you don't want to become a police officer, you can go somewhere and be a dispatcher," says Wright. Dispatching salaries start at about $24,000 a year.

In the second year of the program, students attend the summer IU Police Academy in Bloomington and become police officers. Once certified, the students return to campus and begin field training where they work in a sworn-capacity with a full-time IUPUI officer.

Upon completion of the program, students are eligible to become IUPUI police officers or they may choose to seek employment with another department.

"The IU Cadet Program gives students a major advantage in looking for jobs in law enforcement," said Abston. "Without going through the Cadet program, students would have to wait until they were hired by a police department to go to the police academy and become certified. Graduates of the Cadet program are already certified and have field experience to boot."

Wright has set her career goals high, but based on what other graduates of the program have accomplished, she has a good chance of reaching them. Cadet Program graduates work for the FBI, the Secret Service, the Department of Defense and other law enforcement agencies. Locally, Monroe County Prosecutor Carl Salzman, Superior Court Judge Bill Nelson, Indianapolis Police Department West District Deputy Chief Tim Horty, Shelbyville Police Chief Kehrt Etherton, and Speedway Police Chief Jeff Dine all completed the program.

Though she graduates in December, Wright isn't prepared to put away her badge and uniform just yet. She plans to apply for a permanent job with the IUPUI police and later enroll in law school.

Students can apply for the Cadets program at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters by visiting campus police headquarters at 430 N. University Blvd. For more information about the Cadets Program, please call (317) 274-2058.

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