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Volume 38 Issue 3
October 3, 2000

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Long arm of justice embraces students
Officers serve as mentors to  police recruits

BY JORDAN CURRIER
MESA LEGEND
Submitted October 3, 2000

Students interested in jobs that require a gun, a badge or a generous dose of adrenaline met in the Navajo Room Sept. 20, to learn about a new MCC mentoring program geared toward law enforcement and criminal justice majors.

Professionals from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Department of Public Safety, United States Border Patrol and the Mesa and Phoenix Police Departments participated in the event, meeting with students interested in the program.

Bob Estrin/MESA LEGEND

Phoenix Police Officer Leah Kasper counsels Michelle McKinion on the benefits and sacrifices of being a police officer.

Lewis Jones, a Phoenix firefighter and former MCC adjunct faculty member, is the coordinator of the mentor program.

Jones has created an opportunity that will pair students with law enforcement professionals for one-on-one experience, friendship, career-planning and advice about the specific field the student is interested.

“It’s not really a new program,” said Jones. “It technically started last semester, but I’m really trying to get some enrollment here in the justice studies department.”

Students who want to pursue a career in law enforcement can join the mentor program by filling out an application. The applicant is then paired with a professional who matches their profile for a 16-week mentor/mentee relationship.

MCC’s Administration of Justice Studies Department will help Jones recruit new agencies interested in offering mentors to students over the course of the academic year.

“I think there’s a lot to learn in the classroom,” said Bonnie Black, director for the administration of justice studies. “But I’ve always been very strong in making sure that students have some kind of experiences that give them a real perspective.”

Sergeant Maria Vita of the Mesa Police Department, another agency involved in the mentor program, is hopeful that the mentors provided will help lure interested students into her field — one that is hiring more people with a college education every year.

“When I got hired, they might hire 10 people a year,” Vita said. “Now, we hire at least a hundred people a year. You need upper-level education. It’s not a requirement, but it shows responsibility.”

“It gets me interested,” said MCC student Matt Torrez, who is interested in joining the Mesa Police Department’s Air Support Unit. “I’ll be set up with a one-on-one chat with somebody instead of going to a lecture where they speak to everybody and don’t really focus on one particular thing.”

“Based on my experience, we’ve never been approached for this kind of program before,” said Noel Jaronik, Human Resources Supervisor for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Jaronik was specific in what advice she hopes the department can provide to mentees involved in the program. “What kind of skills they need, what kind of salaries they can expect, what kind of retirement, what kind of things they face on a daily basis.”

MCC student Justin Griffith is also interested in joining the Mesa Police Department.

“This will basically get my foot in the door,” Griffith said. “And find out what I need to do, and basically get on the path.”

Students interested in the free mentor program can contact Lewis Jones at (480)-461-6236 or lewjones@mc.maricopa.edu.

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