Criminal Justice

I have aspired to be a police officer my whole life and found it only fitting to interview a Police Officer from the Northern Virginia area. The officer told me of his own aspirations to become a cop and it only furthered my motivation. He said his goal as a police officer was/is to make positive influential changes for his peers by protecting and serving his community to his fullest potential. Before returning back to patrol the streets, the officer was a Student Resource Officer (SRO) at Herndon High School. The positive presence of the officer while I attended Herndon was evident in the attitudes of the students. Even students notorious for causing trouble were exhibiting great changes in their attitudes solely because of the officer. He was well respected and known for bonding and socializing with students throughout the day. Having dealt with him personally my senior year, I was quickly reminded that police officers are not out to ruin people. They are there to make the best of situations ensuring people who are in the wrong learn from their mistakes, make changes in their actions to facilitate better choices for future decisions. The officer furthered my aspirations to work towards becoming a police officer. The positive feedback I received from him about the work he does to aid the community in becoming a safer place was truly inspirational to me.
The officer has made himself accessible to the community at all times. While on duty he responds to calls for anything from minor car accidents and triggered alarms to backing up fellow officers and incidents of domestic violence. A daily challenge that he faces is not having enough hours in the day to help everyone in need of assistance, including his family. The officer, unlike many officers he knows who“ let their badge get to their heads,” he is proud of the work he does to protect his community and would never use the power of his badge in a detrimental way to get ahead. The officer helped me further