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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Indiana University students in the criminal justice program are getting the chance to put what they've learned in the classroom to use in the real world.
The program allows students to work as part-time police officers after graduating from the university's police academy, WISH-TV (http://bit.ly/1Vw9nTO ) reported. Participating students earn credit toward their degrees while helping to keep the Bloomington campus safe.
Officer Haley Ciosek graduated from the police academy last month and now works part time as a campus police officer.
"I love it," she said. "I love everything about this profession. I love helping people."
On Tuesday, her shift started at the Indiana University Police Department, where Sgt. Shannon Bunger briefed Ciosek and her colleagues about which area of the campus they'll patrol.
Bunger participated in the program in the '90s and currently works full time for the department. After hearing about the fatal shooting of a police officer in the northeast suburbs of Chicago on Tuesday, he reminded the student police officers to be safe while on patrol.
"Be vigilant," he said before sending the officers out for their shifts. "I don't care if you're eating. I don't care if you're walking through a parking lot. There's a lot of people out, so let's be careful out there."
But the dangers that coincide with being a police officer won't hinder Ciosek from pursuing her dream job.
"I love community policing. I love being friendly to everyone. I love to change people's perception of how we are. How police are. Because we're not bad. We really aren't," she said.
Ciosek ultimately hopes to become a homicide detective.
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Information from: WISH-TV, http://www.wishtv.com/
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