Two rules: give it your all and be honest.
Student Ralph Dominguez has big goals to achieve just like any other college student. His long-term goal? To become a police officer. In short-term, Dominguez’s goal is to attend and graduate from Delta’s Police academy.
The police academy is an intense 17-unit course offered by Delta to train and prepare students leaning towards a career in criminal justice.
The course offers off campus training in shooting, and intense driving alongside guest speakers and weekend workouts.
“It’s been a great experience. I’m learning so much more than what a normal class could’ve taught me,” said Dominguez.
Dominguez is performing at the top of his class and already has an advantage after earning his degree in criminal justice from Sacramento State. He currently works for Target’s loss prevention as a security guard.
“It’s a head start at dealing with the public. It’s similar to what a police officer would do,” he said.
Not everyone in the academy is involved in campus justice. The academy is not a prerequisite to be a student officer.
Student Service Officer Tiana Torres joined forces with campus police over a year ago after holding an array of jobs on campus. Torres has worked in food services, admissions and record’s, the career transfer center and also in the bookstore.
This job though, she notes as her favorite.
“I’ve changed my major so many different times. I definitely love this job more,” she added. “I never want to take a day off.”
Now that Torres has found her niche on campus, she is now interested in joining the Police Academy.
Before her student officer position she was interested in joining the military.
“I originally wanted to join the military and I applied for this position to get to know the campus better. Now that I’m apart of it, law enforcement seems a little bit awesome,” said Torres.
If you’ve ever gotten a parking violation ticket on campus, it is possible it came from Torres.
“It’s a daily occurrence, and the biggest annoyance,” she says.
Throughout the semester hundreds of tickets are written for no permits, parking in red zones and even for creating their own park.
“I’ve seen it all,” said Torres.
Students involved in these opportunities are getting the hands on experience they’ll need to be successful in the future of law enforcement.
