Longview TX March 26 2018

Olivia Stine never envisioned herself patrolling campus or rushing out in response to a fire alarm. But as a new LeTourneau University student, she found herself in need of a campus job and came across an opening for a university police guard.

Stine, 24, who joined the department as a customer service representative, now is lead guard for the LETU Police Department. Chief Michael Schultz said the student guards act as an “invaluable” supplementary force for the on-duty officers, filling in as dispatchers, coming in as backup and serving as the eyes and ears of the student population.

“It gives us that inside track on student life here and what their concerns are as students,” Schultz said. “Some people don’t feel comfortable coming to police, but will talk to (the guards).”

For Stine, a political science major finishing her last course this semester, the real-world experience opened the door to the security field she’d been interested in since watching the events of Sept. 11, 2001, unfold on the news. Now she’s interested in career opportunities at the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies.

“I’ve always wanted to do things that are hard,” she said of her initial attraction to the job, which can also involve sending guards to domestic disturbances, break-ins and the wide variety of calls that can occur on a campus with dorms and apartments.

Dillon Hartsfield, 21, a computer science and mathematics junior, originally came across the program as a freshman involved in the student Senate and saw it as another way to serve his community. Now he’s shifted his ambitions from computers to a career in policing.

He said the position has allowed him to get familiar with some of the practices of law enforcement without going to a police academy, giving him the confidence to take his interest to the next level at a time when departments around the state have expressed difficulty attracting and hiring young recruits and overall staffing shortages.

“I figured this job was as close to law enforcement as I could get,” Hartsfield said.

As both a student and police department employee, he said he sees the effects of tension between police and the community in people’s attitudes and body language during their interactions. Hartsfield said that hasn’t swayed his decision, but looks to challenge those people’s “innate distaste” for authority by relating to them as one of their peers.

“I want to change people’s opinions of law enforcement one at a time, because we are in a hostile time right now,” he said. “It’s a job where the actions of officers in Minnesota reflect on law enforcement in Texas.”

He said that while they aren’t peace officers, guards “still wear a badge,” so each of their actions could also reflect on the law enforcement community as a whole.

In his two years as a campus guard, he said he’s also gotten to work with Longview police, assisting in a recent foot chase and other calls near and on campus.

Other times, an alarm might just turn out to be a student burning some popcorn or other false alarm. He said the biggest thing he’s learned is to be prepared for anything.

“I enjoy those experiences,” he said. “It will help prepare me for what I’m going into.”

Schultz said the program remains a good way for passionate students to explore their interest in law enforcement, though it also attracts students in majors as seemingly unrelated as aviation. He said Stine is an example of the ability of the hands-on experience to “mold their paths.”

“It really does give them an insight. They start to learn radio communications, interacting with other officers, making traffic stops,” he said. “It gives them an opening of their eyes.

news-journal.com