Glenbard East senior sees firsthand what Lombard police officers are all about
With her father as her inspiration, Glenbard East senior and Lombard resident Marjorie Guzman is right in the middle of finding out what it takes to be a Lombard police officer.
Guzman, who was born in Peru, has been inspired by her father who was a police officer there. He has been such an inspiration to her that she has chosen her career because of it. With hopes and dreams of becoming a forensic psychologist or a criminologist, Guzman is hoping to experience some situations that will help form her experiences for her future career.
“Gathering evidence seems exciting,” Guzman related, after spending some time with officers from the Lombard Police Department, “but it's not as easy as it looks on TV,” she added. Her time at the police department counts toward her class credits and is required to spend 48 hours there to fulfill the internship requirement.
As part of her internship, Guzman has toured Du-Comm, the DuPage County 9-1-1 center, where she was exposed to the types of calls to which officers must respond. She has also spent some time at the Lombard Police Department's front desk and notes that it's “really busy” and realizes how important being able to multi-task really is. But perhaps her favorite part of the internship has been the ride-alongs with various Lombard Police officers.
“I have been able to observe traffic accidents and some other types of calls the officers encounter,” Guzman stated, “but what I really want to do is to study the criminal mind. I think it would be fascinating to be able to look at the world from another person's perspective,” she added. To that end, Guzman will be taking psychology at Glenbard East next semester to complement her current sociology class.
“We are always happy to have both college and high school students interested in law enforcement as a career as interns,” said Lt. Scott Watkins, internship coordinator for the Lombard Police Department. “The majority of the internship is spent in our Patrol Unit riding with uniformed officers where students work all three shifts,” he added.
As part of their academic requirements, students must keep a journal of their activities for the school and the police department, and, while she has had some interesting items to journal about, Guzman is hoping to experience something “a little more intense.”
Other areas of the police department that have impressed Guzman are the technology aspect of police work. “I had no idea what sophisticated equipment that the officers have in their squad cars,” she added.
“The Lombard Police Department has allowed me to witness firsthand, officers doing their job, looking out for the citizens of Lombard,” Guzman said. “This internship has made me appreciate them even more.”