WESTFIELD – Fifteen Westfield State University students and two faculty members traveled to Washington, D.C. as part of a short-term course “Jurisprudence and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies in a Global World” during the 2014-2015 winter break.
The curriculum focused on the federal constitution and students were given the opportunity to learn about the national and international federal law agencies, international law, and jurisdictional issues and differences. At the end of the course, students were divided into groups and each student group was responsible for researching a particular federal law enforcement agency.
The course was led by Criminal Justice Assistant Professor Alice Perry and accompanied by chaperone Kobie Stewart.
Criminal justice and psychology major Sara Palis ’16, from Lancaster, Mass., described the trip as a way for her to explore the field, and to connect what she was learning in class to real-life experiences. One topic in particular that the students discussed during the course was terrorism.
“The discussion reinforced what I learned in my criminal justice classes and gave current, real life examples of how terrorism is impacting the federal agencies,” Palis said.
What Palis found most interesting was the age progression technology used at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help find children after being missing for years.
“It is nice to know that the technology and the age progression photos help bring families back together,” said Palis.
The group traveled around Washington, D.C. including stops at the U.S. Supreme Court, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Interpol, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Spy Museum. Students started their days early and visited roughly two agencies per day over the two-week course. In addition to the scheduled group trips during the day, students were given a free weekend to visit the Museum of Crime and Punishment, and explore D.C. on their own.
Criminal justice and psychology major Bryan White ’15 from Wareham, Mass., described the course as an eye-opener into the real world surrounding the criminal justice system.
White said he enjoyed learning the ins and outs of federal jobs and how to obtain them.
“The most helpful piece of information I learned was how to get your foot into the door when looking at federal level jobs,” White said. “Most times you will not be able to start working for the specific agency you want right away, so by getting a more available job you can gain some experience and get your name into the federal system.”
One experience in particular that was inspiring for White was visiting the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters.
“Not only did we get a presentation, we also were taken to the FBI headquarters where we saw the FBI museum which provided many items and pictures of major events that have happened in the past (i.e. 9/11),” White said. “While all the days during this trip were days I will remember, this particular day was a huge attraction given access we were given.”
The students were granted access into the headquarters due to connections with an alumnus who is an agent in the FBI.
“It was amazing to go in a building that many Americans can only dream about,” said Palis. “It was also really cool to see how the FBI operates and that many other agencies work within the FBI Office.”
Perry said that learning from federal agents was impressive, but she was more impressed by her students’ decorum.
“The trip exceeded my expectations,” Perry said. “The students worked well together and they were so poised and professional at all the agencies. I thought the students would be impressed by the federal agents; I turned out to be far more impressed at the professionalism of my students.
