Police internships are valuable for criminal justice students and can be conducted at local, state, or national levels, including investigative work. They are typically unpaid but offer valuable work experience for future employment opportunities.
Students majoring in criminal justice may want to consider doing police internships to gain valuable work experience. These internships can be conducted at the local, state, or national level. They may involve working alongside an officer who patrols a precinct and responds to emergency calls. This type of volunteer work can also be done within a jail or prison, where an intern is expected to learn procedures related to the custody and control of criminals. Summer investigator placements are sometimes available and may include collecting and preserving evidence or interviewing witnesses.
Police internships are often available to college students who are working toward a degree in criminal justice. Many of them are found in city or county police departments. Interns may be assigned to work alongside an experienced patrol officer in order to get a feel for what the job entails. This can be done by patrolling the officer’s beat, routinely stopping traffic, or responding to calls from the public.
In addition to local agencies, state and federal governments also offer police internships. This can be done with an agency that enforces border security or investigates crimes against the government. It could also be with a state law enforcement agency or a national drug task force. The work done during one of these student placements can range from writing reports to conducting investigations, depending on the agency.
Some police internships can be completely limited to investigative work. These internships are typically found at a federal agency that investigates federal crimes or those that are of a very secretive nature. In the United States, one such agency is known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Prisons are sometimes a source of police internships. People who do this type of volunteer work can help transport criminals from one facility to another by writing reports or supervising visits. Interns may also be called upon to help keep a prisoner count in each cell block. This work experience is typically gained under the direct supervision of a director or shift supervisor.
Most police internships are unpaid, but some programs may offer interns a small salary. The amount may vary based on agency, length of program and type of work performed. Even if an individual undertakes an unpaid internship, the work experience they gain from doing so can be extremely valuable when it’s time to look for full-time employment after graduation.
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