Lone Star College students get a closer look into law enforcement

HOUSTON, TX -- Lone Star College partners with internal and external stakeholders, giving them a firsthand account of this important community resource. The LSC Police Department and LSC-North Harris have partnered to provide criminal justice students with real-life experiences of police officers, law enforcement agencies and police practices.

“The Lone Star College Police Department considers our students the future of law enforcement and the criminal justice profession,” said Paul Willingham, LSC senior associate vice chancellor, Public Safety and chief of police. “We are proud of what we do for the college community. Our goal is to provide a close look into our style of policing, which focuses on guardianship and service.”

Willingham spoke at an LSC-North Harris Criminal Justice Student Association (CJSA) meeting in fall 2023, leading to the partnership between the LSC Police Department and LSC-North Harris criminal justice students. By spring, students began shadowing LSC police officers at LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood and LSC-North Harris doing standard patrols, community interactions and investigations. This collaboration will continue in the 2024-2025 academic year.

“This police program provided a unique opportunity for our criminal justice students to shadow Lone Star College officers and learn more about the complex and diverse practices in the law enforcement industry beyond what they read in a textbook,” said Traqina Emeka, Ph.D., LSC-North Harris criminal justice professor. “We greatly appreciate Chief Willingham and the Lone Star College Police Department for their efforts in making this program a success.”

The criminal justice students submitted to background checks, which involved their social media profiles, teaching them the importance of maintaining integrity and high moral values online. Along with shadowing LSC officers, students learned about law enforcement topics, including emergency management, special teams and the police ride-along programs. They also engaged in tabletop activities, specialty topic demonstrations, protection and programming at LSC-University Park.

“I participated in the Lone Star College Police Department program because I wanted to see if policing is my future,” said Fatima Vazquez, LSC-North Harris criminal justice student. “This experience has opened my mind to different career paths I never considered, such as education, bike patrol and honor guard. I also enjoyed learning about K-9 Tater Tot, the Lone Star College Police Department’s emotional support Mini Labradoodle.”

The Lone Star College Criminal Justice program prepares students to transfer to a four-year university toward a bachelor’s degree or work in different sectors of law enforcement, including police officer, dispatch, private security or investigator, fire inspectors and investigators and crime scene technician. Learn more at LoneStar.edu/Programs-of-Study/Associate-of-Arts-Criminal-Justice.