MTPD from an intern's perspective.

Picture from
  http://www.nbcnewmedia.com/staff/interns.stm 

Every year MTPD hosts interns from various universities across the state.  Throughout their time with us they are required to write papers on their experiences at our department.  I thought it would be interesting to offer a look at our department from one of the interns perspectives.  Due to the length of the paper I did edit the length of the paper.  I have also removed any mention of names as the author did not wish to be identified.  Also, due to the length of the paper I will be breaking up the paper into a couple of posts.
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  Part 1:

My internship with Meridian Township Police Department was one of the best experiences I have had. I picked this internship based upon another classmate’s recommendation and I am glad I did. It was everything that I expected, I learned a lot throughout my time there and happy that I got this opportunity.

The department was a decent size and saw enough throughout their shifts. I wanted to be able to meet all the officers and build relationships with the majority of them. I was able to do so and it allowed me to understand their position in the field better. Also, I was expecting to see a good amount of action but not an overwhelming amount. There was enough action throughout my road experience for me to learn without being overbearing.

I was scheduled for ten hour shifts but the officers were on for twelve. I was able to see most of what they see in a typical day. To experience a full day for an officer, I was able to stay for a full shift for both day shift and night shift. It got long but it opened up a new perception on police work. The first shifts I was assigned to were the day shifts. It introduced me into the department and allowed me to get a feel for it. 

The early morning hours had few calls but would pick up after lunch. It did seem like the mornings dragged on but I was able to learn a lot about the officers at that time. I learned about their past experiences and how they approach certain situations. It was a bonding moment that I enjoyed and felt more comfortable with the officers. It allowed the officers to feel more comfortable with me on calls by the end of the day. 

The switch to nights was the opposite from the day shift. The night shift would usually start off busy and then die off. I was unable to get to know the officers in the beginning because there were usually calls holding. If there were no calls in holding, they still were busy making traffic stops. When it died off later on, it allowed the officers to work on their reports. Also, I was able to get to know the officers but it was not until few hours in. It always allowed for some conversation late at night when nothing was going on. I felt at times that I could not really get to know the officer I was with. The majority of the officers on nights were the ones with the least amount of seniority. It led to them having less to share then the day shift officers. However, some were younger and I felt like I could connect with them more. In the end, I wanted to build relationships with the officers and that’s exactly what I got.