2003 Law Enforcement Shadow Day

Story courtesy of The Times - Photos courtesy CPPD

Chief Pete Land addresses CPHS students at the Firing Range

CROWN POINT -- Joell Dixon was saved from the wreckage of her Nissan 200SX sports car Thursday after it collided with a Ford Escort.

The Crown Point police and fire departments helped extricate Dixon from the smashed vehicle, while officers explained how accidents are handled to about 40 Crown Point High School students.

If that sounds insensitive, Dixon didn't really need any sympathy because the "accident" wasn't real. It was just one part of a special job shadowing program started by high school counselor Margie Sharp.

Dixon was in one of two previously smashed vehicles that had been placed at the location. Police Sgt. David Benson explained the various tools used in a rescue as members of the police and fire departments demonstrated.

CPHS students observe a stage accident scene, Joell Dixon was extricated from
the silver car when the Crown Point Fire Department arrive.

The all-day program also included a visit to the Police Department's firing range, demonstrations by a canine unit and the Lake County Sheriff's Department Tactical Team, and a visit by Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez and Crown Point Police Chief Pete Land.

At the end of the day, students had learned that a job in law enforcement is much more than most could have imagined.

Dixon, who will study criminal justice at Calumet College this fall on a soccer scholarship, said she was impressed by how police can study an accident scene and determine what happened without even talking to those involved.

"They know who hit who just by the placement of the cars and who was going faster by the way they were smashed. It seems really interesting," Dixon said.

Corporal Swanson answers a question about accident reconstruction

Dixon said she hopes to become a patrol officer and then a detective because "I'm an athlete, and I don't want to sit at a desk all day."

Cpl. Joe Swanson and Sgt. Jim Poling, who work in crash investigation, encouraged students to pay attention in math and physics class if they want a future career in law enforcement. Poling said officers respond to about 800 crashes a year in Crown Point.

Sergeant Poling explains how officers determine fault in an accident

Senior Brad Wilson found out that law enforcement "is a lot more complicated than seeing guys running around with guns shooting each other."

Wilson, who also attended the program last year, thought the canine demonstration was "most interesting, the way the animal would do absolutely everything he was told to. If I was a cop, I'd like to be in a canine unit."

Dispatcher Ryan Cusack takes a bite from K-9 "Udo"

"We try to expose them to as much variety of the every day things that officers do," Land said. "Real life police work is not what you see on TV."

Sharp said she started the job shadow program in response to students' interest.

"They think generally of a policeman or a sheriff," she said. "They don't see the individual jobs available to them through law enforcement. This allows them to see that they can specialize within the department in detective work, tactical teams, crime scene investigation and various other jobs."

Corporal Allendorf demonstrates a handcuffing technique on Dispatcher Cusack

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