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Officers Dame Brown, right, and Josiah Davis discuss career opportunities with a Jacksonville State University Criminal Justice major, Jaden Howard during JSU’s Center For Applied Forensics career fair at Leone Cole Auditorium on Thursday.
Decatur police Sgt. Vance Summers, left, and Officer Jonathan Macklin network with Jacksonville State University students at an event for the Center for Applied Forensics. The officers say they attend several similar career fairs a year.
From left: Payton Frederick, Kristy Ellard, Austin Wyatt, and Delmetrius Bishop with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office are ready to greet students at the career fair.
Officers Dame Brown, right, and Josiah Davis discuss career opportunities with a Jacksonville State University Criminal Justice major, Jaden Howard during JSU’s Center For Applied Forensics career fair at Leone Cole Auditorium on Thursday.
JACKSONVILLE — Criminal justice and forensics investigation students at Jacksonville State University had a chance to do some professional networking at a career fair Thursday.
The university opened its doors to current and former students for an opportunity to meet with various law enforcement agencies. Todd Garrison, Jax State’s director of College to Career Initiatives, said the school brought in law enforcement agencies not only from Alabama, but all across the southeast.
Career adviser Kirsten Hughes, who was in charge of putting the event on, told The Anniston Star that the school’s criminal justice program attracts a number of students from out of state, such as Georgia and Tennessee.
“It’s good to have some Georgia resources for those residents as well to learn that there’s more than just being a police officer or working for the FBI,” Hughes said. “We have the Georgia Department of Community [Supervision], and they do parole and probation for people once they get out of jail or prison. So there’s a lot of different opportunities, not just a police officer or corrections officer.”
Tables were set up around the room at Leone Cole Auditorium for students to meet each agency and discuss the various benefits and pay each had to offer.
Decatur police Sgt. Vance Summers and Officer Jonathan Macklin said their department every year visits anywhere from eight to 10 of these events, which can vary widely in their setup and intended audience.
Summers said that while some of them, such as Jax State’s criminal justice career fair, cater more toward potential law enforcement employees, he has attended some that are steered toward career fields that are less relevant, such as business majors.
Decatur police Sgt. Vance Summers, left, and Officer Jonathan Macklin network with Jacksonville State University students at an event for the Center for Applied Forensics. The officers say they attend several similar career fairs a year.
“I know UAB had a student athlete focused career fair last month. A lot of athletic, military type individuals tend to look towards law enforcement or criminal justice careers. I would say more times than not,” Summers said.
The career fair Thursday hosted several agencies displaying various tactical items or hosting law enforcement demonstrations. St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office K9 deputy Delmetrius Bishop was there explaining his department’s new drone program.
“We have our drone. That program just got implemented here recently with our sheriff’s office. It helps us find bad guys, helps locate different things,” Bishop said.
From left: Payton Frederick, Kristy Ellard, Austin Wyatt, and Delmetrius Bishop with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office are ready to greet students at the career fair.
Bishop said the drone is especially useful when law enforcement needs a visual overview of an area where it might otherwise be dangerous to deploy actual people, or in areas where visibility might be low.
In addition to the drone program, several other items used by law enforcement were on display, such as aerial “flash-bangs” that can be shot up in the air causing a distraction, SWAT vests and ballistic shields.
Jax State criminal justice sophomore Jaden Howard of Helena said that as his focus is in law enforcement, he attended the same event last year. He observed that this year’s event presented more job opportunities present than the one did last year, with different departments and more positions available.
“Getting your feet wet, and getting your name out there, that’s what’s nice,” Howard said.
The university often hosts career fairs such as this one, and while most are for current students, many are open to alumni as well. For a full list of Jax State’s upcoming events, visit jsu.edu/calendars/index.html
Staff Writer Ashley Morrison: 256-236-1551. On Twitter: @AshMorrison1105.
