Editor’s note: In recognition of Career Technical Education Month, the Telegraph is presenting a series of stories on North Florida Technical College.
BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Freeze! You’re under arrest!
That phrase immediately conjures up the idea of law enforcement in most people’s minds, but there’s so much more to the career than arresting people, which Bradford High School students and Bradford Middle School eighth-graders are finding out in the criminal justice classes offered at North Florida Technical College.
Bradford County Sheriff’s Office Deputy David Bukowski, who teaches the classes, said some students are surprised at all of the components that make up law enforcement and criminal justice “because all they know about is what they see on TV — cops running around, chasing bad guys and putting them in jail and things like that.”
Bukowski, who also worked for the Starke Police Department (retiring from there after more than 20 years of service), teaches one class for eighth-graders — Exploration of Criminal Justice — which provides an overview of the various aspects of law enforcement, from the local level to the federal level.
“They’re looking at the sheriff’s office, corrections, FBI and different things like that,” Bukowski said.
Bukowski also teaches five Criminal Justice Operations classes for high school students. Those classes are offered at three different levels.
“Criminal Justice 1 just starts with the basic history of law enforcement,” Bukowski said. “Students work their way into different aspects. What’s the difference between a sheriff’s department and a police department and state police? Things like that.”
The three levels of Criminal Justice Operations classes cover such topics as how to respond to calls for incidents and services, traffic stops, arrest techniques, use-of-force guidelines, crime-scene protocol, investigative writing, how to prepare written reports, forensic science, ethics and professionalism, the juvenile justice system and crime-prevention programs and how to implement them.
Students recently participated in a mock trial, Bukowski said, adding, “They learned about the criminal justice process and the due process that everybody’s entitled to.”
Bukowski also explains to students how other school subjects are important if they want to pursue a career in criminal justice.
“Even when I was a young kid, I didn’t realize how much math plays a part in law enforcement,” he said.
Even if students choose to take a different career path, they’re learning interpersonal and communication skills that will benefit them.
For those who do decide they want to go into criminal justice, the job opportunities are there, Bukowski said, adding, “Especially nowadays with the way law enforcement is looked at. Recruiting is very important now to get people interested in law enforcement.”
BHS sophomore Journie Sampson, who’s in his first year of taking Criminal Justice Operations, doesn’t have a negative view of law enforcement. It’s something he’s dreamed of pursuing since he was in elementary school.
“I had a good interaction with a deputy,” Sampson said. “It kind of made me think about it as a career.”
Sampson, who’s a member of the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office Explorers youth program, likes the fact that the classes are taught by someone who actually works in law enforcement, saying Bukowski is able to share “what he’s been through.”
North Florida Technical College is giving Sampson valuable knowledge as he pursues a law-enforcement career, but he’s also benefitted from the school in another way. As a freshman, he took a computer science class at NFTC and achieved certification.
It’s an example of the school’s various offerings, which can help students see what careers they might or might not be interested in.
“That’s what I really like,” Sampson said.
For someone who thinks highly of law enforcement, Sampson believes that the NFTC Criminal Justice program is a good thing, that it will inspire youth like him to think about a career in criminal justice.
