City of Muskegon Police
Michael
Experience Information
Employer: City of Muskegon Police
Job Title: Intern
Major: Criminal Justice
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: No
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
The Muskegon Police Department provides law enforcement and policing functions for a 26 square mile area, including a variety of restaurants, retail stores, theaters, schools, industries, and residential neighborhoods.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
As an intern with the City of Muskegon Police, I was a supervisor of a first year city wide project called the fight against blight I also did ride-alongs as well. This project was a big part of my internship and was important to the captains and chief to help clean up the city. It was so big that at the end of my internship I was awarded a plaque by the chief for my outstanding efforts on the fight against blight project as well as the Muskegon Chronicle came and wrote a newspaper article on the fight against blight project and what all was accomplished. Underneath I have added what my day was like daily while I was doing the project as well as a link to the newspaper article. Project Summary: The fight against blight project was a collaborative effort between the Muskegon Police Department Neighborhood Policing Unit, Michigan Department of Corrections, and the City of Muskegon Department of Public Works to eliminate blight in the City of Muskegon. The project was organized and coordinated by Neighborhood Policing Unit Officer, Rob Woods and Grand Valley State University Intern, Michael Rankin. The Michigan Department of Corrections, Parole Agent Sean Wiltenburg provided workers who were all on a probation status, and had court ordered community service hours to perform. The Superintendent of Public Works Doug Sayles provided all the equipment needed for the project. Over 500 properties were inspected throughout the City of Muskegon by the Neighborhood Policing Unit. The majority of those properties are city-owned properties, with a few belonging to the County of Muskegon, and the State Michigan. Each property on the list was assigned a number ranking from one to five. The properties in the most desperate need of clean up were assigned a number ranking of one, and those in no need of cleanup were assigned a ranking of five. Each day of the cleanup a site was chosen in a city neighborhood. The Neighborhood Policing Unit Officer of that neighborhood would then assist the intern for the day with carrying out the clean up. This would include, transporting the intern to the Department of Public Works to meet with Doug Sayles, to retrieve a dump truck and tools, contacting Agent Wiltenburg to tell him which location to bring the probationers to meet at to start the day, following the intern to and from clean up sites and dump sites, returning the equipment back to the Department of Public Works, and documenting all clean up efforts. After arriving at the cleanup site photos of the property were taken and the condition of the property was documented. The probationers would clean up the properties for community service hours. The probationers were asked to separate the tires, trash and brush, so that they could be disposed at the end of the day. The tires were placed in the tire trailer for disposal, the brush and yard waste was dumped at the landfill. The trash was deposited into a dumpster at the Department of Public Works. Each day of the project photos were taken of before and after the clean up to document all progress. The photos were then uploaded by a City of Muskegon Police Supervisor and placed with that days report. In conclusion, this program is a wonderful benefit to the City and its residents. Several lots within the City were cleaned up, improving the City's image, and the way residents feel about the surroundings they are living in. It is our opinion this program could be used as a model for future programs to rid the City of Muskegon of blight! Newspaper Article Link: http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2014/07/blight_fight_muskegon_police_h.html
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
I specifically learned that police work is not always about catching people do crime but its also about helping out the community and solving problems in another way.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of this co-op experience was meeting all of the police officers, captains, and chief and being respected not only as an intern but as a future police officer.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This experience influenced my future career goals by showing me that I really do want to become a police officer and help others as well as help catch people do crime.