Intern turns up

Last summer, I wrote a few posts on The Chief's Corner about an interesting series of projects an intern, Kyle Heidtbrink, was working on. After snagging his bachelor's degree, Kyle spent the summer with us--unpaid--just to get some practical real-world experience. He did some valuable analyses of sex offender residency and movement. (Speaking of which, this arrest early yesterday morning by Sgt. Jason Stille was a really nice job--he found the defendant hiding in the shower in his underwear).

I had lost track of Kyle towards the end of his internship, which finished up in our Narcotics Unit, located in another part of town. So I was glad to hear from him this week when he emailed me on Tuesday. Here's an excerpt.

"I'd like like give you the scoop on what's been happening in my life lately. I recently acquired a job with AMEC Earth & Environmental, an engineering firm located in Topeka, KS. I really think that my experience with the police department this past summer was a major contribution to being offered this position. For that reason, I wanted to thank you for your time and effort in making the internship a reality. It was a pleasant experience and gave me the unique opportunity to understand what it feels like to know that the work I was doing made a difference in the community. I guess that's probably one of the biggest things any law enforcement officer can take home each and every day he/she comes to work. "

It's good to know that his internship helped him land a sweet job. I think internships for college students are incredibly valuable, and we've had many, many interns go on to successful careers that, like Kyle, gained some valuable experience here at LPD. We benefit from their enthusiasm and talent, and try to return the favor by providing them with interesting and worthwhile work experience. Congratulations, Kyle!