Friday, February 22, 2008

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!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How many interns do you usually have at the main station during the regular semesters, and the summer semesters? Do you ever put them to work at any of the substations?

Anonymous said...

Hey Tom, you didn't answer my question. Are you particpating in the Special Olympics fund raiser?

Tom Casady said...

6:01

No, unfortunately I have plans with my father-in-law, long standing. Been there, done that, had a great time, will return in future. Besides, it's going to be too warm today for true plunging!

Anonymous said...

Here's an idea for the Monday post, if you need one. Tire slashing vandalism. On January 10, someone slashed tires on 7 cars in the 42nd & Normal area, a normally sedate apt complex. Last night, someone slashed tires on 9 cars (I don't like that trendline, if you know what I mean), over several blocks East of 27th and Woodsdale, another fairly sedate neighborhood, this one of almost totally owner-occupied single-family houses. Did you ever get any leads on the Jan. 10th slasher(s)? This kind of stinks the same way.

Tom Casady said...

Feb 22 3:44-

Sorry I didn't respond. We generally have 3-5 interns at any given time, and yes, they are sometimes assigned to one of the substations. Basically, unit managers request an intern if they have a special project or need of some sort, and our volunteer coordinator tries to match up the skills and interests with the need.

Feb 24, 5:51-

They are not cleared, and I will add "spree vandalisms" to my list of future topics. Very annoying crimes, with a huge dollar loss.