Valerie Martin – Law Enforcement Internship

Hello! My name is Valerie Martin. Currently, I am interning at the Ephrata Police Department right in the heart of Ephrata. This police department is one of the larger police departments since they have jurisdiction over Ephrata Borough, Ephrata Township, Adamstown Borough, and West Cocalico Township. My mentor is Sergeant Kenneth Lockhart. Most of the time he is in the office scheduling, reading over reports, and doing a variety of other work, but he patrols as well. The main focus while I am interning there is to learn more about law enforcement and the justice system. It is also a great way to get to meet new faces. During my younger years, I always had an interest in becoming a police officer and I am very excited to learn more about this career throughout my internship. This internship is a great way to gain experience in law enforcement and the justice system.

During my internship, I was able to attend two or three days a week. I had the opportunity to go with different officers and observe several different duties. Most days I would be out with the patrol officers patrolling their zones and going on calls with them. Some calls that I was able to go on were medical emergencies, reportable and no-reportable car crashes, warrants, and traffic stops. During these calls, I was able to observe what the officer was doing. Other days I had the opportunity to observe some individuals in the office. Sergeant Randolph went over their policies with me, and the detectives talked me through what they do day to day.

This internship was a great way to grow in so many ways.  I was able to have great conversations with the officers and sergeants. I really valued these conversations because I was able to get their perspective on how they did certain things. There are several different paths a person can take to become a police officer, and I really appreciate listening and getting their advice on what I should do. After talking with a lot of the officers, most of them recommend I not get my criminal justice degree. Several of them recommend getting a different degree because it looks good when police departments pick their new officers.

Overall, my internship at the Ephrata Police Department was a great experience. It helped me realize that I do want to continue to pursue a career in law enforcement. It showed me that it would not be super valuable to get a degree in criminal justice and be more valuable to get my EMT certification. I really enjoyed observing officers in their everyday tasks and talking with them. I was able to learn more about law enforcement and meet new people. This internship gave me great insight and experiences into the career of law enforcement.