Bridgewater, VA- On Wednesday Sept. 11,  there was an interest meeting for a campus police cadet program held in Bowman 109 at 4 p.m.. The meeting was led by Danielle Brooks, the executive supervisor of the program, and she informed interested students on the responsibilities and requirements of the program.

The idea of starting this program was initially brought up by Lt. Ricky Biller, a current campus police officer. Biller, Brooks, and Bridgewater College Chief of Police Milton Franklin have been working on getting the program started since the end of August.

 Biller previously worked  at JMU, where they have had a campus police cadet program since the mid 1970’s. Their program holds 33 cadets at a time and cadets work mostly night shifts. The responsibilities of their cadets involve safety escorts, locking buildings, and patrols.

The cadet program at BC would have similar responsibilities, minus locking buildings. Cadets would mostly be involved in safety escorts and patrols. Safety escorts would involve giving students a ride across campus to where they needed to go if they felt unsafe at a time such as after midnight. 

Patrols would involve roaming campus and looking for signs of crime or other dangerous activity. Cadets would each have their own radio and be the “eyes and ears” of the BCPD.  Their job would non-confrontational and they would simply report anything they saw, such as a dead headlight or a sign of a crime, back to the working officers.

The shifts for cadets would be 7 p.m. to midnight on Sunday through Thursday, and 7 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Campus police cadets would also work major, well-attended events at BC, like football games. 

Requirements for students to get into the program include having gone through at least one semester as a full-time student and having at least a 2.0 GPA. Volunteers would have to attend thorough training such as radio communication, active shooter training, and weather inclement instructions.

The program is currently in the process of getting uniforms for all of the cadets to wear. Brooks and Biller are also working on some incentives for students to join the program in its beginning stages. Incentives might include wages and financial aid. 

Brooks said, “ Overall, my hope for this program is to shape passionate student ambassadors who thoughtfully contribute to Bridgewater’s safety and represent Campus Police’s dedication with integrity.”

Even without these, the program is an opportunity for students to gain experience and maturity.  Students wishing to go into a career in law enforcement might benefit from putting experience in this program on their resume.