CSI: CRIME SCENE INTERN

By Courtney Paris/The Daily
Posted 12:07 p.m., July 2, 2008

According to the University’s Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts College of Arts and Sciences: Before a student can do an internship they must have completed Sociology core classes 1113,3123,3523 and any Criminology Substantive Course (Part II) To learn more log onto http://www.ou.edu/soc/ or e-mail William Clay at wcclay@ou.edu.

For 11 years William Clay has advised OU students as a sociology adviser and as an assistant professor.

For 11 years he has asked the same question, “What do you want to be?”

And for 11 years he has heard many of the same responses.

“An FBI agent, a profiler or a police detective.”

The criminology theme is a result of prime time television shows like “CSI”, “Law and Order” and “The Closer,” Clay said.

“This just tells me these kids are watching TV,” he said. “They don’t know what these jobs really entail, so we hook them up with an internship to show them.”

OU does not offer a degree in criminology, but a sociology degree with an emphasis in criminology. This curriculum emphasizes more on the theory of criminology and less on the specifics of certain jobs, Clay said.

“Here, we ask the questions,” he said. “We study why crime activity happens. We don’t have labs to teach them about blood splatter, we don’t show them how to use handcuffs.”

To help students get an idea of what they are looking to do with their degrees, the department has found different places around the state that offer student internships.

“We try to give students an idea of what they can do with their degree,” Clay said. “We place them in different organizations that can give them experience of the actual job they are looking to do.”

One of the internship programs students is through the OUPD. For years Clay has been advising students to Officer Steven Chandler for a semester long-internship that includes ride-alongs, office work, and other on-site duties.

“We spread them around from administration records, to dispatch to working side by side with detectives,” Chandler said. “We try to show them how an actual police office functions.”

Cory Bennett, a sociology major with an emphasis in criminology, started his internship with the OUPD on June 10 . Bennett said he went into the internship expecting to learn what working at a police station was like from day to day, and in the process has learned a lot more.

“I’ve learned that police officers go through a lot of training and practice to learn how to deal with citizens on a daily basis without violating their rights,” Bennett said. “My favorite thing is the ride-alongs — it lets you interact with the people and it’s funny how people react whenever a cop is around.”

He also said he has learned other technical things, like the proper way to handle firearms.

Chandler said he believes the internship does more than just learning the skills of the profession — it allows students to get a new perspective on what police officers actually do.

“They see a different side than what’s on TV,” Chandler said. “They actually get an appreciation for what law enforcement really is.”

Internships used to be a requirement for sociology majors, Clay said. Now they are offered as an option for students looking to fulfill their upper division electives, but even though an internship is no longer mandatory, Clay said it is worthwhile to students’ futures.

“With the experience they are getting and the networking they are partaking in, most of them end up getting jobs out of the deal,” Clay said. “These students were a lot more marketable. If you went around Oklahoma, you’d find our students.”

Sometimes the students find their expectations for the job did not match up with their experience in the internship, Clay said.

“Sometimes we get students that realize this isn’t what they want to do,” he said. “Even that has some benefits — they aren’t wasting time on something that they don’t really want.”

Internships through the Sociology Department are only offered in the spring semester and during the summer. The program requires students to accumulate 120 hours of experience at an internship location and then submit a written paper about their experience in order to earn three credit hours.