Students learn about
law enforcement careers
JESSICA FLIPPEN
Students in Criminal Justice class learn about law enforcement, judicial work and the corrections field.

Madera County Sheriff’s Deputy Roy Broomfield

Criminal Justice at Yosemite High School introduces juniors and seniors to law enforcement, judicial work and the corrections field (jails, prisons and juvenile halls).

Taught by Deputy Sheriff Roy Broomfield, this course entails the good and bad parts of working in criminal justice, and, as a regional occupational program, provides information on entry into this field.

Composed of 16 students, the class takes field trips to courts and sits in on trials involving high school age suspects and victims. The class normally has guest speakers, and Deputy Broom-field brings in training tapes to depict what a police officer does or how he/she reacts to certain things. He provides hands-on experience with police equipment, finger printing, restraints and hand-cuffs.

Other field trips are taken to jails, boot-camps and juvenile halls to provide an up close and personal view of what juvenile hall officers do. In the past, the criminal justice class even took a trip to Alcatraz, a former federal penitentiary set on an island. Alcatraz was used for more than 40 years as a maximum security prison before being shut down in 1963 and it housed notorious, hardened criminals such as Al Capon and George Machine Gun Kelley. Broomfield said the trip was very educational for the students.

Broomfield has just finished a purchase order for a new upgraded digital camera to do mock-trial photography. Normally work is done in class. Though no homework is given, self-preparation for a test, midterm or for a final is expected.

Broomfield would like to have a computer lab for his class, but plans for this development will have to wait.

During a recent class, students watched a video on victim-witness services. Those in victim-witness services deal directly with victims if they need money, mental health services, court aid, or support and counseling. Other subjects the film covered included classification and work incentive.

Prisoners are put in with their own kind. A person who has been in prison before may be put in level four or five with assaulters and other repeat offenders. First time offenders are put in with those who have committed minor crimes.

Through the work-incentive program, prisoners are allowed one day off for each day of work credit. Time goes by faster for the working criminals, and they learn skills that can be placed on their resume. Most prisoners go for it because it’s good experience and it cuts their prison time in half, the students learned.

Broomfield says, “If you’ve served 10 years in the carpentry shop at San Quentin, you can show people pictures of your woodwork and apply for a job.” More options within the work-incentive program include fender shop work, car-painting, baking and food-service.

As sixth century BC philosopher Lao Tzu said, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.-Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.”

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