vigilance Criminal justice club patrols with police The Harding Criminal Justice Association [HCJA] was a group of criminal justice majors who wanted to study more in their field. Each year the group held events such as cookouts, Christmas parties and paintball excursions.SophomoreAdamParker,HCJA’s president,said in 2007 he was looking to do something different with the club so he “got down to business.” Parker, after logging in around 100 hours of ride-alongs with different policemen, was determined to set up some type of program where members of the HCJA could do the same. “I thought that it would be a great experience for themembers of the club,seeing as themajority of themwanted to do law enforcement as a career,”Parker said.“I startedmaking some calls to the Little Rock Police Department (LRPD), talked to some chiefs of police, captains and sergeants and eventually worked something out with the LRPD.” The ride-alongs inLittle Rock took place over three different weekends,and sixHCJAmembers were involved.They were paired up with an officer of the police department and rode along with them for sometimes up to six hours. “I personally got involved with a stolen car case in the projects,”Parker said.“A couple of very large males with gold teeth got placed under arrest for being in possession of a stolen vehicle, among other things.” Parker said that the ride-alongs reaffirmed his desire to join the force. “Being in the projects, seeing the countless sad, lost faces of children playing with cardboard boxes in the street, cut me to the heart,”Parker said. “It’s for people like that, that I want to be a cop, to better their lives in any way possible.” Senior Criminal Justice major KeenanCarlton took part in a ride-along a fewmonths ago,and his officer was on patrol down in the River Market of Downtown Little Rock. Carlton and his officer had the third shift which was from 11 p.m.to 7 a.m.One night,the two found themselves in a situation they would not soon forget.They went to a house where a call was made about a man who was drunk and running around naked. Later, the officer and Carlton went onto the River Market where a drive-by-shooting took place. Carlton had to sit in the patrol car with the suspected shooter in the back. “All he did was sit back there and mouth off the whole time, I was kind of uncomfortable because I was left alone with him, but it turned out OK,”Carlton said. They also traveled downtown by the RiverMarket.There were 150 or so homeless people living there, and Carlton said they all knew the police by name. Carlton and his officer were just down there to make sure everything was in order and that nobody was stealing or causing fights.They then spotted a group of people who were known as “cop watch.”This was a group of people who videotaped policemen on duty, hoping to catch them doing something wrong. Carlton said he enjoyed his time with the LRPD and after graduation was hoping to move to the Nashville area and become a policeman. HCJA took a lot of experience and knowledge of their field of study through their time with the LRPD. It gave them a glimpse into their future and helped them take advantage of the opportunities that Harding offered. [Leigh Hutchinson] [pi sigma alpha] [pi kappa delta] [political sciences] 227 Row 1: D. Manes, Dr. P. Garner [sponsor]. Row 2: J. Fugler, L. Staggs. Row 3: S. Denney, N. Casey. Row 1: S. Denney, B. Keller, K. Cross, T. Chittam, M. Elrod [sponsor], A. Anderson.
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