U. Police's Class of 2000

The Penn Public Safety Institute's inaugural class graduated from the program last night. It isn't very often that 20 members of the University City community visit the Penn police station on their own accord. But last night, a group of Penn students and West Philadelphia residents gathered at the station at 40th and Chestnut streets for the purposes of celebrating, rather than facing, the law. In a 30-minute ceremony, the Penn Public Safety Institute, a program that allows citizens to learn about the lives of fully-trained police officers for several months, graduated its first class of students and residents. The program held its first class in late January. Over the course of 12 weeks, participants spent two hours each Wednesday night getting a first hand look at what really goes on in the University's police department, the largest private police force in Pennsylvania. After this successful start, the Division of Public Safety will run the program each fall and spring semester, with the next set of classes scheduled to start in early October. "It is a way for the people to walk in the shoes of the cop," said University Police Chief Maureen Rush, who led the program. Throughout the course, students learned about the criminal justice system, victimization and what it takes to monitor the area in and around the University through classroom-style instruction. Students did have several opportunities for hands-on work, though, including rides in police cars and instruction on a firearms simulator. All of this, of course, after each passed a criminal background check. "We wouldn't want all of our secrets to get into the wrong hands," Rush said. Of the graduating class, only about five members are Penn undergraduates while the rest are University employees and area residents. Although their graduation marked the end of any official relationship with the police department, both instructors -- all officers in the department -- and students said they hope the working relationship that has been established will continue to grow. Rush summed up the role of the graduates when she told them, "We know that we have your friendship in going forward, and you know that you have ours." After Rush's opening remarks, Deputy Chief of Operations Michael Fink took over to give the graduates their certificates of participation and offer congratulations. The class members also donned T-shirts, given to them as graduation gifts, bearing the name of the program. Once the class had taken care of official business, both the instructors and graduates took some time to reflect on what was good and what could be changed about the program. Rush invited all in attendance -- including the 15 or so guests of the graduates -- to join in a roundtable discussion. Among participants, reactions tended to be positive. "I had a blast," said College sophomore Meredith Chiaccio of her experience. "The interactive parts of the course -- the ride along, the fire arms -- made it a lot of fun." But she was quick to point out that her experience also gave her a personal appreciation for the police. "Getting to spend time with the officers, I found they were nice people under the tough exterior," she said. A University City resident since 1963, Jacqueline Waiters came away with knowledge she hopes she can share with her community. Waiters, who is president of her town watch, said, "I thought that anything I got from the course I could take back." The most useful part of the course for her was a seminar on ethics, a sentiment echoed by many of her fellow graduates. "The class taught you how to make split-second decisions under pressure, ones you can live with."