Larry Wright
AABA – Graduate
Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice – current student
Meet Larry Wright
With eight years experience as a Los Angeles Police Officer and 14 years total experience in law enforcement, it can be hard to imagine that Officer Larry Wright could learn a lot more about law enforcement by continuing his education. According to Larry, however, "the benefits that I will receive from my education are immeasurable and innumerable. Another police officer once asked me, 'How can a college education teach you how to storm a house or take an armed gang-member into custody? College can't teach you how to respond to a code 3 or deal with an active shooter.'"
Currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Science degree program in Criminal Justice through AIU Online (with expected graduation in September, 2007), Larry had the following response for his comrade. "It is true that only a well-trained officer can take an armed suspect into custody, deal with a hostage situation, deal with other tactical situations and then write a Daily Field Activity Report. But without a higher education, you are just a police officer doing what it takes to get by. With an education, you can be a more effective officer who is more capable of handling increased responsibility and leadership. A truly effective police officer not only makes arrests, but also fights crime by addressing the root causes of crime."
The knowledge and skills that Larry is acquiring through his courses with AIU Online are "ten times more beneficial" than he expected. "I learned that a well-trained and educated officer can assess a gang problem, organize community efforts, designate an effective block captain, obtain resources and support for community problems and provide reports and updates of crime problems. A trained and educated officer also knows how to effectively use all the informational resources at their disposal to analyze crime in a community. An educated officer knows that no police department can solve crime problems through arrests alone and understands the various theories and philosophies that can influence crime prevention."
Larry believes that earning a criminal justice degree through AIU Online can help give police officers a better understanding of how to address the root causes of crime in their communities. "I learned that crime increases not only because of demographics and economic issues; but also because of socio-economic issues that can be interrelated with a wide variety of other problems. An educated officer knows that sometimes addressing a drug problem through prostitution enforcement, gang enforcement and traffic enforcement can have an indirect but major impact on the specific drug problem. An educated officer can use COMSTAT (Computer Statistics) to analyze crime and measure the effectiveness of focused enforcement. I could continue on and on about the benefits that earning a criminal justice degree can have for a police officer. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to earn my degree through AIU Online."
According to Larry, the Virtual Campus at AIU Online facilitates his learning process in many positive ways. "My contributions to the virtual classroom based on my experiences as a police officer benefit my fellow students and their feedback also benefits me. The interaction on the Virtual Campus that is facilitated through live sessions, discussion boards, e-mail and other means enables us to share stories of cases and issues we have seen in our day-to-day careers. We discuss where, when and how our course materials apply to real life scenarios. For instance, my classmates and I came to a better understanding of what 'the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine' is and how it applies to law enforcement and court proceedings. We discussed the applications of landmark case precedents to actual day-to-day field operations. I have shared accounts of how courtrooms actually work, as opposed to how court proceedings are depicted on television. I have shared details about the OJ Simpson case, the Robert Blake trial and even some information relating to the Jesse James Hollywood murder case, which is loosely depicted in a movie called "Alpha Dog." Overall, it is a great learning experience for everyone that participates."
Earning a degree through AIU Online can also open the door to more career opportunities for Larry. "I initially enrolled at AIU in order to meet the minimum standards necessary for a promotion to sergeant, one of which is earning an Associate's degree. My experiences with my instructors and classmates motivated me to continue beyond that and work to earn a Bachelor's degree. I just returned from an extradition from Washington State accompanied by a twelve-year veteran of the LAPD's Fugitive Warrant Section. I discussed with him some things that I have learned from my courses through AIU Online and how many of these tools apply to our work. He was totally awestruck and said, 'You should be at least a Captain or Commander! In my entire 36 years of law enforcement, I have never met anyone that knows so much about law enforcement, law enforcement history and case precedents as you do.' Before attending AIU, I viewed some positions in law enforcement as unattainable for me, at least in the near future. Thanks to AIU Online, I now have the confidence to pursue those positions knowing I can succeed."
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