Germantown police renew internship program
Stacks of files a foot tall surround Nadine Scuselle, making her desk look like it belongs to a cold case investigator rather than a part-time intern.
After a hiatus of about 10 years, interns have returned to the Germantown Police Department. Two are working for the department this semester, and they aren’t out fetching coffee and doughnuts.
Scuselle, a 40-year- old mother of four working toward her associate’s degree in criminal justice at IT T Technical Institute, spends 8 to 20 hours a week helping the department with its ongoing quest to earn state accreditation. It’s tedious work at times, but Scuselle doesn’t balk when Captain J. W. Whitfield drops a new file on the desk.
“This is in my blood,” she said, citing a family history in law enforcement.
Her desire to work in criminal justice dates back to her participation in a seventh-grade mock trial, she said. After earning her associate’s degree, she plans to get a bachelor’s in cyber forensics.
Scuselle, who began her unpaid internship with the department in January, was one of the first interns in nearly a decade. She was joined this spring by a senior criminal justice major from the University of Memphis.
Capt. Marc Molina, who is overseeing the internship program, said he thought the department halted internships in the early 2000s because there wasn’t enough structure to support a successful program. He also said there wasn’t as much need for the extra help then.
“We could not be happier with our interns,” he said, adding that the department plans to continue accepting internships for the foreseeable future.
The University of Memphis intern, 21-year- old Audrey Ibezim, has worked in traffic court, helped during safety seat checks and is compiling vehicle crash data. Ibezim works as a tutor in addition to school and her internship.
“You really have to know how to manage your time,” she said. “But you’re able to get experience before you step out into the real world and find a job.”
Ibezim’s first day was her most memorable. She shadowed an officer during a traffic saturation on Super Bowl Sunday. And at one of the stops, the drug dog went to work on a man who had stuffed drugs down his boxer shorts.
The internship has been a revealing experience, she said. Being an officer wasn’t a goal before because she didn’t want to stop people for traffic violations and write tickets.
“I have new insight on what it means to be an officer now,” she said. “At the end of the day, you’re helping people.” — Sara Patterson:
(901) 529-2542