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Crown Point High School @InklingsCPHS May 22, 2015 Vol. 79 Issue 9
leaping forward
Bulldogs track and field season runs forward into sectionals
S Read about the boys’ track season this far on page 12
Police work, responsibilities involve more than what meets the eye BY NATALIE BRIGHAM
associate editor
Movies make them seem heroic. Current events such as the Baltimore riots and cases of police brutality, however, have painted them as barbaric. As headlines highlight the negative, officers who do the job well must deflect such perceptions. Both officers and their family members find themselves caught in the middle of this prevailing attitude and their own realities. For local officer Ryan Olsen, the responsibility of doing the job well was appealing early in his childhood. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do since I was a kid. I lived down the street from the police station, so I would always see the police cars and fire trucks driving down the street, and, growing up, there were a lot of movies about cops, and I thought it would be a cool job that’s also interesting,” Olsen said. For officers like Olsen, there isn’t such a thing as a normal day. Each day provides new situations, some that have the potential to be life threatening. Olsen discovered this early in his career. “I went to the Northwest Indiana Police academy. I started in Gary, and my second day, there was a murder. A guy got shot nine times on the sidewalk. Once we cleared the scene, the officer I was with said, ‘We’ll be back tonight,’ and I didn’t think anything of it. Two hours later, we went back because the witness’ house was set on fire. Luckily, no one was in there, but it was so crazy. I had never seen anything like that,” Olsen said. When police are called to a scene, Olsen explained, they
receive limited information, putting the officer at a disadvantage and forcing them to figure out the potential threats upon arrival. Typical issues during day shifts are city ordinance calls, but at night, the severity of the calls increase. Many understand the physical dangers of becoming a police officer. The internal struggles, however, may not be as clear. “The dead bodies you see, whether it’s natural, a suicide or a murder, you don’t forget them. That’s also a difficult part of this job. You don’t forget the stuff you see, and it can really weigh down on somebody,” Olsen said. Having battled through such struggles, Olsen still values his job and sees it as an opportunity to help those he might not usually see. “You meet a lot of good people that are having a bad day. Not everyone is a criminal. Sometimes someone is just having a bad day, and you have to be a counselor. Sometimes people don’t know how to deal with certain relationship or work issues, and we can help them through that,” Olsen said. Junior Jordan Al-Nimri hopes to work in the police force in the future, believing the job is vital to everyday life. “Police officers are like soldiers for society. They make an oath to put their lives in harm’s way so other people’s lives don’t have to be. When people choose to disrespect that, it really makes me question why and question if they really understand the situation,” Al-Nimri said. Al-Nimri aspires to be a cop because of the unique combination of helping people and the thrill of doing good. He appreciates the risks all officers take to protect others.
Money in the bank Scholarships awarded to high achieving seniors
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393
fallen Indiana officers names are included on the memorial in Washington D.C.
1962
• •
Get your gi on Students enjoy taking part in karate
12,501 local 3,063 sheriffs
15,404 police officer injuries due to assaults
when President Kennedy made May 15 National Peace Officers Memorial Day
police officers that are female
12%
about 146 police officers die in the line of duty each year
See police on page 3
Feature
News
17,985
state and local law enforcement agencies in U.S.
May 10 to May 16 National Police Week
more than
900,000
sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the U.S.
facts collected from nleomf. org, justice.uaa.alaska.edu
A&E Attraction adventures Chicago area offers variety of museums, zoos page 10
page 14