NMSU partners with state police on criminal justice degree

New Mexico State University has announced a partnership with the New Mexico State Police to help students complete a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and become commissioned police officers.

The partnership will allow students who are interested in becoming police officers the opportunity to go through the State Police Academy and complete their degree at the same time.

“That’s the beauty of it,” Dennis Giever, NMSU criminal justice professor and department head, said in a recent interview.

Students must complete at least 120 credits toward the bachelor’s degree, according to the NMSU website, and under the partnership, students will complete the last 15 of those credits at the New Mexico State Police Training Academy in Santa Fe.

Giever, who has worked on many research projects related to criminal justice, said the partnership came about through his previous work with police and committees established by Troy Weisler, chief of the New Mexico State Police, to examine several issues, including police recruitment. Despite investments from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Legislature, Weisler said his agency has “a fair number” of vacancies.

He said the department currently has 630 officers and 92 vacancies.

Six months after the idea for the partnership was hatched, it went into effect with the approval of Giever’s department.

“We’re glad we finally got that across the finish line and hoping that will be a longer term pipeline we can establish at NMSU,” Weisler said.

Until now, students enrolled in the bachelor’s degree program had to finish their degrees before applying to the police academy. If students graduated from NMSU in May, for example, they had to wait until August to start the police academy and presumably would graduate in December.

“Now we’re trying to condense that time frame. With this program, people can plan ahead. They can apply to come work for us earlier,” Weisler said.

He noted that students of the academy get paid during training and graduate with a high-paying job.

“There’s not a lot of jobs you can come straight out of college and be making $75,000 base salary before overtime right out of the gate,” Weisler said.

With more students graduating from the police academy faster, and with a lot of officers about to retire, Weisler said he would like to boost recruitment by 50%.

“We’ve got to focus on bringing people through the front door in the next couple of years,” he said.

The chief described the partnership as a triple-win for his agency, the university and the state.

“It’s a win for NMSU that they’re putting them in careers right out of the gate that are high-paying; it’s a win for us because we’re getting more recruits; and it’s a win for the state ... keeping our young people here,” he said.

Marija Dimitrijevic, a college associate professor in the NMSU criminal justice department, estimates that 50% of her students are interested in going into law enforcement.

She said prior to the partnership, those students were concerned about how long it took to graduate from the police academy after earning their degree.

“They’re always concerned about their careers and finding employment after (graduation),” Dimitrijevic said. “They’re always asking for the real-world application of what they’re learning. This partnership aligns perfectly with the department’s commitment to provide students with this real-world learning opportunity that actually prepares them for a career in law enforcement and criminal justice.”

Dimitrijevic anticipates that, over time, students’ interest in the partnership will grow.

“This is new, innovative and highly needed ... so we’re going to market (the partnership) and let them know,” she said. “I’m hoping next year, we’re going to have lots of students in this program.”