Jose Velez wants to be a state trooper. The Jersey City resident and senior at Rutgers University in Newark is one of 10 students recently named New Jersey State Police Scholars, a program that provides educational opportunities for students who wish to join the state police force.
“I wasn’t originally a criminal justice major,” Velez explained last week. The 22-year-old Jersey City native had started at Rutgers University in Newark with an interest in computer programming.
“I took a few courses in criminal justice and I got more and more into it,” Velez added. “That was in the second part of my freshman year, and I decided to stick with criminal justice.”
The New Jersey Police Scholars program is now in its second year, according to Michael Sutton, spokesman for Rutgers Newark.
“Recipients of the scholarship are each awarded a stipend of $5,000 per academic year,” Sutton said. “In addition, there is an annual paid state police internship.”
Velez has yet to do his internship, and thinks he will have it completed by the end of the summer. Each of the awardees, including Velez, will be matched with an active state trooper who will serve as a mentor for the students.
“This is something I’m really looking forward to doing,” said Velez. “The internship will give me a chance to see how the state police works. It is an offer I couldn’t really pass up.”
Velez graduated from Ferris High School in 1998. Academically he did very well, graduating near the top of his class.
“I graduated 21 out of class of 150,” Velez said. “I think I did very well.”
While in high school, Velez played soccer for four years and was a member of the National Honor Society.
The choice
When asked why he has made the choice of the New Jersey State Police over any number of other law enforcement agencies, Velez had a number of reasons. “First of all there is the scholarship,” Velez stated. “My professors steered me toward the program and I applied for it.”
Velez said he looked at a number of other law enforcement agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but settled on the state police. Local law enforcement did not hold much attraction for Velez either.
“I really admire the work those guys do and they do a lot,” said Velez. “I just don’t see myself doing that as a career.”
What Velez does see himself doing is eventually becoming an investigator with the state police. His interest in criminal investigation sprang, in part, from what Velez learned in his criminal justice classes at Rutgers, especially the Introduction to Criminology course.
“Criminology is the theory that tries to explain why people behave in a criminal manner,” Velez said. “It was the course that got me interested in criminal studies.”
Velez said after he took the introduction course, he began to excel at the other criminal justice courses.
The two-year-old New Jersey Police Scholars program was started by Michael Maxfield, a professor at Rutgers Newark’s School of Criminal Justice and one of Velez’s teachers.
“We originally proposed the program to allow the state to tap one of the university’s greatest resources, the students,” said Maxfield. “Students can be drawn from any of the academic disciplines. Once the students graduate, they will be expected to fulfill all the regular requirements for becoming a New Jersey State Trooper.”
Maxfield added that the selection process for the scholarship program is very stringent. Last year, only five honorees received the awards in March of last year.
Velez said that as an intern, he will learn about various aspects of the state police.
“I won’t be functioning as a state police officer,” said Velez. “I’ll be learning what they do.”
Velez already has some firsthand experience with law enforcement. As part of his course Prison Corrections, he and his classmates visited Northern State Prison in Elizabeth and a minimum-security prison in Newark.
“I considered doing corrections work,” said Velez. “But those guys go through a lot and I didn’t want to do that.”
One positive result of Velez’s tour of northern New Jersey prisons was learning about prisoner rehabilitation efforts.
“The focus in the prisons is on rehabilitation of the prisoners,” said Velez. “The system tries to educate the inmates, instead of just locking them away.”
Velez considers himself something of a pioneer, since there is no one else in his family involved in law enforcement. And family is one of the other major reasons Velez wants to join the state police.
“If I join the state police, I can stay in New Jersey, which is important to me,” Velez said. “All of my family is in the New Jersey-New York area.”
Velez sees himself making a career in state police, but knows he has to work hard for it.
“I know that when the smoke clears, I’ll be a state trooper,” Velez stated.