Anthony Deutsch of Shabbona, Illinois, completes summer internship with Illinois State Police

2017 Aug 7

Anthony Deutsch is a senior at Olivet Nazarene University, majoring in criminal justice, from Shabbona, Illinois. During summer 2017, he completed an internship with the Illinois State Police. Following are some of his reflections and experiences.

My internship with the Illinois State Police was a great opportunity and experience. My assignment was to District 15, which covers the Illinois Tollway (I-88, I-355, I-294, I-94 and I-90). More specifically, District 15 troopers patrol all 292 miles of interstate tollways in 12 counties in northern Illinois and the seven Oases.

I rode with different troopers in Zone 1 (I-88), Zone 5 (I-355) and Zone 2 (I-294). I shadowed the troopers' every move and approached the vehicles with them. I helped them write tickets and warnings, search vehicles for various things and conduct field sobriety tests. I even assisted with field reports on crashes and DUIs. After some traffic stops, I also dispatched out our disposition to every trooper and the radio room.

During my internship, I experienced a lot more than I thought I would. I learned a lot of new statutes, as well as how troopers find violations, and how the radar and LIDAR work. I also attended the shooting range, training classes, court appearances, traffic accident reconstructions and truck inspections. I sat in communications for a day, listening to dispatch and the call takers, and seeing what is happening behind the scenes.

I worked each shift: mornings (7 a.m. - 3 p.m.), evenings (3 p.m. - 11 p.m.) and midnights (11 p.m. - 7 a.m.). Each shift is different regarding how the trooper works and violations the trooper is looking for. My favorite shift was evenings because really anything can happen - arrests, DUIs, traffic violations, crashes, etc. Each trooper I worked with has been a great help and answered all my questions. I learned something new from each trooper and observed how each trooper works differently.