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SERVE AND PROTECT
Law and Public Safety Programs Increase Across the State
By Brad Skelton Visit any area of Mississippi, the United States, or the world as a whole, and you will find a need for law enforcement, fire fighters, military personnel, and other public servants. The safety of our cities and towns rests with these individuals as they patrol, protect, and answer emergency calls. Until recently, high school students could not receive instruction about these rewarding careers. Today, Mississippi school districts can expose students to these careers through a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) program called Law and Public Safety. The need for education in this area is reflected in projected job growth numbers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Law and Public Safety careers are expected to grow 12 CONNECTIONS Fall 2014
Wayne County Career Center student Larrius Henry demonstrates proper handcuffing techniques on classmate Trey Grice. Fellow student Caleb Cascio watches as Instructor John Williams provides direction. by 29.3% in Mississippi and 33.9% nationally by 2020. The largest areas of growth within this sector include security guards, private detectives and investigators, judicial law clerks, paralegals, and forensic science technicians. With this projected growth in mind, development of the program began in 2011. Under the guidance of Myra Pannell, Instructional Design Specialist at the RCU, a taskforce meeting of stakeholders from across the state was convened. The taskforce determined pertinent content to be taught within the course. Pannell said, “To meet the growing need for training and education in the Law and Public Safety career cluster,
we investigated other states’ curricula and programs in Law and Public Safety as well as drew from local needs and concerns to chart the course’s content.” After researching the options available, it was determined that Mississippi would offer a survey course covering many of the Law and Public Safety sectors rather than focusing solely on any single area of the field. In order to develop the curriculum in more detail, a smaller group of stakeholders met at McKellar Technology Center (home of the initial pilot site) in Columbus to discuss unit contents, competencies, and objectives. This content was organized and drafted in an appropriate high-school specific