SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The death of Sacramento Police Officer Tara O'Sullivan reintroduced the Sacramento community to the program that helped start her law enforcement career.
O’Sullivan was studying child development at Sacramento State University before joining the school’s Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars (LECS) program.
She was in the first graduating class to head towards working at the Sacramento Police Department. She and her cohorts trained and learned what it meant to be a police officer while pursuing their bachelor’s degree.
The LECS program provides a pathway for students at Sacramento State to gain leadership skills, prepare for a job in law enforcement, and understand how to connect with and commit to a community.
Students start the program in their junior year of college with workshops and courses that train them in career development, leadership and criminal justice. In the students' senior year, they start an internship or perform duties with a law enforcement agency before they graduate and head towards the police academy of their choosing.
Shelby Moffat, a professor at Sacramento State and former Sacramento police officer, designed the program to better prepare potential candidates for all of the challenges a job in law enforcement could entail.
“We want to make sure that each one of these young men and women is responsible, capable, and prepared," Moffatt told ABC10.
LECS is in partnership with the Sacramento Police Department and the California Highway Patrol.
Sacramento State students can apply for the Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars program on the school's website.