ABOVE: Thea Anderson, a Martin County West graduate, is interning this summer with the Fairmont Police Department/Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

FAIRMONT–The Fairmont Police Department/Martin County Sheriff’s Office internship program continues this summer with Thea Anderson. Anderson started her role with the agencies in early June and will finish up in August.

The program was established around 2010 and aims to show area students interested in criminal justice the ins and outs of the field. Since it started, there has been one if not two interns every summer.

While different officers have taken the lead on the program, it’s currently under the guidance of Parker Stevens, who was an intern himself in 2019.

Several people showed interest in this year’s program but ultimately Anderson was selected. She is a 2023 graduate of Martin County West High School and thanks to an accelerated track she’s been on, she’s almost done with her schooling at Iowa Lakes Community College.

“I’ve only had to do one year even though it’s a two year program because I took a lot of college classes in high school and I also did an overload of credits that could be done early,” Anderson explained.

She said that her interest is maybe not in law enforcement as much as it is in the broader field of criminal justice.

“There’s a lot of options. You can go anywhere and everyday you go to work in the criminal justice field, it’s going to be different. That’s why I like it,” Anderson said.

It’s worth noting that her older sister, Shaylynn, was an intern in the program in 2022. Now she works at the Sherburn/Welcome Police Department.

As for why Anderson wanted to do the internship herself, she said in addition to hearing of her sister’t positive experience, she was undecided whether or not she wanted to do law enforcement or work on the corrections side.

“I wanted to do this internship to see what it was like,” Anderson said.

Stevens said he knows Anderson also likes how much the internship covers, which includes probation, the country attorney, records and dispatch. She’s gotten to ride along with not just the police department but the sheriff’s office and a state trooper.

“She gets to cover everything to see what piques her interest and that’s the goal of the internship– ideally we want them to come back and work for us but it also let’s them decide that maybe they don’t want to be a cop but they want to do something in corrections or probation. No matter what we just want to see them succeed,” Stevens said.

He pointed out that, especially in a smaller community, the departments work together so ultimately everyone wants a good person who will be part of the team.

Not only is Anderson gaining experience, she’s also getting credits for her degree.

“It’s a summer class called field experience. I have to get 240 hours of field experience– anything in criminal justice. I’m already at 230 hours so far,” Anderson said.

She’s expected to graduate on July 26 but wants to continue with the internship through August in order to gain experience. Specifically she’d like to stay on and help out at the Martin County Fair which Stevens said is welcome since they’re always in need of additional hands and eyes to make sure everything runs smoothly for the big event.

So far Anderson said she’s enjoyed the ride alongs and had a good time with the sheriff’s office.

“Deputy Luis Figueroa was really supportive when we talked about law enforcement and pursuing a career in it. Plus, he has a K9 named Bruno which is something that sparks my interest when it comes to law enforcement,” Anderson said.

Figueroa is another member of a local department who went through the internship program before coming on full-time after finishing schooling.

After she’s done with the program and her schooling, Anderson is unsure of what she wants to do so she’s keeping her options open. She said she would definitely like to stay in the local community.

“It’s been a good experience and it’s helping me understand what I want to do in the future and whether or not I want to take the next steps to become a police officer,” Anderson said.