By: Tina Sissoko

Donal Antoine finally fulfilled his childhood dream of being a police officer, and he loves every aspect of it so far. To Antoine, being a police officer was the best decision he has ever made.

Antoine is originally from a little village in Haiti. His family moved to the United States when he was 15 years old. After working multiple customer service jobs, Antoine decided to join the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Before joining the Salt Lake City Police Department, Antoine’s mother, Claudine Baguette, did not agree to him being a part of a group that she says has earned a bad image from the media.

“I kept hearing a lot of talking on TV about these policemen killing innocent people, I don’t want Kozy to be a part of that, I didn’t want him being one of them,” she said, calling Antoine by his nickname.

Antoine also took the police brutality aspect into consideration before making his decision to join the SLCPD. To him, if everyone learned to respect a law officer and simply follow directions without being confrontational, there will not be as much tension between citizens and officers.

“Police officers actually are under a lot of risks throughout the day. We have to be in situations that we don’t know if we are going to come out of alive or dead. People need to understand that we are humans, too, and that we are trained to do a job and protect our communities,” Antoine said.

Antoine mentioned an article by Holly Campeau from the department of Sociology at the University of Toronto that stated, “Robert Reiner (1985) famously summarized the ‘core characteristics’ of police culture. These include descriptors such as conservative, mission-oriented, isolated, masculine, pessimistic and suspicious—and ideal type that has withstood the test of time. Within police studies more broadly, the ‘police culture’ concept is duly invoked to describe both an overarching occupational ethos (e.g. cop code of silence, ‘us versus them’ mentality and the thin blue line) and individual officer typologies (e.g. enforcers, optimists and dirty-harrys).”

When it comes to arresting someone or simply giving a person a ticket, Antoine said there is a lot more that goes into to making the decision as a police officer.

“Before being a police officer, I thought if you didn’t comply or if the officer wanted to prove a point, they can just take you in. Now I see the difference,” he said.

An example Antoine gave was the following: Let’s say someone was stopped for a traffic violation. The officer then takes the driver’s information such as a driver license. The officer then runs the person’s plate to see if the information matches. Antoine says it is somewhat of a “mini” background check.

If the officer sees that you have several traffic tickets, he or she can decide to give you another ticket or give you a simple warning. If the person has a warrant out for any reason, the officer can take the person into the station for processing. A person can also be detained if they are intoxicated, under the influence of any type of drug or if they are out-of-control in public.

Antoine does not plan to leave the Salt Lake City Police Department anytime soon. He would like to eventually move up from his police officer tittle. His ultimate goal is to be a crime investigator.

“I work with an amazing group of people. They are all resourceful, and we look out for one another; this is like a second family to me,” Antoine said. “We are here to protect the community.”
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MY STORIES:

The fine art of fitness

Police officer: It’s time to talk about the good

Josie VanBaest: student-athlete and so much more

Multimedia jornalism

MY BLOG:

The way I like to collect my stories is from the people I meet. I find myself people-watching and wondering what another person’s life is like. I can get myself more involved in a story if I have some sort of personal connection to it.

I got into aerial fitness when a coworker was talking to my friend and me about it. At first, I was skeptical. I thought the same thing that most people think, the only person that would use this skill is a stripper. It took me a long time to try it for myself, but when I did, I realized that it is, in its simplest form, a fun fitness routine.

This is why I chose it as a topic for one of my stories. Finding sources was easy – the best people to source for this story were the girls I go to the studio with. Every single person I have talked to has received some sort of judgment from a family member about this type of fitness. Heck, I even get it myself.

My focus for this story was to write about the positive, to explain why they dress the way they do, and why it’s OK. All of the information I gathered is based on how people feel about the topic. How strongly they feel, how accomplished they feel, and how their family members feel about this hobby. You can find facts almost anywhere on the Internet, but I want to know how people feel about a topic.

The most interesting and easiest way to write about something is if you have an interest in it. And for me, my interest is in people and their daily lives. I want to know why someone loves their workout routine. I want to know why this student drives instead of taking public transportation. I want to know what motivates people to do the things they do every day. That is my type of journalism.

ABOUT ME:

My name is Hailey Fernelius, and I am currently a student at the
University of Utah. I am the typical student who goes to school, works to support myself, and has a hobby. In my spare time, I participate in aerial fitness. This includes silks, hammock hoop and pole dancing. I love it because I can now say that I have some sort of beautiful skill that also keeps my body in shape. Being a student, employee and aerialist keeps my life exciting.

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By Sarah Mecham

SALT LAKE CITY— A location tracker on stolen money led the hunt for an aggravated bank robber to the University of Utah campus on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

After the U.S. Bank was robbed on 2300 East and 2100 South at 5:30 p.m., tracker information on the stolen money located the robber near the Eccles Broadcasting Center on the University of Utah campus.

The University of Utah Police and Eccles Broadcasting Center employees assisted the Salt Lake City Police Department securing campus safety. Because the robber threatened using explosives during the bank robbery, police units immediately secured upper campus and began searching the Eccles Broadcasting Center using K-9 units. According to Salt Lake City Police Detective Richard Chipping, officers cleared the building, searching room-by-room, looking for the suspect and explosives.

Philip Tipus, director of Broadcast Engineering at the Eccles Broadcasting Center, quickly reviewed security camera footage with police.

“I watched him walk around the building, but [he] never entered. But he set something down outside the building. Footage showed the suspect walking southeast toward the TRAX station,” said Tipus.

Chipping stated the police discovered the money-tracking device outside the Eccles Broadcasting Center.

Employees inside the Eccles Broadcasting Center were not initially informed of the situation, but they were rather surprised when armed police “stormed the building,” Tipus said. Employees were concerned for their safety when police officers entered the building with K-9s and visible weapons. Police officers did not respond to questions from Eccles Broadcasting Center employees.

“There is no good answer on what to do each time you enter a room when something is happening. There is no time to stop and communicate when officers are focused on tactics and safety,” Chipping said.

Campus employees and students were notified about the situation via Twitter and a campus safety alert at 6:03 p.m., alerting them of police activity at the Eccles Broadcasting Center “as very dynamic and to avoid the area if possible or secure in place until further notice.” Police released a description of the bank robber as a “white male, dark hair, straw hat with a fake mustache and beard; last seen wearing a black shirt with a tan vest, blue jeans and a fanny pack.”

Student athlete James Barker sat in biology when the campus alert came through. His biology professor proceeded with class, telling her students they were safer sitting on the third floor in Presidents Circle, so they should continue on with class. Shortly after, Barker received a text that all practices and intramural games for the night were cancelled due to the police activity on campus. The McCarthy Athletic field is located directly west of Eccles Broadcasting Center.

 At 7:55 p.m., campus police lifted restrictions to upper campus after they believed the bank robber was no longer on campus and no explosives were found on the premises.

“We located his abandoned car in the Eccles Broadcasting Center parking lot and assumed suspect fled the scene on TRAX,” Chipping said.

Police identified items in the car associated with the bank robbery and then identified the car’s owner as Curtis Crosby.

The next day the suspect, Crosby, age 30, was located in Layton by Layton Police, and transported to the Salt Lake City Police Department for questioning.

Sgt. Garth Smith with the University Police encourages staff and students to immediately call 911 if they see any suspicious or potentially dangerous activities on campus.

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By: Elizabeth Nielson

The secrets of patrolling the Taylorsville community

By: Elizabeth Nielson

Taylorsville has a variety of criminal activity, but the officers in Taylorsville attempt to have their community under control for a safer environment. “I just want to make a change, some for the good and some for the bad,” an officer from the Taylorsville Police Department said. He was granted anonymity because he feared professional repercussions for speaking to the media. It is his duty 24/7 to keep the individuals in Taylorsville safe and comfortable.

The officer was able to talk about his career as a police officer. He explained, “Now, if I get a critical dispatch I will have to leave this conversation without fair warning,” he said. Eleven years ago he decided to pack up his belongings in California and begin his journey as a freshman student at the University of Utah. He graduated within four years with his bachelor’s degree with the anticipation of becoming a police officer.

Becoming a police officer changed his life. The stress and misery led to divorce and leaving behind his two children. His decision left a negative, sorrowful relationship with his kids, but he enjoyed his career more than anything, creating a drastic family separation. Having family problems and regulating citizens to obey the law, he has much to deal with everyday.

According to Police Chief Magazine, law enforcement careers have a higher rate in divorce than any other career. Citizen’s who serve their country and societies are at a higher risk for divorce. Domestic stress, working unusual hours, missing out on family activities, and putting their life at risk are just some reasons for an unhappy marriage. Being in an unhappy marriage may effect how the child is raised. In the officer’s case his child is affected by the divorce and it may have significant influence on the rest of his life. This is an example of a problematic situation for a child, but issues of child rearing can become more severe.

An ongoing investigation in Taylorsville had this officer mortified by the way a 5-year-old boy was treated. The parents of this 5-year-old boy became aggravated by the way he was acting and beat him to death. The officer explaining this horrifying story said, “This is why we don’t like to share stories.” Through personal and social experiences he emotionally and psychically copes by exercising the pain away.

Several topics in the news are related to guns and policemen abusing the system. By having negative standpoints in the media, it didn’t affect the way he considered gun control and officers abusing the system. He expressed that things happen and it’s your own responsibility to learn from them. It doesn’t matter about your race, gender, age or ethnicity. When breaking the law, consequences do happen, said. Once you are in the system, they know who you are and it’s easier to find you.

This officer has had a difficult life so far dealing with an ever-demanding need of protecting his community and tried having a family while doing this.

Work Cited

Westphal, G. (2009). Police Chief Magazine: Enforcement Healthy Marriage and Family Project. Retrieved October 1, 2015

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MY STORIES: 

Talking like a Pirate can save  you from a ticket 

Experience diversity, culture, and service by becoming a humanitarian

The exciting fast paced world of multimedia journalism 

Student Athlete Profile- Anthony Gonzalez 

MY BLOG: 

One class required for the Strategic Communication degree is COMM 1610, Introduction to News Writing. This class has been very educational. I never knew the amount of work that went into news articles until I had to begin writing my own articles. So mad props to journalists– it’s a hard job!

One of my favorite articles that I have written has been the police ride-along. For this article, we had to go on a police ride-along and write an article about the experience. From the get-go, I learned that it is hard to contact the people who you need to talk to. I contacted three different police stations, and two of them did not offer a police ride-along unless you were going to become an officer. The third station I contacted was the Sandy Police Department, and I scheduled the ride-along with them. They were great to work with. Journalists really have to put themselves out there if they want to get good information for their articles.

During the ride-along, I asked a bunch of questions that could possibly form multiple stories, such as a profile on the police officer, or a story generated from the situations we encountered on the ride-along. I chose to incorporate the two together. I wrote about the officer and about some situations we encountered. I chose these two topics to write about because the story about the officer was interesting and the stories he told me about the Sandy Police Department were fascinating. We didn’t encounter very exciting things on the ride-along, so I had to make do with the situations that we did run into. I tried my best to tie them into the story and make the story flow from one topic to the next smoothly.

I learned that it is really hard to not incorporate your own opinion into the story. That was my biggest obstacle in writing this story.

ABOUT ME: 

Hey there! My name is Gabriella Gonzalez, but most people call me Gabby, Gabs, or Gabster. I am an outgoing individual who loves my husband, Anthony, traveling, being with family, and food! You can catch me on the weekends trying out new food places, or at the SoHo food truck park in Holladay, Utah.

My travels have included: Mexico, Italy, Thailand, Japan, and in November 2015, I will travel to Chile to visit my husband’s family. The reason I love traveling is because I believe in being diverse and educated about different cultures. I have learned who I am from my travels. I have learned about who others are. I love trying new foods while in different countries.

The most important thing that I have learned from traveling is learning about other cultures. When you have learned about others and their origins and why they are the way they are, you become more sensitive and understanding towards them!

I am currently a student at the University of Utah. I am studying Strategic Communication, and I am on track to graduate in the spring of 2016. GO UTES!

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MY STORIES:

MY BLOG:

How I decided the topic for my Enterprise Story

I went to a Planned Parenthood panel meeting where I heard interesting view points on women’s health, society, and how it effects different racial and social groups. After that panel I became very interested in doing more research in how Utah chooses to handle their sexual education and how the citizens feel about that.

I located sources through the local government. I contacted both Utah senators, the governor and representatives on the Education Board. These were the best sources, because while many people many have opinions on the policies, these are the elected officials that have the power to change or keep the status quo.

Luckily I didn’t encounter too many moral dilemmas or obstacles. Everyone I talked to was very respectful no matter their opinion.

I decided my focus based on the direction that my interviews went. I had assumptions on what I thought might be important to people, however it actually wasn’t necessarily how the interviews went, so I adapted.

I think one of the interesting details was from Brenna Martinez, the Health Promotion graduate. She has a sister who became pregnant as a teenager. She comments that her sister’s sexual education in school was abstinence only, however that didn’t stop her from having sex. She wishes that she and her sister would have been educated more on safe sex.

Another surprise I had in my interviewing was how the abstinence-only promoters handled my questions. I thought considering the topic, that religion would somehow make its way into the answers some way or another. However, it completely stayed out of the answers, making me pleasantly surprised.

ABOUT ME:

My name is Lindsay Mackay. I am a junior in the Strategic Communication and Campaign Management programs at the University of Utah. My favorite topics are Politics and Current Events. My hobbies include going to the theatre and ballet, traveling, skiing and boating. My goal after graduation is to become a campaign manager.

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