DUBOIS – Faculty in the Penn State DuBois Administration of Justice program are advising the public that students will conduct a door-to-door survey from 10:45 a.m. until 12 p.m. Feb. 5, as a class assignment.
Specifically, students will visit residents in the Oklahoma area of Sandy Township. They will be supervised by a faculty member who will also provide transportation in a university-owned van.
Faculty wish to notify residents that may encounter this group that this is a legitimate class exercise.
As part of the “Criminal Justice and the Community” course, students will ask residents to complete a short questionnaire in order to better understand the public’s perception of law enforcement.
“Thus far, the students have found out that the local community has a favorable perception of the police and would like the police to interact more with the community,” said Lecturer of Administration of Justice Selena Price.
“This assignment will show the community that their local community members care about their perceptions and want to possibly provide viable solutions to their concerns.”
Price noted that increased interaction between law enforcement and community can help make the community a better place in which to work and live.
Students will complete community projects later in the semester to help facilitate such interactions. Price hopes to see more efforts like an event last year, “Discussion and Donuts with the DuBois City Police”, when city police opened their department to have a town meeting.
Officers also discussed their everyday duties that residents may not be aware of.
