Joe Long ’25

It’s not every day a student gets to learn while riding alongside a police officer in their squad car. But for Joe Long, a first-generation college student at Pitt-Bradford who’s studying criminal justice, this has become part of his routine.

Long, of Cuba, N.Y., is currently interning with the Olean City Police Department, where he spends up to 10-hour shifts on ride-alongs, gaining firsthand insight into what it’s like to be a police officer.

Working both day and night shifts, Long has seen a wide range of situations. From fast-paced, high-intensity encounters to the more routine work of patrolling and paperwork, Long has become close with the officers he shadows and has learned a lot about the profession.

“I’m really getting as much knowledge out of those guys as I possibly can,” Long said.

Along with his internship, Long is gaining valuable knowledge and skills in his coursework. In courses such as Special Topics in Policing, he’s gotten an eye-opening and raw look into the realities of policing.

As part of that course, students enter the Crime Scene Investigation House and are exposed to the sound of gunfire from blank rounds and are taught how to secure a crime scene and collect evidence, such as fingerprints, hair and fibers, and cast tire and footprint impressions.

“It's pretty surreal,” Long said. “It doesn't really hit you until you have an experience like that, that this is the career field that you're going into.”

Long says his coursework has prepared him well for his internship and future career, as has the advice and instruction of criminal justice professors like Dr. Tony Gaskew and Dr. Obinna Paschal Ezeihuoma.

“Dr. Gaskew is not only a great person to know because of the connections he has in the field,” Long said, “but he has a lot of wisdom to share and knowledge to give.”

And Dr. Ezeihuoma “is such a great person. It's hard not to want to show up to one of his classes, because he is also very knowledgeable…and there's never a dull moment in his classes.”

Long is focused on becoming a police officer and making a difference in the communities he will serve, which he finds the most rewarding about the job.