Criminal Justice student, Madison Miller, is walking into her second year at College of Western Idaho (CWI) differently than she walked into her first.
She is more confident and more assured of the career she wants to pursue. After a summer spent getting firsthand experience with Idaho State Police (ISP), she also has a better idea of what that career could look like.
“Just getting my internship with Idaho State Police has been a huge milestone for me,” Miller said. “That internship really solidified, ‘Yeah, this is where I’m wanting to be at.’”
Miller interned with ISP’s Bureau of Criminal Identification, where she learned about different areas of the agency and saw firsthand how work happening behind the scenes can support officers and the people they serve.
The opportunity started with a conversation after class at CWI.
Miller had been talking with Criminal Justice Adjunct Faculty, Vicki Gooch, about her interest in criminal analysis and her hopes of finding an internship. She originally had another agency in mind, but Gooch — who also works as a detective with ISP — knew of an opportunity with the state agency and encouraged Miller to consider it.
That conversation helped connect Miller with ISP after just her first year at CWI, giving her the early experience in the field she had been looking for.
CWI’s Work-Based Learning Center helped Miller take the next steps, supporting her as she secured the internship and prepared to move from the classroom into a professional setting.
“I wanted to get a feel, get my foot in the door and work on building connections so that people can know who I am,” Miller said. “ISP was the perfect opportunity for me.”
For Miller, the internship was an opportunity to take what she had been exploring through CWI’s Criminal Justice program and see how it applied inside a law enforcement agency.
She scanned and took fingerprints, learned about state registries, and worked with records used to provide information to law enforcement.
“You’re still helping people and officers out on the street while behind doors,” Miller said.
One experience made that especially clear.
Miller helped send an endangered person alert for a missing adult across the state. The work happened behind a computer, but within hours, the person had been found.
The experience showed her how criminal analysis can make an impact from behind the scenes, work that fits her interest in searching for information and figuring out how details connect.
“I like trying to find information and connect the pieces of the puzzle,” Miller said. “I do a lot of escape rooms, so it kind of clicked.”
Miller’s interest in this field took shape during her senior year of high school where she participated in the Nampa Police Department’s Youth Academy to learn more about the work of first responders.
A mock investigation during the academy especially stood out, steering her toward criminal analysis and helping her realize she was more interested in investigative work than becoming an officer.
She came to CWI knowing she was interested in criminal justice but still figuring out exactly where she fit within the field.
“I want to be able to throw myself into an investigation in the future and pick up on details that some have missed and examine a person and their character to help give police some reprieve and a starting point or just being able to assist in a beneficial way.”
Through classes in Introduction to Criminal Justice (CRIJ 101), Introduction to Policing (CRIJ 102), and Introduction to Corrections (CRIJ 104), she has been able to explore different parts of the justice system. She is also taking psychology classes, which she hopes will help her better understand people and human behavior in her future work.
“Being able to read a person, read the room, read the whole demeanor of someone can really change how you respond to them,” Miller said.
With backgrounds in criminal justice, law enforcement, and corrections, Miller’s instructors bring their professional experiences into the classroom, helping her understand how what she is learning applies to the work happening in the field.
“They have real-world experience,” Miller said. “They know what they’re talking about.”
That experience has helped Miller connect what she learns in class to work happening beyond it. An assignment in Introduction to Law and Justice (CRIJ 103), for example, sent her to court to observe proceedings firsthand, while conversations with her instructors have introduced her to different career possibilities.
Her internship expanded those possibilities even further. Miller met people throughout ISP and learned about jobs she had not known existed. Of those possibilities, criminal analysis stood out as work she could picture herself pursuing, whether with Idaho State Police or, one day, at the federal level.
Miller plans to earn associate degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology at CWI before transferring to a four-year institution to pursue a bachelor’s degree. As she continues her education, she is building on what she learned in the classroom and the experience she gained at ISP.
Explore careers that make a difference in your community through the Public Safety pathway at CWI.
