Law Enforcement Mentoring Program
The Law Enforcement Mentoring Program was established to facilitate and foster diversity in law enforcement for our communities and to provide support and resources to assist candidates for these important careers. The program provides participants with important information on a variety of topics, resources, and support processes to prepare prospective candidates for law enforcement job opportunities.
Junior Police Academy & Legal & Investigative Internships
Multiple departments in Gloucester County run their own Junior Police Academies every summer. Juveniles are considered cadets and are given a uniform to wear every day. The Office of the Gloucester County Prosecutor offers unpaid internships to both college and law students during the summer and academic year. Our internship program is designed to maximize the students’ involvement with the criminal justice system in Gloucester County.
Junior Police Academy
For local kids curious about law enforcement, our police departments have come up with a way to give them a taste of what the police academy is like. Multiple departments in Gloucester County run their own Junior Police Academies every summer. The juveniles will be considered cadets are given a uniform to wear every day. The Junior Police Academy consists of physical training, lectures, presentations, hands on activities and a field trip. The Junior Police Academy culminates with a graduation for each Basic class. The Junior Cadets will learn how to march and work together as squads. Cadets will learn the importance of being physically fit, staying drug free, teamwork and respect.
Legal & Investigative Internships
The Office of the Gloucester County Prosecutor offers unpaid internships to both college and law students during the summer and academic year.
Our internship program is designed to maximize the students’ involvement with the criminal justice system in Gloucester County. Undergraduate interns will rotate between different units in the office and attend lectures and field trips, while legal interns will assist with cases by performing various tasks under the supervision of our Assistant Prosecutors.
Requirements:
All legal interns must be enrolled in an ABA accredited Law School and pursing a law career.
All undergraduate interns must be enrolled in an accredited College or University during their internship and enrolled in an internship class.
To apply, all candidates must submit a résumé and cover letter. A writing sample will be optional for legal interns, while all undergraduate candidates will be required to conduct a (1) one page writing assignment. Candidates will be contacted with the topic and requirements after their résumé and cover letter are received.
All eligible candidates must participate in an oral interview process.
Upon successful completion of the selection process, each intern will be required to successfully pass a background investigation and drug screening.
Background investigations will be assigned to a detective with a four-week deadline for completion. No intern is allowed to participate prior to their background investigation being completed and submitted to the assigned supervisor in charge of background investigations.
The following deadlines will be strictly enforced to ensure adequate time to complete the interview process and the intern’s background:
- Résumé and cover letter due no later than July 15th
- Résumé and cover letter due no later than October 15th
- Résumé and cover letter due no later than March 15th
All interns will be required to attend orientation which will be scheduled prior to the interns’ first week. Orientation will include an overview of the criminal justice system and the policies and rules of the office including the following: harassment in the workplace; policy training; code of conduct; dress code; internet policy; COVID-19 protocols; and liability waivers while participating in the program.
Each intern will be given a Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office ID badge/lanyard which must always be worn when the intern is inside the building or representing this agency outside of the office.
Each Intern must be checked through security prior to entering the office each day.
Units:
- Crime Scene Unit
- Major Crimes Unit
- Victim/Witness Unit
- High Tech Crimes Unit
- Special Victims Unit
- Trial Team
- Juvenile
- Special Victims Unit
- Recovery Court
- Appeals
- Major Crimes Unit
- Gangs, Guns, and Narcotics
- Domestic Violence
The unit supervisor assigned to each respective unit or his/her designee will be required to supervise the intern and provide an overview of the unit to the student. Each semester all unit supervisors will be provided with a schedule with the name and dates of the intern(s) who will be assigned to their unit. Every intern will be provided with a daily schedule log which will be approved and signed by the intern coordinator.
Legal interns may work under the guidance and supervision of a designated Assistant Prosecutor mentor at the discretion of the legal intern coordinator for the purposes of a more specialized learning experience.
A written evaluation form will be provided to each supervisor. The unit supervisor will complete an evaluation for each intern and provide the same to the Internship Program Coordinator. The evaluation will enable the Internship Program Coordinator to complete the student’s final evaluations, which is required by the interns’ college/university.
In the event that an intern suffers an injury or has a complaint, it should be immediately reported in writing to the Internship Program Coordinator.
Assignments/Field Trips:
• Interns may accompany detectives on investigations upon the condition that they are of a non-prosecutable nature. These investigations may include suicides and other unattended death incidents. Interns are never permitted to accompany detectives on investigations that may be prosecutable, as the intern becomes a witness.
• Visit the laboratory with a detective or evidence officer. However, interns are never permitted to handle evidence of prosecutable incidents.
• Attend training classes and seminars.
• Completing a small portion of the program at a partnered Police Department within Gloucester County.
• Attend Superior and Municipal Court.
• Visit the Salem County Jail.
• Visit the Gloucester County Law Enforcement Museum.
• Visit the Gloucester County Emergency Response Center.
• Any other activity approved by the county prosecutor and/or chief or detectives.
• Conduct legal research on various matters.
• Draft legal memos and/or briefs on various issues.
• Observe various court proceedings including but not limited to the following: sentencing hearings; Criminal Justice Reform hearings; motions; trials; etc.
• Review and draft memo on audio/video recordings.
• Assist in preparing the Office’s brief bank by confirming law relied upon in briefs is still good law.
• As per R. 1:21-3(b), 3rd year law students may appear on the court record under the supervision of an Assistant Prosecutor. As such, 3rd year students will be given the opportunity to conduct Criminal Justice Reform hearings, Final Extreme Risk Protection Order hearings, Municipal and Superior Court appeals, Central Judicial Processing, or other matters approved by their supervisor.
• Any other activity approved by the supervising Assistant Prosecutor.
Completion of the Program:
All interns must complete their internship prior to the start of the next semester of the selected interns reporting for orientation unless permission is granted by the Internship Program Coordinator to continue.
At the time of exit, all Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office ID badges/lanyards must be returned to the Internship Program Coordinator.
The Internship Program Coordinator will be responsible for submitting all necessary documentation and evaluation forms for successful completion of the program.
