GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Students at the Kent Career Technical Center are getting a firsthand look at what Homeland Security Investigations does in a program that's the first of its kind in Michigan.
"I love law enforcement, especially working with Homeland. That's just something that's crazy. Like you always see Homeland on the TV, but it's always nice working with people that can teach you a lot of things," Comstock Park High School junior Victoria Glindo, who participates in KCTC's criminal justice program, said.
KCTC offers trade and technical classes to juniors and seniors from schools in Kent County, including public, private and home school. From practicing interrogations and executing search warrants to learning about the judicial process, the 130 high school students in the criminal justice program are exposed to law enforcement before they even get to college.
This year, they're being put to the test on another level as KCTC partners with HSI. Students participate in simulations that reflect enact real-world situations. HSI special agents play the suspects in real cases that were federally prosecuted and give students feedback as they practice.
"Where were you coming from and where were you going to? Get him back on track, don't let him give you what you know is a fabricated story," a special agent advised one student during a mock interrogation.
"It's all kind of a game. You're just trying to get the information out of them and they're trying to hide it. But it's just about outsmarting the subject and stuff like that," Byron Center High School junior Gavin Bronkema told 24 Hour News 8.