As part of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office Student Internship Program, candidates will have an opportunity to be exposed to and work with sworn officers and support staff doing real law enforcement work with the best equipment and technology the field has to offer.

Students are exposed to many aspects of an accredited, multi-faceted organization. Upon successful completion of the course, the participants walk away with a diverse and unique experience that they can take with them into many different criminal justice careers.

About the Student Internship Program

The Student Internship Program varies in length (depending on your school’s needs) and is designed to enhance learning through the observation of Sheriff Office activities. Students are exposed to various entities during the duration of their internship.

Some of the entities they are exposed to include but not limited to:

• K-9 Unit, Special Response Team, Special Events
• Bureau of Criminal Records (BCI)
• Communications (9-11, Police Dispatcher)
• Administration Division Functions
• Administrative and Operations Division functions
• Sheriff Services (Warrants, Court Services, Civil Process and Sales)
• Somerset County Jail

The Internship Coordinator's Role

The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office Intern Coordinator supervises the internship program and is available to work with college / university intern coordinators in developing the intern program that meets your school's requirements.

The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office Intern Coordinator also:

• Assists the intern with completion of the application for internship
• Monitors the completion of required weekly reports by the intern
• Completes midterm and final evaluations on the for interns as required by their school(s)
• Issues a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the program
• Schedules the intern's placement within the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office during the program.

General Internship Requirements

An applicant must be:

• 18 years or older
• A junior, senior, or graduate student at an accredited college or university
• Majoring in Criminal Justice and interested in a career in law enforcement
• Highly-motivated and ready to broaden their understanding of real law enforcement work
• You must have no felony convictions and have a history of good personal conduct
• And recommended by their faculty advisor

Qualifications:

The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office Internship Program varies in length (according to your school’s needs). The internship / observer program designed to expose the student to the day-to-day functions of the Sheriff Office, Sheriff’s Officers, detective and civilian personnel. You will be assigned to various units throughout the Office and will observe sworn and non-sworn personnel perform their daily duties and assignments.

The Internship Program is not a paid program and can only be done for school credits. The Number of credits you will earn for participating in the internship program is dependent upon your school advisor.

Fill out an application online.

The below information is needed in order to start the application process:

1.  Your current official college transcripts.
2.  A copy of your driver's license and student identification card.
3.  A criminal background check by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office
4.  A letter of recommendation from your school's internship coordinator. If your school does not have an internship coordinator, a letter from an advisor or professor will suffice.

All interns are responsible for their own food
Participant must be a junior or senior at a fully accredited college or university
If the background check result is acceptable then you will be admitted into the program and notified.
If you have any further questions, the Student Internship Coordinator will answer your questions after your submission request.

This software and program were chosen after years of careful research by our Bureau of Criminal Identification. It combines the best available digital fingerprint capture of all fingers with important fields of entry. Our program provides pertinent information on a high-quality photo ID card. This is the ONLY program of its kind. It includes a downloadable APP via QR code at the time of the card's creation to transfer all expanded information to the user. This is in an encrypted format that will then delete ALL information from our system. This information is yours to have or share AS YOU DECIDE.

Visit the VIP page to schedule an appointment and for more information.

Request for Honor Guard

The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard is a group of specially trained officers assigned to present the colors of the United States of America, the State of New Jersey, and the County of Somerset. The Honor Guard is utilized for high ceremonial occasions such as inaugurations, police academy graduations, important addresses by governmental leaders, or solemn occasions where honor is bestowed.  They are involved in a variety of duties that include, but are not limited to posting colors at a ceremony, funeral guard, parades, representatives for memorial services, and many other related events.

If you are requesting services for a funeral or memorial please include who it is for, what agency, what type of services or honors you are requesting, if the deceased was active/reserve/retired law enforcement, if they were previously in the military, if the military will be participating, and if their agency was notified of their death.  Please be as specific and detailed in your request as possible, and please also include the best ways and times to contact you regarding your request.

The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office will make every effort to provide our Honor Guard for your event, depending on date, time and availability of one of our Officers.  We require that you provide us with all the details, including advance notice, so appropriate assignments can be scheduled.  Due to the high volume of requests that we receive, it’s recommended that you make your request three weeks to a month prior to the day of your event. Please keep in mind that the amount of time the Honor Guard can remain at your facility may be limited due to other requests that may have been scheduled for that day.

If you would like to arrange the Somerset County Honor Guard for an event, please complete a request form. Contact Sergeant Adrian Romero with any questions: 908-231-7303 .

Request for K9 Demonstration

The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office will make every effort to provide a K9 Team demonstration for your event, depending on date, time and availability of one of our K9 Teams.  We require that you provide us with all the details, including advance notice, so appropriate assignments can be scheduled. Emergencies arise, and K9 teams may have to cancel any engagement to assist their community or other communities as public safety is our utmost priority. If this occurs, we apologize and another date may be arranged.

These K9 demos are designed to portray the skill involved and the work performed by the K9 teams on a daily basis, plus give both children and adults an opportunity to gain knowledge and ask questions about the K9 Unit. Basic obedience, agility, article search, simulated criminal apprehension and mock narcotic searches can be demonstrated. The one-on-one interaction encourages children to build trust toward officers and to understand the function of a trained police dog. The value of these exhibitions has proved immeasurable for the public. Demonstrations have been provided in schools, senior centers and various community events with professional organizations and law enforcement entities.

A demonstration will consist of an overview of our K9 Unit (names / breeds / ages / origin / specialty), training/motivation, work assignments, home life, retirement, demonstration of specialty, questions / answers,  and distribution of K9 baseball cards.  It is important to understand that our dogs are selected and specially trained for the specific purpose as a working police dog.  They are not genetically intended to possess the same traits as a pet in order to produce a constant desire to work.  It is standard practice for police agencies to not allow the public to “pet” police dogs. 

These K9s are remarkable and provide extraordinary value to the lives of the citizens we serve. Somerset County Sheriff’s Office K9 teams perform approximately 100 demonstrations a year for communities in -our county. The K9 Program continues to promote an atmosphere of community awareness and positive public relations through these K9 demonstrations.  Due to the high volume of requests that the K9 Unit receives, it’s recommended that you make your request three weeks to a month prior to the day of your event. Please keep in mind that the amount of time the K9 Team can remain on your facility may be limited due to other requests that may have been scheduled for that day.

K9 Request forms

• K9 demo in your area, please complete a request form.
• Pre-planned event explosive K9 sweep request form.

Contact Sgt. Shannon Snook with any questions: 908-231-7140 (ext. 7146).