I won't tell you everything, but here's a long introduction... my name is Scott and I am a functional member of society. At least I try to be. A few short years ago, I was among the nation's college students just recently inducted into the real world after I graduated from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). I have been enthralled with
law enforcement and other police-related stuff for quite a long time. After college, I worked for a couple years as a Police/Fire Telecommunicator (TC) and also as a Court Services Officer at a Juvenile Detention Center. After several years of completing applications and tests, I graduated in crime-fighting and became a police officer... which incidentally I plan on continuing until retirement.
Fire up the flux capacitor (name that movie) and we'll take a trip into the past... in May 1998, I obtained my Associate's degree in Criminal Justice from Parkland College (in Champaign, IL). I then later received my Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from good ol' UIUC. College years were great... I had a blast with friends and without consuming mass quantities of alcohol (yes, it is possible!), met the lovely lady who would become my wife, and determined the career that I wanted to pursue.
I got ideas for this page back in 1996 by surfing the net and discovering that there were certain topics that I wanted to see more of on the net than anything else... at the time they were Lowriders, The Dukes of Hazzard (namely the General Lee), and Police stuff. The page has evolved greatly since then, with tons of other stuff added through the years. I learned of Geocities in early '96 from someone else's page and established my own homepage, although I had no idea what I was doing at the time. I taught myself to write HTML from all the resource guides out there on the net and here we are!
A great life with my wife Heather, who was in the Illini Drumline with me for two years. Coincidence? Maybe....
Secondary loves of my life, my 1969 Pontiac Executive and 1998 Pontiac Bonneville SLE.
Past involovement in the Marching Illini Drumline (a section of the U of I's kick-butt marching band).
My working ways then moved to the big town as I started a job at Office Depot, the national office supply chain. I began as a stockboy, but difficulties with certain managers (is there a pattern here?) slowly moved me to Customer Service, which I discovered to be much more enjoyable. I became a lead cashier after awhile and started closing and opening the store, stuff like that. When I realized that I was quite underpaid for my duties (aren't we all?) and that it wasn't going to change, I decided to end it. That was in mid-October of 1995.
A new store had opened a few blocks away, a leader in home electronics, nothing other than Circuit City (where service is state
of the art... I don't know their newest slogan.) That may be a little excessive, but I do have a loyalty to my former employer! And I take every chance I can get to
belittle the competitor that never provided much competition...um, what's it called? Best Try, Worst Buy, something like that! =) Anyway, I began at Circuit City in sales, just in time for the bustling holiday shoppers of Christmas 1995. I got paid from commission by selling products, as opposed to hourly wages. After Christmas however, I, to put it bluntly, was canned. From sales, that is.
My destiny awaited me at the Customer Service desk once again, where I worked for more than two years. The employee discount I got on merchandise probably saved me thousands, but the time came for me to move on from Circuit City in January 1998.
That next job milestone was my exit from retail customer service. My next job was...get this...actually related to my studies in Criminal Justice and my career interest in policework. I worked for the University of Illinois Police Department on Student Patrol. During my SP career, I was promoted twice and eventually supervised one of three "teams" of 12-15 other student workers. Student Patrol kept me busy for a few more years, assisting U of I police officers by being "extra eyes and ears." We would watch for suspicious activities, and always patrol heavily when the bars closed and the crowds of stupid drunk people were stumbling all over the place! On the weekends we responded to loud party complaints, and also worked other security details (for football/basketball games, concerts, and other events on campus). It was a great job for me, and I was able to stay with the UIPD on Student Patrol through the remainder of my college career. That chapter of my employment closed in May 2000 when I graduated, and from there I moved into the real world . . .
While working as a TC (mentioned above), I applied and tested for various police officer openings in the area. I got real close to getting hired more than once, but was passed over each time for often unknown reasons. The ups and downs of job-searching were frustrating, but it made me realize that I definitely wanted to stick it out to become a police officer.
Finally my journey came to a conclusion, and shortly after 9/11/01 I was called in for a final interview by my current employer. I was hired and attended the Basic Law Enforcement academy at my alma mater... the University of Illinois Police Training Institute. BLE #1967, baby! And hence, the dream became a reality; I'm not a cop on TV, but I do play one in real life. =) Now I again live in a small town (even smaller than Mahomet) with my family, and have no complaints about it. Are happy endings great?!