Charlotte Student Rangers Boost The Network Connections That Lead To Success
By TENILLE DELLINGER
The UNC Charlotte Community Services Student Rangers program gives students an opportunity unlike any other on UNC Charlotte’s campus. No matter their career aspirations, rangers gain experience by working closely with Police and Public Safety officers — even sharing a dispatch radio system.
The 11 student rangers in this semester’s cohort roam campus daily, seeking opportunities to help ensure the safety of our community. Their purpose: Serve and protect this great campus.
The rangers provide an array of services to the community, while learning about the law enforcement profession. The program shapes their futures and sets them up for career success.
Led by Sgt. Jerry Lecomte, the Community Services Student Rangers program was established in fall 2023 as an extension of the community policing division of the Department of Police and Public Safety. The program, which provides paid student opportunities, is aimed at bridging the gap between the sworn, uniformed police officers and the campus community, and gives students valuable, real-world, hands-on experience.
The rangers serve in a “hands-off” position, meaning they support the police officers, but don’t carry weapons. They undergo training, but not as extensive as that of a sworn officer. Nor do they have a sworn police officer’s authority. The radios they carry connect to dispatch, and they can respond to assist officers with certain tasks. The rangers patrol campus on foot, and serve the community by providing necessary services such as safety escorts, directing traffic, jump starting vehicles and performing safety checks of buildings, walkways and parking areas.
In just two years since the program launched, former student rangers are sharing amazing success stories. Some have become Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers; one works for the University’s Department of Safety and Security; and three former rangers are enrolled in basic law enforcement training and plan to join the University’s Police and Public Safety team upon completion. Some current rangers also hope to join the campus police department after they graduate.
That said, not all student rangers aim to pursue law enforcement careers. The current cohort is working toward degrees in criminal justice, political science, finance and computer science, and plan careers as police officers, lawyers, FBI agents, cybersecurity specialists and more.
The program serves as a building block for gaining valued experience that supports a number of careers.