Cooper Christner experienced quite a year in 2024, earning his Southwestern Michigan College criminal justice degree, presenting a paper at the American Sociological Association conference in Montreal, finishing police academy and becoming a road officer with the Baroda-Lake Township Police Department in Berrien County.

He’s 19.

The 2023 Berrien Springs High School graduate knew he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who’s going on 20 years with the hometown Berrien Springs Oronoko Township Police Department.

“I knew I wanted to go into law enforcement since I was little,” he said. “I saw how much my father was a helping hand to the community.”

Christner’s research essay for Dr. Barbara Karwacinski’s SOCI 201 class, “Help Me Grow! Pursuit of Happiness at the Workplace Through the Lenses of Generation Z,” earned him a coveted spot in the prestigious ASA 2024 Honors Program last August.

Out of more than 2,000 national and international applications, only 30 students are selected each year.

Christner presented alongside peers from Harvard, UCLA and Texas Tech.

“It was a little intimidating. I was out of my element,” he said. “Honestly, sociology was the one class I was nervous to take. I didn’t even know  what the word meant going in. It opened a new lane for me.

“But her class really grabbed my eye. Sociology and criminal justice aren’t the same thing, but they look through the same lens almost in being able to analyze why people do what they do in a community,” said Christner, who took most of his classes at the Niles campus.

“I’m not one to wear a suit, so it was a little weird dressing up nice to go to a conference,” accompanied by Karwacinski and Criminal Justice Director Dr. Donald Ricker.

Ricker “is a great instructor,” Christner said. “He’s got a lot of experience to teach criminal justice. He makes it more relatable for students and makes them want to go into it for a career. It’s not a paper/pen class, it’s interactive and you talk about real-word things instead of hypotheticals.”

Before joining SMC in 2014, Ricker served as a patrol officer, criminal investigator and probation counselor in the Houston, Texas, area. In addition, he taught criminal justice and sociology in New Mexico, Ohio and Michigan.

“Professor Dr. Don Ricker is an exemplary educator who is making a profound impact on his students' lives. Through his dedication, passion and innovative teaching approaches, he is not only imparting knowledge but also inspiring and empowering students to reach their fullest potential,” said Karwacinski, who chairs the Social Sciences Department.

“I feel incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to work with the students at SMC. They continue to amaze me every day, and after more than 20 years, I still find myself in awe. What I love most is watching our students grow and spread their wings. It is incredible to see how intelligent, dedicated and goal-oriented they are, especially the young people at our college. Their drive and potential are truly inspiring. Cooper’s determination and work ethic are remarkable. He is such an amazing young man, and I have no doubt he will continue to impress everyone around him.”

“I had a fulltime job as a sophomore,” he said, “so I really wanted to focus my paper on how the workplace looks through the lens of someone so young and how that can develop a work-life balance for our generation. SMC is the only community college inducted into the (ASA).”

“I started working at the Berrien County Youth Fair as a maintenance worker. By the time I graduated, I applied for the supervisor job and they made me in charge of the entire maintenance crew at only 18. I had shown that I could do everything that needed to be done.”

Christner’s pace through school was hastened by Early Middle College, a partnership between SMC and select schools that lets students earn a full associate degree (60+ credits).

“It was a big convenience not to have to pay for any college at all,” Christner said. He liked another partnership SMC had, the Ferris State University bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He expects to add that credential at some point.

“My dad didn’t really want me to become a police officer,” Christner said. “He tried to talk me out of it. I was persistent and wouldn’t back down.” His older brother is an AEP lineman.

“It’s a very competitive market. Everybody’s hiring but fewer want to do the job,” Christner said. “At Baroda we have take-home cars, so it’s different from pretty much every department other than the state police. I drive a police car to my station (on Shawnee Road near Bridgman, about a 15-minute commute from home in Berrien Springs) and do any training I have to do online.

“I don’t have a given patrol route. We don’t get a ton of calls in my jurisdiction. Because of that, we’re able to do traffic control and be proactive in a way you can’t at a busy department, going from call to call. I’m able to do a ton of traffic stops and public interactions and when you get a call, you respond.”

Employment of police and detectives is projected to grow 4 percent from 2023 to 2033, about as fast as the average for all occupations. About 63,000 openings for police and detectives are projected each year, on average, over the decade.

That's a recent sign of strong demand for police officers, because from 2022 to 2023 the average salary for policing jobs rose by roughly 8 percent as police departments tried hard to make the role more attractive after suffering a recruitment and retention crisis.

The health care industry is still the leading job creator, though law enforcement is seeing some momentum.

Police departments and sheriff’s offices across America are clamoring for new recruits after grappling with a sharp drop in applicants and a wave of retirements after George Floyd’s 2020 murder.

“If you talk to kids in lower elementary schools, they all want to become police officers,” he said. “By high school, people who want to become police officers are fewer and farther between. It’s not glamorous like TV shows make it out to be. The stuff on TV you’ll probably never see in your career.

“A lot of students say they want to be forensic investigators because they saw a TV show. Then they go through some CJ classes and learn that’s not what it is and they switch. To be a detective is not as easy as people think. It’s not a job you get. It’s a job you earn.”