STUDENTS STEP UP TO PROTECT, SERVE.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

Inspired by the heroics of the New York firefighters and police officers last Sept. 11 - and hoping to secure a solid job with good pay and benefits - students are flocking to justice and security-management classes at local community colleges.

``Since 9-11, security has just been going through the rafters,'' said Rudy De La Torre, chairman and project director for the administration-of- justice program at Mission College. ``People are now obtaining personal bodyguards, there's more to the home security system. ... At businesses, there are more security arrangements to make sure no one can enter or exit without being known or seen.''

Students, too, are searching for a well-paying career that gives them a sense of personal satisfaction. And many of them are finding that law enforcement meets their needs.

``Students are looking for a job that's exciting and that they feel they could be part of the community,'' said Charles ``Buck'' Stapleton, a Pierce College instructor and discipline committee chairman for the administration-of-justice programs in the nine-member Los Angeles Community College District.

Besides becoming police officers, students can go on to good careers as dispatchers, sky marshals and corrections officers.

Jennifer Payne hopes to turn her administration-of-justice major at Los Angeles Valley College into a career as a crime-scene investigator. The 29-year-old Granada Hills woman said her on-campus job with campus security has reinforced her career choice.

``I just want to make my son proud,'' said Payne, who wore the light-blue uniform shirt of a cadet. ``Showing up (at school) to pick him up in uniform is a big deal. All of his friends say, 'Oh, look, your mommy is a police officer!'''

At California State University, Northridge, interest in criminal-justice courses was on the rise even before last year's terrorist strikes. While the university doesn't offer a specific degree in that subject, students can earn a bachelor of arts degree in sociology with an emphasis in criminal justice.

At Valley College, student interest in criminal justice is soaring but the Valley Glen campus can't offer more courses because of state budget woes, said Al Hutchings, chairman of the emergency services department at Valley, which oversees the corrections, fire technician, emergency medical technician and administration-of-justice programs.

``Look at my enrollments: I have 50, 60 students in a class, but they won't give me any more sections,'' he said, adding that about half of the students are women. ``I need more classrooms! I will have students standing up in the back of my classes.''

Pierce College in Woodland Hills started offering a single administration-of-justice course three years ago after Los Angeles Police Department recruiters came to campus and were astonished to find that the institution didn't offer any administration-of-justice classes.

This fall, it will offer five, including ``Concepts of Criminal Law'' and ``Principles and Procedures of the Justice System.''

Mission College in Sylmar is offering two new courses, ``Security Management'' and ``Introduction to Guard Force Administration'' this fall, and will offer ``Private Investigation'' next semester, followed by ``Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design'' and ``Legal Aspects of Security Law'' next spring.

The college hopes to attract retired police and military officers looking to move into security management as well as security professionals who want to upgrade their skills or get promoted.

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Valley College administrative justice majors Mindy Turner, left, and Jennifer Payne practice fingerprinting techniques under the supervision of adviser Deputy Randy Tuinstra.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer