Reichenberg learns forensics with PCSO

Perkins County High School student Kayla Reichenberg is working with the Perkins County Sheriff’s Office as part of the internship program the school offers.

Reichenberg has been placed with the sheriff’s office to learn about forensic sciences, as well as the ins and outs of local law enforcement.

Though she can’t pinpoint an exact time in her life when she realized she had an interest in forensics, but said she has always been a very curious person and she enjoys problem solving.

TV shows focusing around law enforcement and forensics intrigued Reichenberg and made her consider the field as a future career.

She said she wants her curiosity and problem-solving abilities to be put to good use by becoming a forensic scientist.

While interning with the sheriff’s office, Reichenberg has had the opportunity to learn a variety of things regarding to local law enforcement and how they operate.

She has been able to ride along with local officers to learn what they do, where they go, how they patrol, what they look for when patrolling and more.

She has also worked in dispatch communications with Karen Harris and Deitrik Brueggeman, where she has learned about the questions they ask when in a call, how they respond to calls and even how the firearm permit process works.

Reichenberg said there has been quite a bit of memorization required of her, such as knowledge of the 10 codes and the phonetic alphabet.

As the year progresses, Reichenberg hopes to move more into learning about the forensic science area of the job.

So far, Reichenberg finds the job to be interesting, and she has enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about how the sheriff’s office as a whole runs.

Part of the new changes to the school’s internship program is for students and their supervisors to have goals set for the students’ education while interning with a local business.

Reichenberg’s goals are to learn to better understand the department as a whole and learn the steps to become a forensic scientist. 

She hopes the experience will help her be able to learn and take in as much as she can to apply toward her future career goals.

Reichenberg’s supervisor, Sheriff Jim Brueggeman, said she has done a very good job during her time with the sheriff’s office. He believes she has been able to learn the full aspect of what is done at the office by working with communications and law enforcement.

“She has adapted well and she is learning what it is that we do here,” Brueggeman said.

Working with the sheriff’s office, she said, has helped her narrow down what she would like to do as a career within the forensic sciences. Being a first responder is now a career that Reichenberg has found she is interested in because of the program.

The internship has also helped her learn more about what law enforcement does within the community, and she feels it has helped her learn to analyze things better, a skill that will come in handy in forensics.

“It’s definitely a new experience. I never fully knew what the people here did and now I get to learn that and fully understand what they do and how much work it actually takes to work within the sheriff’s department,” Reichenberg noted.

She does plan to attend college after high school, though she hasn’t definitively selected a school yet. 

She is looking at Chadron State, and plans to eventually move to a larger community where more forensic science opportunities will be available to her.

“I’m very glad the school gave us this opportunity,” Reichenberg said. “It’s a very great chance for students to be able to learn new things and help them pursue their dream jobs, so I think it’s just about really nice that the school offered this to us.”