Jay Suarez, a junior at George Mason University, brought an interesting background to his CINA Scholar 2021 summer internship with the U.S. DHS Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans (OSPP).
As early as high school, Jay Suarez had taken courses that revolved around criminal justice systems, even participating in internships with Fairfax County Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as part of the first ever simulation experiment (SIMEX) which included law enforcement and medical health professionals from across the nation.
“This CINA Scholar summer internship helped me better understand how the different DHS components work together, especially in policy making, revealing the policy gaps to make sure we are doing everything we can for the people,” Suarez explained.
Suarez plans to leverage his education as a psychology major and his research analytic skills as well as experience within the public safety sector to provide a blended understanding of the mind and criminal justice.
“I really learned how to collaborate with my partner, how to mine opensource data and present our findings through discussions with the various components and the strategic policy team at DHS,” Suarez added. For someone with a goal of working for DHS in the future, this experience with OSPP was invaluable.