Whether it’s helping find a lost dog, or responding to a domestic incident, every day is different for a police officer, which the Panora Police Department teaches to high school students.

Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center Senior Will Byars has been interning for the Panora Police Department, spending an hour each school day shadowing Chief Matt Reising and officers Rock Armstrong and Taylor Wheatley. Byars is interested in working in law enforcement and has already taken college-credit courses in criminal justice. He shares what the internship has involved, “(I) Pulled over a couple people, got to work a couple cases, take pictures of some cars and stuff like that and Matt says this is the boring part of the day and it can be sometimes but sometimes it’s really fun and some days you just have to keep your eye out for stuff.”

Chief Reising says some interns may expect police work to be like what you see in action movies, but it’s important to show them the realities of the job, “It’s actually good for them to see the amount of paperwork and time that you have to spend in the office as well because that is going to be a reality anywhere. Even with a bigger department more likely you’re going to be doing more paperwork than we do here.”

Reising adds he has enjoyed having Byars as an intern. You can hear more from Reising and Byars during today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program as part of National Police Week.