Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a police officer? Maybe you are curious if you can handle the demands of the profession. Perhaps you were assigned a ride-along for one of your classes. It does not matter what your reasons are for wanting to experience a day in the life of a police officer, you are welcome to join us.

You experience everything for yourself when you ride along with a NIU police officer. Whether you want to ride along for your personal knowledge or for an assignment, all you need to do is complete the waiver. Once you are approved to ride along with us, we ask you arrive in professional attire. You will represent us to the communiversity and should look the part.

Our job is frequently dangerous so you also must wear one of our bullet resistant vests. Our ride-along students are allowed to follow our officers in most situations, however you would be instructed to stay safe if and when our officers are faced with a situation where we must run head first into extreme danger.

Most riders stay with us for a few hours. The students who can’t get enough of our department come back for an internship!