Brandon Dorrington wasn’t expecting to land an internship when he attended a community policing forum at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church last month. The SUNO graduate student decided to attend simply because he used to live in the neighborhood and he has a special interest in community policing.

“I decided to go to the forum because I believe NOPD needs input from all of the community’s shareholders,” said Dorrington.

At first he just listened to what others in the community had to say to the NOPD panel, but he began to feel the meeting wasn’t going in the right direction.

“I didn’t hear a lot of solution-oriented comments being offered,” Dorrington said. “Most of the people who spoke weren’t staying on topic so I decided to speak up.”

The Michigan native originally came to New Orleans in 2006 after serving six years in the U.S. Army. He was back home looking for work when the state unemployment office called with an offer to work for FEMA in New Orleans. He took the job and also started attending classes at Dillard University, securing his bachelor’s degree in 2012.

“I stayed because I really like the people, the culture – and the mild winters,” he said with a smile.

NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison was impressed with Dorrington’s background and his solution-oriented comments at the forum so he asked Dorrington to talk with him after the event was over.

“Chief Harrison said he thought NOPD should have interns who are criminal justice students, so he put me in touch with the deputy chief of staff to talk about the research they’re doing and their community policing efforts.”

Currently pursuing his masters in criminal justice from Southern University at New Orleans, Dorrington is now a community engagement intern within the compliance bureau. His role is to help the department increase its outreach strategies to the community and get the word out to community stakeholders about available positions on the community policing board. In addition to small business owners and residents, Dorrington is reaching out to church leaders and members of their congregations, professors and other educators, and people with a vested interest in improving their community.

“NOPD has a tough job, but they’re out there proactively reaching out to the community for feedback.”