Interview

 What are the main responsibilities of your job?

Manage the day-to-day operations of a criminal justice grant program and to make policy recommendations on criminal justice related issues.

 

2.      What type of education training is needed for your position?

A bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, public administration or business administration and it is preferred to have a master’s degree in any of these disciplines.  Basically, having good management skills and an analytical thought process is a necessity.

 

3.      What advise would you give someone who is interested in this field?

Maximize what you learn in school. Learn not only the subject matter, but learn how to critically think.  Most of all, develop good judgment.  There are many people that are smart but not nearly enough that have good judgment.

 

4.      Do you notice new trends in this field?

We seem to be moving towards a level of acceptance to using illicit drugs.  The current trend is legalizing marijuana but this could easily move into other more destructive drugs.  Policy makers are not spending enough time looking at the data on how drugs affect communities (e.g. how many people are seeking treatment at ER’s, how many people are dying due to drug use, how many people are seeking substance abuse treatment), or if we will really save government resources through legalization or just shift resources (e.g. move the burden from the criminal justice system to the health care system).

 

At the same time, I see the federal government placing greater emphasis on agencies granted federal money to use empirically based processes or programs.  So they are asking us to use data more during decision making and to follow processes or programs that have been supported through some research-based analysis.

 

5.      Why are you interested in this career or position?

I enjoy policy analysis and making a difference in our state.

The reason I decided to interview Tony Vidale was because he works for the Gang, Drug and Violence Dept of the commission and for my future career I want to be a Federal Agent, whether it is with the FBI or DEA.