Two members of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department spoke to students at the Newton DMAAC Campus on Thursday. Chief Deputy Duane Rozendaal and Sergeant Detective Kira Lazenby talked about their work with the criminal justice and human services classes at DMACC. Rozendaal graduated from the Law Enforcement Academy in 1987, and is the first recipient of the Newton Rotary’s Law Enforcement Distinguished Service Award. He became interested in Law Enforcement because of his Sunday School teacher in Sully, who was a State Trooper.

“Before class, he would always tell us a trooper story. Troopers have lots of stories, as does any law enforcement officer. And I was intrigued by that.”

Lazenby’s path to law enforcement didn’t take shape until after she graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology. 

“Right after college, I worked in a mental hospital. And as much as people don’t know, working in the mental health field is what we do in law enforcement. We handle a lot of mental health calls, and it kind of pulled me this way.”

Typically, both criminal justice and human services are two-year programs at the Newton DMACC campus.