Every day police officers around the United States use profiling techniques to apprehend suspects, so Central Michigan Life decided to profile an officer in return.

Jeff Browne is a 39-year-old male, the Mount Pleasant Police Department’s public information officer and an active member of the Central Michigan University community.

As public information officer, Browne handles state, federal, and tribal court paperwork processing and deals with media relations. He is also a part of the new neighborhood resource unit, a collaborative effort comprised of police, fire and code enforcement agents.

Officer Browne, what does it mean to you to be a member of the police force?

A lot of different things. People get hung up on having gunfights and police chases and all that. On some days you’re a counselor, some days you’re a person to get out there and help somebody.

What was your most meaningful experience as a police officer?

I had a sexual assault case, my first big case out of the academy, when I didn’t have a lot of investigative skills yet. A man was allegedly sexually assaulting his two nieces. The family reported it, and it allowed me to bring justice to the young girls. I still see them today, and it’s very gratifying.

Was it that type of case that drew you to becoming a police officer?

No. Actually, I wasn’t always planning to be a cop, I was supposed to go to law school. I didn’t know if I could sit behind a desk every day, so I did this internship in Lansing for over a year. I had to do an internship for school, and I found an agency hiring cadets, so I signed up and ended up doing my final paper on women in law enforcement. From there, I went to the academy.

There is more scrutiny of police by media, can you tell me about your personal take as an officer?

You’re talking like Ferguson type stuff? The toughest thing about being a police officer is that I am expected to make split-second decisions and have everything be perfect.

I’m a human being, I’m no different than any other man or woman. I make mistakes.

From Los Angeles to New York City, there’s good and bad cops. In that case, I think it would have been important to get out in front of things and talk to the media right off the bat.

I’ve heard people say police are cracking down harder this year on partying and crowds. Are they?

Well, back in 2010 we had a really horrible Welcome Weekend. This year again, Welcome Weekend was pretty rough. We had two different groups come up here to steal stuff, we had violence. This year was busy, a lot of people up to bad things. On Welcome Weekend we didn’t have the staffing to handle the crowds. But no, we’re not coming down harder. Statistically, we’re down on MIPs, down on open intoxicants, we’re down on almost all our small misdemeanors. Next year there’ll probably be a lot of enforcement the first few weeks of school because it sets the pace for the year.

What would you like to tell students at CMU?

The big thing to remember is that you’re part of our community. Even if you’re only here for eight or nine months, you’re still part of this community. Treat it like it’s your home. Get invested, help us out with local politics, volunteering. Take care of each other. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but the take care message is important. If you see somebody in need I don’t care if you know them or not, help them out. It makes Mount Pleasant great.