Austin Groover is a Criminology major and a work study student at the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. When he is not in class, often times he can be found working at the front desk of the Hecht House, assisting other Criminology students. He also works as a SAFE CONNECTION bus driver on campus, and he has ridden with the FSU Police Department as a passenger with their RIDE ALONG program. Austin hopes to get an internship with the Police Academy, FBI, or U.S. Marshall’s Office in his senior year, and ultimately would like to be employed as an FBI agent or a U.S. Marshall.
Austin has had some valuable experiences while working and volunteering on campus. Although most of the evening that he spent on a typical FSUPD “Ride Along” last semester was spent watching the roads and clocking motorists’ speeds as they drove down Tennessee Street, he did have the opportunity to witness a drug arrest and two different DUI arrests.
While working one of his shifts at SAFE CONNECTION, Austin also was able to witness a criminal offense. During one of his shifts last fall, he had to report an incident to the FSUPD over the SAFE radio. According to Groover, “ It happened around 2:00 am as I was dropping off a student in front of Landis Hall. As I approached Landis, I saw a taxi sitting at the entrance dropping off a couple who looked like they had come from the bar. I sat behind the taxi for about ten seconds before I started to pull around him, but as I started to go around I saw the gentleman of the couple start lunging into the driver’s side window where the driver was sitting. I waited about five seconds and then the next thing I knew the guy had the taxi driver out of the taxi and in a headlock. Surrounding guys tried to break up the fight and also an intoxicated senior jumped out of my van to get in the middle (even though I had told him to stay in the van). As all of this broke out, I radioed to base with the code ’10-33’. This code means contact FSUPD. I gave a description of the suspect and the victim and described what was happening. About three to five minutes after I called it in, FSUPD finally arrived and took care of the situation. The suspect was finally arrested for assault. Given that I am interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement, this incident was fascinating to me, as I watched FSUPD take charge and handle a potentially dangerous situation.”