A man who pulls out his entrails, a predator who blackmails his victims, tiring police interrogations…it may sound like something you’d see on a TV crime show, but it wasn’t. These were all stories told by a 1990 Milford graduate to students in Practical Law.
During a unit on interrogations, teacher Bill James brought Oakland County Sheriff’s Special Investigations Sergeant Joe Brian into to his Practical Law class, a class that provides students with information relevant to them about the criminal justice system.
James brought in Brian because he “wanted the class to be exposed to different elements of law enforcement.” James began teaching Practical Law this year. Although he is primarily a psychology teacher, he is working to make the class an intriguing learning environment where students can learn about practical elements of law enforcement.
Joe Brian graduated Milford High School in 1990 as a Redskin, as he was sure to point out. After getting a degree in Criminal Justice, he joined the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in 1994. He has worked in theOakland County jail, on the road, as a detective, in the Computer Crimes Division, and currently works in the Special Investigations Unit, or SIU. He has dealt with homicides, shootings, officer investigations, and other serious crimes.
Brian answered many questions from the students and told many stories. Many of the situations that he discussed occurred during his involvement with the Computer Crimes Division of the Sheriff’s Office. From what Brian was saying, it seems that most computer crimes deal with sexual predators. He related one story about an individual who had been a predator to about 70 young women. One of these women alerted police, beginning an investigation that led to his arrest.
Students were interested in the fact that interrogators often lie to their suspects to get them to confess. While on this topic, Brian told the story of a man who he was interrogating who he knew was guilty, but could not get him to confess. Brian lied to him to him in hopes of eliciting a confession, saying that police found his fingerprints at the crime scene. Brian knew he was caught in his lie by the look on the suspect’s face, and Brian realized that the suspect had worn gloves. Brian used these types of stories to illustrate his work.
Cody Grant, a student in Practical Law, thought that the guest speaker showed him “how extreme police work [was].”
Most students generally associate police with giving tickets and busting parties. Joe Brian was a testimony to some of the intense work that police officers do in addition to writing tickets. “He was super interesting,” Grant said. “He brought a lot to the class.”
James has also said that he is attempting to get an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to come speak to the class later in the semester. Practical Law is a one semester course that is also available second semester. Students may consider switching into Practical Law, and if they do, they never know who they might meet.