Sydney McKee completed her internship as a sworn officer with Atlantic Beach Police Department. Because Sydney had gone through the AppState Police Development Program and served as a part-time officer for campus, she was qualified to be hired by her internship agency and begin field training. Sydney provided the following comments about her experience:
“It is the mission of the Atlantic Beach Police Department to protect life and property and protect the peace within the town of Atlantic Beach by working together with its community. During my time as an intern, I felt a deep sense of family in this department and admire how hard they work to build strong relations with their community. This internship exceeded any expectations I had. I grew substantially in my professional career working as an officer within this tight-knit community. I had a wide variety of hands-on training such as felony warrant services, issuing traffic citations, beach patrols, report writing, driving while impaired cases,
courthouse testimonies, and many calls for service. I am thankful for the real-world experience this department has given me that enabled me to apply what I have learned over the past four years at Appalachian State University and transfer it into the real world."