SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A class at Sacramento State University is training a new generation of students, like Miguel Nava, to be the next wave of law enforcement officers. It’s the same generation that grew up watching instances of police brutality on social media — and subsequently shaped many people’s views on those charged with upholding the law.  

The need for a more culturally diverse law enforcement and one of understanding — a big reason Sacramento State University began the Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars program.

Nava grew up in Riverside California and said the TV show "Law & Order: SVU" originally drew him to the idea of becoming an officer. But he said that as he grew, seeing the need to have people of color and those from all walks of life in departments became more of a draw — and a reason to enroll in the LECS program.

“It brings in those open minds from people who’ve experienced all sorts of different situations,” Nava said.

LECS program director Dr. Shelby Moffatt, who spent 18 years as an officer in Sacramento, said this type of course is the only one offered in the country. He noted that said a major focus of the program is getting the students to understand how to maintain a level of respect for whoever they encounter, in whatever situation.

“I teach so much about cultural competency,” said Moffatt, a criminal justice professor at Sac State. “You don’t have to love everybody you talk to, which I didn’t. I had to contact people who were members of the Klan, skinheads and other groups, and I treated them the same way I treated everyone else.”

Moffatt said the diverse backgrounds of his current students are encouraging but admits he and others in law enforcement are struggling to recruit a particular group of people.

“I would like to have more Black men and women in the program,” he said. “One of the difficulties I’m having is because social media is drawing the narrative away from the positive law enforcement does. And this is something that myself and other Black men that I came up with in the department. We have the same difficulties finding other people to join with us.”

Moffatt said many of his students are sought out by departments because of the teaching they receive.

For Nava, he hopes his training will lead to a job in the next year and said he understands cameras and the public’s eye will be on him.

“It starts off with who law enforcement agencies hire, but it also goes into the person themselves, you know, how they conduct themselves with that body camera on,” he said.

Nava added that he hopes his conduct will show the next generation that change can happen.