On October 12th of 2023, Albertus Magnus College alumnus and police officer Brendan Clark ‘23 arrived on the scene of a heart attack while on duty in Berlin, CT. Along with Officer Aimee Kryzkowski, Clark performed twenty to thirty minutes of CPR on the victim, Henry Lavette. Miraculously, Lavette regained his pulse and was taken to the hospital, where he would go on to make a full recovery.
While there is no doubt that Clark’s critical thinking and fast action played a role in saving Lavette’s life, Clark argues his ability to connect with people is just as important when on a medical call. Clark recalls that “In that moment, you step away from CPR now and then as you rotate with everyone else who is on scene. I would step away from the patient and talk to his wife to keep her calm. Aside from the medical aspect, being able to empathize and talk to people helped make the difference in that call.”
While studying criminal justice at Albertus Magnus College, Clark was able to fine-tune his interpersonal skills. Clark exclaims “The class sizes at Albertus allowed me to establish one-on-one relationships with the professors, which is impossible to do in seminars that have 200 students at some of the larger schools.” Clark also adds that this enabled him to connect with people he had never talked with in his life before, which helps him establish connections with strangers when on duty today.
For Clark, the experiences and demeanor that his professors brought to the classroom helped him develop both the soft and hard skills that he uses on duty today. When asked what stood out to him about the criminal justice program at Albertus, Clark noted that the unique backgrounds of the professors are what makes the program so strong. “Professor Geary was a New York Police Officer, so he had experience in policing. Professor Scott was a State Trooper and Professor Lawrie worked in corrections. They each had their own facets that they taught, which were very diverse. We covered all aspects of the criminal justice field and system. Those three backgrounds blended together made a fantastic program as a whole,” said Clark. Clark also notes that the program aided in his ability to be a strong leader, which he argues is another one of the most important aspects of the job. “With policing, you need to have a very strong command presence, whether the call is as simple as changing out a smoke detector for an elderly lady who lives alone, or whether it’s an active physical domestic call. Whenever you show up to a call, you need to take control and analyze the situation to make decisions for people. When people call 911, they don’t know what to do. We need to be there to make decisions for people. In every call, you need to take a leadership role,” says Clark.
At Albertus Magnus College, the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice program is designed to prepare students for success in social services and criminal justice sectors through an ethical, values-based education. Students, through both core and major courses, as well as in their criminal justice field experiences, are exposed to and practice ethical reasoning and gain an understanding of the perspective of others. The optimal classroom environment, diverse backgrounds of the professors, emphasis on ethics, and the engaging coursework enables students such as Brendan Clark to build the interpersonal, leadership, and critical thinking skills required to be successful in the criminal justice field today. Learn more about how our criminal justice program is preparing students to be successful in their careers at www.albertus.edu/criminal-justice/bs/.
Stay in the loop
Albertus Magnus College
Click here for Albertus Magnus College’s Instagram.
Click here for Albertus Magnus College’s Facebook.