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Assistant Professor Educates New Generation of Terror Investigators |
| By
Tobin J. Klinger |
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Sep 9, 2002 |
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| Paul Paquette |
After more than 30 years in law enforcement, business is good for Paul Paquette. Which is a terrible thing for this assistant professor of criminal justice to have to say given his area of expertise — terrorism.
“No doubt, this is the issue I’ve been most passionate about,” said Paquette, who is teaching his fourth section of a class examining domestic and international terrorism this semester.
Paquette first taught the course in spring 2001, months before the Sept. 11 attacks. Since then, demand for the course has increased, and he says student attitudes about the topic have changed dramatically.
“It’s gotten personal to them now,” Paquette said. “It used to be like a history lesson or looking at current events in other places.”
While a bulk of the students taking the course via distance learning are from other majors, those in the traditional classroom section tend to be criminal justice majors. Many of these students feel they will be personally involved in the investigation of terrorism at some point during their career.
Paquette said his students are constantly wondering, “What role are we going to play in terms of homeland security? What can I do as a police officer? What can I do as a private citizen?”
Miranda Johnson, a senior majoring in political science, is taking the class but does not plan to go into law enforcement. Instead she felt the course would help her better understand what happened Sept. 11. “Learning more about why it starts and what we are doing, maybe we can halt terrorism,” Johnson said.
UT students are not the only ones learning from Paquette. UT is home to the federally funded Ohio Police Corps Program and the U.S. Department of Justice has asked him to visit law enforcement academies in other states to provide training in anti-terrorism tactics. Once his tour is complete, Paquette will have lectured to hundreds of new and veteran law enforcement agents in 10 states.
Additionally, as a staff officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Paquette has conducted briefings for fellow officers on counter-terrorism.
Paquette’s course work focuses on understanding terrorists through a historical perspective, giving his students the tools to investigate real and potential threats. He emphasizes that law enforcement officers are the front-line of defense when it comes to homeland security and aims to help students understand the mindset of the terrorist so they may anticipate a terrorist’s actions. However, as an educator, he has faced a major challenge: Teaching the next generation to keep their objectivity while investigating crimes that hit so close to home.
“Terrorism is a very passionate topic,” said Paquette of his student’s attitudes. “It’s something that reaches down inside and grabs our emotions. Sometimes it’s hard to remain objective.”
Johnson understands this. “You can learn more if you don’t let your emotions get in the way, but at the same time that’s impossible with something like this,” she said.
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