By Tim Mastro

WILMINGTON — Two Delaware high schools will pilot a program this spring to help students pursue careers in law enforcement, legal, forensic science and policy fields.

Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington and Early College High School at Delaware State University’s Dover campus will each offer the after-school program, which will be sponsored by DuPont. DuPont regional supplier development leader Keith Hamilton said the company anticipates expanding the program throughout the state after the rollout of the pilot.

The program, called Making a Difference, is geared toward women and people of color, who are under-represented on police departments and within law enforcement fields, according to the Delaware chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.

“These opportunities and career choices have not always been viable choices in communities of color for women and other diverse groups,” Mr. Hamilton said at a presentation Tuesday in the Howard High auditorium.

Making a Difference consists of eight weeks of interactive training. Students will deal with car stop scenarios, trauma response, crime scene investigation, evidence collection and other core requirements. They will also tour a 911 center and use a driving simulator.

The program was created by William Chapman, a retired Delaware State Police trooper and former director of public safety for New Castle County.

It was first implemented for college students at Delaware State in 2020, which DSU professor Kimeu Boynton said was a tough, but important time for minority college students in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis that summer.

“A lot of our students were saying, ‘We really are interested in these careers, but we don’t know how to navigate this sort of tension,’” Mr. Boynton said. “The only way we can help them do that was to put them in front of people who wear the uniform, more officers who are going out every day, doing good work, and so that they can talk to those individuals.”

Based on the success of the program at Delaware State, Mr. Boynton said talks quickly were in the works to bring it to younger students.

“We thought, ‘Why can’t we reach back even further? Why does it have to be college students? Why can’t we start with high school students?’” he said. “I think one of the most important parts of our job is realizing that if you’re going to create any type of pipeline, the younger you start, the better the outcome will be.”

Jackie Griffith, DSU vice president of government and community relations, said Making a Difference fits one of the missions of Early College High School — giving students real-world experience before they enter the workforce.

“Programs like this have you think about your future,” Ms. Griffith said. “And what you can contribute to society plays an important part.”