Men's Indoor Track & Field | 8/10/2015 7:30:00 AM

Shippensburg University student-athletes are active all summer long performing a myriad responsibilities, with many pertaining to academics or future employment. Over the course of the summer, shipraiders.com hopes to periodically feature athletes who have shared their stories with us regarding how they have been busy during the summer months.
 
Tim Usher will be a junior at Shippensburg University in 2015-16, majoring in criminal justice. His athletic pursuit comes on the track, as the Laurel, Md. native specializes in 400 and 800-meter running. 

 

As a sophomore, Usher was a PSAC place-winner in the 800 meters but he excelled most with the 4x400-meter relay, a group that shattered a PSAC indoor all-time record and earned NCAA Second Team All-America honors. Then, outdoors, he contributed to NCAA First Team All-America honors with a sixth-place national finish. 
 
Tim has aspirations to work in law enforcement, and began seeking opportunities to gain experience upon his arrival at Shippensburg. He mentioned that back home, several friends had previously worked with the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) and spoke highly of the department and the experience.
 
"Then, one day in class, a couple OCPD recruiters visited SHIP to recruit for summer employment," Tim said. "I immediately jumped on the opportunity, getting the officers' information and asking any questions I had. I was so excited that they were there that I called that same day to schedule and reserve a spot at the next available testing date."
 
After passing a written test and a drug test, Tim was summoned for an interview and a background check was completed. Then, the next thing he knew, he was receiving a schedule for training and was told when to pick up a uniform.
 
Tim has been in Ocean City since May, and his responsibilities can vary from day to day. When asked to summarize a typical day, Tim mentioned that it begins around 1 p.m. with a trip to the gym – keeping in shape for his track & field competitions during the year. After a meal, and packing a meal to be eaten overnight, Tim heads to the Public Safety Building on 65th Street to begin his shift at 6 p.m.
 

Certainly, not all of his tasks may be glorious – he has to count the keys and handcuffs to make sure the proper count is in place for booking and the detention area. Some cleanup is also involved.
 
But when you work an overnight in a police station, each night can provide its fair share of activity. Tim mentioned that when prisoners are transported to the station, it's his role to transport them from the squad car to the station and to assist with subsequent searches.  
 
Tim is actually involved in most of the booking process – including the collection of information, mugshots, transportation to holding cells, and fingerprinting. After a long night of work, Tim usually gets to head home around 6 a.m. – just in time to see the sunrise on the beach.
 
"This experience will definitely help me in the future," Tim said. "It is giving me valuable experience and knowledge that is very relevant to what I'd like to do for a career – which is to ultimately become a police officer of some degree."
 
Shipraiders.com hopes to continue sharing summer stories of SU student-athletes over the next several weeks. If you are a student-athlete willing to share your summer experiences with the sports information office, please contact sid@ship.edu. If you Tweet about it, use the hashtag #MyShipSummer!