Out To Protect Scholarship Program

Fall 2011 Scholarship Award

outtoprotect — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:00:56 +0000

Out To Protect is pleased to announce the award of a scholarship to Sam Garanzini of the San Rafael, California Police Department. He graduated from the Santa Rosa Junior College Public Safety Training Center’s Basic Police Academy on December 1, 2011 in the top of his class. We invite you to read his biography below.

I come from a large police family, and always expected to become a police officer someday. I started riding along with my uncle, a lieutenant with the St. Louis County Police, when I was ten years old. From the first day I was hooked on the excitement of the job – but I was only ten, and would have to wait until age 21 to apply. When I became 13, I joined the police explorer unit for the St. Louis City Police. As one of the most dangerous cities in the country, I saw a lot of excitement from the first day. In St. Louis, police explorers are apprentices who learn about the profession, and often work in the station or on patrol with officers. At age 17, I started the first police explorer bicycle unit in the Midwest.

At age 21, just finishing my bachelors degree in psychology from St. Louis University, I decided to go onto graduate school, rather than applying immediately to become an officer. I got into the University of San Francisco, and picked San Rafael off a map as the place to call home. Still unable to pronounce it correctly, I drove straight there from Missouri, and immediately fell in love with the town.

By 2007, at age 30, I had finished my graduate degree, received my psychotherapy license, and started a private practice in San Francisco. I was also teaching psychopharmacology part-time at USF, and knew a lot about how medications help people feel better. I had a great career, but I missed the excitement of riding around in a police car.

I decided to complete the academy in night/weekend classes, so that I could hold down my business during the day. In 2010 the San Rafael Police Department’s mental health liaison, the renowned Dr. Joel Fay, retired. At this time I was eligible to become a reserve officer in California, and I was fortunate that San Rafael wanted to hire someone to continue Dr. Fay’s programs. I had a significant portion of my police training to finish, though, and with the help of the Out to Protect Scholarship, I was able to finish the police academy on December 1, 2011.

Now I return to San Rafael with the hopes of taking my mental health background to the community. Having a sizeable homeless population, there are times where it has come in handy. I’m also pursuing a research grant to bring alcohol abuse medication to some of our most seriously addicted citizens. I sincerely thank Out to Protect for helping me complete my training.

Scholarship Recipient Makes CNN News

outtoprotect — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 01:05:49 +0000

Last month when we announced that Kurt Eriksen is to receive an Out To Protect Scholarship, we were thrilled to see our press release posted on the CNN website.

Spring 2011 Scholarship Award

outtoprotect — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:00:01 +0000

The Board of Directors of Out To Protect Incorporated are pleased to announce the award of a scholarship to Kurt Eriksen. Kurt is currently attending the Police Academy at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. He will graduate on September 17, 2011. Kurt is a helpful, loyal, and caring individual who has a good work ethic and enjoys teamwork. His teachers and supervisors at the academy praised Kurt for his professionalism and overall performance in the police academy.

Kurt told us, “I have always been interested in law enforcement, but it was not until my first year of college when I really started looking into law enforcement as a career choice. I decided to get my EMT certification because I was old enough to be a police officer and knew it would allow me to be in contact with law enforcement professionals. My goal was to decide whether or not I truly wanted to be in a public safety career, and to meet people who would give me more insight into law enforcement. After working as an EMT for a short time I realized I definitely wanted a career in Law Enforcement. The draw of meeting new people everyday and being in different situations drew me further into wanting a career in law enforcement. I am not looking for a career where I sit behind a desk for 8 hours a day. I need a ‘fast paced’ career that will challenge me and help me grow as a person. Having so many special assignments within a department will give me room to move and grow. If employed by a large agency I would love to be assigned to an air patrol unit, since getting my pilots license has always been a dream of mine.

My current academy experience has taught me a lot about myself and I believe it has helped me grow as a person. I appreciate the ways it has challenged me, and helped me develop and hone the skills I once lacked. I value the people I have met throughout the last seven months; I believe they have made me a lot more open and feel a lot better about who I am. I truly hope I have been able to touch their lives in a similar way. I hope through my encouragement and support I have helped others throughout this experience. In the next few months I will continue to do my best to be a positive role model and help others around me as much as I possibly can. I feel extremely honored to be selected for this scholarship, and really appreciate all the help and support it provides. I will continue to do my absolute best and strive for perfection in the months ahead.”

Kurt will receive his scholarship award upon graduation from the police academy. All of us at Out To Protect are behind him and know he will be an excellent representative of the LGBT community in law enforcement.

Fall Scholarship Offered

outtoprotect — Sat, 14 May 2011 19:34:07 +0000

We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for our next scholarship award! Applications are due by Friday November 11, 2011. You are invited to review the scholarship criteria and to submit an application online. You can now complete your application entirely online or by uploading the essay portion of the application right from the application page. If you have questions about the qualifications, please submit them by clicking on Contact Us at the top of this page. Please share this information with anyone you know who might be qualified.

Spring 2010 Scholarship Award

outtoprotect — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:05:25 +0000

On June 12, 2011, we awarded our first scholarship to Julianne Zuniga. Ms. Zuniga graduated from the Napa Valley College Criminal Justice Training Center and was the first person to be selected to receive an Out To Protect Scholarship Award. Ms. Zuniga came out to her class as a lesbian early on the in academy and was a role model throughout the program. She was selected by her peers and the academy staff to be a permanent squad leader. Throughout the academy program, she demonstrated ethical decision making and always stayed true to who she is. “I have achieved many goals in the police academy. I never thought it would be this tough to go through training, both physically and mentally and I am proud to say that I have made it. I plan to continue being an effective role model as a lesbian by never letting go of my morals and ethics. I will continue to be an effective leader in the agency that I work in and always set my standards high for others to follow. I will stay true to myself and always do what is right. I will never hide who I truly am and I will stand proud” Zuniga said.