Fitchburg State University was the only place that Kayla Forbes ‘24 wanted to attend. As a senior at Marshfield High School, she didn’t even apply anywhere else.
That’s because she was dead set on entering the university’s criminal justice program, with the goal of becoming a police officer.
“Since my freshman year of high school I knew I wanted to be a police officer,” Forbes said. “I was looking around for schools in Massachusetts and my uncle is a police officer in Mashpee. He said that if I want to be a police officer, that I should go to Fitchburg State’s police program. This was the only school I applied to. I toured here, came here and learned about the program and then I was like, ‘I’d be stupid to not come here.’”
The 22-year-old Forbes, who graduated early with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in December 2024, is currently in the 8th Recruit Officer Course, in the middle of an intensive 17-week academy after which she and the other graduates will be certified to work in municipal departments in Massachusetts and neighboring states.
The program is a one-of-a-kind model where, in five years total, graduates obtain bachelor's degrees in criminal justice, Municipal Police Training Committee certification to become full-time Massachusetts municipal police officers, and master's degrees in criminal justice.
“No one else has this police program,” Forbes said. “If you know you want to be a police officer, this is the place you should be.”
Forbes graduated a semester early and started taking master’s degree classes immediately in the spring semester.
Even before graduating from the academy in September, Forbes has accepted a full-time job as a police officer with the Rockland Police Department.
“I’m really excited,” said Forbes, who has interned with the Randolph and Marshfield police departments. “So far everyone I’ve met has made me feel welcome.”
No one else has this police program. If you know you want to be a police officer, this is the place you should be.
Forbes recalled the stress of starting college life along with the specific challenges of the police program. Student officers are expected to iron their uniforms and polish their boots. “I had never shined boots, and I don’t think I’d ever ironed anything before,” she said. But meeting other new students in the program let her realize they were all going to be learning together.
While her family has always respected police officers and she had a general interest in criminal justice-related topics growing up, Forbes credits a ride-along with the Bridgewater Police Department in high school for setting her on her path. She also knows she wants to work in a community policing role.
“I know what I want, and I want to help people,” said Forbes, who coached her brother’s eighth grade Marshfield Youth Basketball team. “I want to be in the community and not sit at the desk all day. Everything that I want lines up with being a police officer.”
Forbes has also long demonstrated leadership. As an undergraduate, she was involved in the Emergency Medical Service club on campus, and became its president in her sophomore year.
But Forbes also is fully aware that becoming a police officer will have its fair share of challenges.
“I know there are going to be difficulties, just being a female in a man’s job people would say, but I don’t mind and I know I can push through that,” she said. “That really doesn’t bother me. Right now, Rockland doesn’t have any female police officers, but they are sending another one into the academy in August.”
However, Forbes continues to meet challenges head on like when she was named the Class Leader during her senior year.
“That was challenging,” she admitted. “But I believe I became a better communicator and public speaker. That opportunity definitely helps.”
Police Academy Director Ola Wysocki explained the Class Leader is the person who is in charge of all the students in the program, relaying information to the squads of students from freshman to seniors.
Looking back, Wysocki knows exactly why Forbes was the right individual to lead the class.
“Kayla was the frontrunner because she’s academically excellent, she knows where she’s going, she knows what she wants and she can execute that,” Wysocki said. “Forbes leads by example and that’s what we try to teach here. There is not an arrogant bone in her body. She’s doing what she does. There’s no ‘I’m better than you or I’m more made for this job.’ She’s passionate about this and she’s all in.
“Kayla knew this would make her a better candidate, she knew this was the right place for her to do what she wants to do and that’s why she came here,” Wysocki continued. “She took that and ran with it.”
She’s also running – literally – in the academy.
“If you’re not early, you’re late,” said Forbes, whose grandfather was a police officer with the Scituate Police Department. “We meet at 6, go together typically for 6:30 PT (physical training) at Elliot Field, and we are done at 4 p.m. They are long days and you have a lot of stuff to do when you get back. You definitely have to want to be a police officer because it’s a lot. If you really want to be a police officer, this is where you need to go.”
It’s that day-to-day drive that keeps Forbes focused on the ultimate prize: completing the academy on Sept. 12.
“I want to be a police officer and I’m motivated to be a police officer,” she said. “That’s my end goal.”