CECU Success Stories

Keishawn Abney

Criminal Justice Corrections Graduate from San Joaquin Valley College (SJVC)

My childhood mentor, Randy Simmons, was a LAPD officer and SWAT team member. He had brought it (a career in law enforcement) up in church and when I got interested, he talked with me about it. Sadly, Officer Simmons died in the line of duty on a LAPD SWAT call out in 2008. I wanted to emulate my uncle Joseph, who was also in law enforcement. He gave me my first ballistic vest when I was just nineteen. Later, I used that vest as a private contractor for the Federal government before I became a federal employee. When I went to work, I always had it on.

I worked for Lockheed Martin as a security guard but saw lots of opportunities if I had higher credentials. I saw an ad for SJVC (Criminal Justice Corrections program) on Facebook. I decided to schedule an appointment with an Admissions Advisor (Jessica), and I saw the opportunity I could get from doing the CJC program. It tied in with my security background and helped me move into a supervisor position at Lockheed Martin (where I was working at that time).