Faces on Campus

Claudia Canizalez

U.S. Customs Service official and Cal State Long Beach senior Claudia Canizalez works at the Los Angeles International Airport when she is not on campus working on her criminal justice degree.

"My dream was always to be a police officer," Canizalez said, having grown up with shows like C.H.i.Ps and Rescue 911.

What Canizalez likes about the Customs Service, she said, is that it is a pretty secure job and "it is safer than being out on the streets."

Her job includes preparing training materials and assisting firearm instructors, answering phones and preparing travel arrangements.

Canizalez said she only interacts with passengers when she works overtime and is placed at an exit where she makes sure that all of the international passengers go through the Federal Inspection Area.

She worked as a police cadet at Harbor Community College before coming to CSULB.

But, she said, she began to think "about the future, about having a family and about the danger out there" for police officers. She did not realize there are other forms of law enforcement besides police, such as the Customs Service.

After graduation in 2001, she plans to go to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga., for an 11-week basic inspector and police training program.