Student Works with U.S. Marshals Service

Terry J. Moore of Shinnston, a 2005 Fairmont State University graduate, has become the first West Virginian to graduate from a program that affords qualified FSU students the opportunity to work for the United States Marshals Service as a Deputy United States Marshal.

J.C. Rafferty, U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of West Virginia, announced that Moore is the first Fairmont State graduate of the United States Marshals Service Centralized Student Career Experience Program (CSCEP).

Candidates for the CSCEP, a partnership between the U.S. Marshals Service and FSU, must be in the second semester of their junior year at FSU or in their first semester of their senior year, pass a structured interview and undergo a background investigation and medical exam.

They must also be at least 20 years of age, a U.S. citizen, meet security and fitness requirements and have a major grade point average of 3.0 and a minimum overall GPA of 2.75. Participants in the CSCEP have the opportunity to be employed as a U.S. Deputy Marshal after successfully completing a 640-hour, paid training program.

"My advice to anyone interested in the opportunity is to keep out of trouble and always put forth your maximum effort in everything you do," Moore said. "It would also help to stay in good health because a lot of the training is structured around physical activity."

Moore will be stationed in the Baltimore, Md., U.S. Marshals Office after undergoing extensive training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga. He is the son of Russ and Judie Moore of Shinnston and a 2002 graduate of Lincoln High School. While at Fairmont State, Moore majored in criminal justice with a minor in sociology.

"As far back as I can recall I always knew I wanted to be in law enforcement. That is why I chose criminal justice as my major," Moore said.

He applied to participate in the CSCEP after Dr. Deanna Shields, Chair of the FSU Department of Social Science, told him about Fairmont State's participation in the program.

"Now I am at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center getting some of the best training I ever received. During the program, a person gets to experience many things and can learn most of what they need to know," Moore said.

U.S. Deputy Marshal Alex Neville is also a Fairmont State graduate. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice in 1991. Born and raised in Barrackville, Neville graduated from North Marion High School in 1987. During his junior year at FS, Neville completed an internship with the U.S. Marshal Service in Clarksburg. He has been working for the U.S. Marshal Service since 1992 and is currently a senior criminal investigator who heads a fugitive investigation program.

"The single most important factor contributing to my employment with the U.S. Marshals Service was Fairmont State's involvement in an internship program with the U.S.M.S.," Neville said. "By opening the door for its students to have hands-on interaction with a federal law enforcement agency, Fairmont State criminal justice professors enabled me to make invaluable contacts with the agency and put me one step ahead of applicants who had not participated in an internship."

Neville said Moore's performance in CSCEP was exemplary and he will be an asset to the U.S. Marshals Service. "He is exactly what I knew we could expect from FSU. Terry had no hands-on experience in law enforcement prior to his employment with us, having worked through high school and college at a restaurant in a local mall. Terry's inexperience was overridden by his working knowledge of the criminal justice system, which must be directly attributed to the criminal justice professors at Fairmont State."

Neville said FSU is well represented in federal law enforcement. "Not only do we have several FSU graduates serving as Deputy U.S. Marshals, we have graduates working with the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Prisons as well as several other federal law enforcement agencies.

"FSU's criminal justice program is making its mark throughout the country by providing top-notch employees," Neville said.