By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Christopher Schuster always felt the tug between a career in law enforcement and a career in graphic arts — and at first, graphic arts won.
When Mr. Schuster graduated from Florence High School in 2000, he enrolled at the Art Institute of Philadelphia to study graphic arts.
”(Friends and family) pushed me toward it,” he said. “They knew I was good at art. I had a job here and there, designing T-shirts for different companies, but there was always a tug toward the police department.”
Finally, Mr. Schuster went to his father and told him that he wanted to be a police officer. Mr. Schuster’s father, who is a retired Trenton police officer, encouraged him to go after a career in law enforcement.
That’s when Mr. Schuster found a position as a Mercer County Parks ranger. That’s also where he found a mentor in Larry Oswald, the supervisor of the Mercer County Parks Rangers and a former Hamilton Township police officer.
”Larry pushed me toward moving on to where my goal was,” he said. “Larry would give me insight into what it was really like (to be a police officer).”
Eighteen months later, Mr. Schuster made the leap from Mercer County Parks ranger to Lawrence Township police officer. The 26-year-old Lawrence resident was sworn in as a police officer last month, after graduating from the Burlington County Police Academy in August.
Asked why he wanted to become a police officer, Patrolman Schuster replied, “You could say the cliché, which is true, that you want to help people. It’s interesting to me. I guess wanting to be like my father is part of it. It’s the respect I have for the position. If you respect someone, you are drawn toward it.”
Patrolman Schuster said his father often told him stories about his work at the Trenton Police Department. His father spent 32 years on the city’s police force and during that time, the now-retired police officer instilled an interest in law enforcement in him.
”When my son was born, that’s when I really, really realized I wanted to be a police officer,” Patrolman Schuster said. “It’s the respect I had for my father. I thought, ‘I want this for my son — for him to look at me that way.’ He’s 2 years old. He already has admiration for the police. He sees a car and says, ‘Police.’”
As most police officers readily acknowledge, getting through the police academy is a challenge. Patrolman Schuster said the physical training was the toughest part, but after a while, it became easier to do. He said he learned that he could run eight miles.
”I learned a lot,” he said. “You learn what you actually can do, physically and mentally. You learn what you can withstand. The academy prepares you for what you are going to be faced with. If someone is yelling in your face, you are prepared.”
”If there is a struggle, you are capable of more than you think you can do,” he said. “After it is all said and done, you understand the reason for (the instructors) pushing you beyond what you thought you were capable of doing.”
Patrolman Schuster said he enjoys working with the police officers at the Lawrence Township Police Department. The officers have been welcoming and they have made him feel part of the group. No one treats him like a rookie, he said.
”People knew I was good at art, but there is no way to know if you are good at being a police officer until you do it,” Patrolman Schuster said.

