Criminal justice major Deanna Federico ’25 got hands-on experience in the world of investigations, victims, and suspects, interning with Homeland Security Investigations and preparing for a federal career in fighting crime. The internship opened her eyes to the amount of crime the agency deals with daily and helped her to better understand the challenges and obstacles agents and investigators face when working to protect our citizens.
What was your internship & what were your primary responsibilities?
I worked with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in the Child Exploitation Group, where I recorded victim/witness/suspect interview summaries, assisted with searching victims' devices, and performed IP address cross-referencing and matching.
How did your internship relate to your major or career goals?
As a criminal justice major, I’m interested in federal jobs, and this was a great introduction to them.
Can you describe a project you worked on during your internship that you found particularly challenging or rewarding?
Using my investigative skills, I successfully identified a target. I was helping an agent go through a victim’s phone to search for possible identifiers for who the suspect was. Since I was familiar with many of the apps on the phone, I could find images in hidden folders and pull geographical data from them. From there, we looked up the residence and reviewed each family member's social media accounts, and I pointed out the suspect as matching the photos.
What skills did you develop or improve during your internship?
I improved my investigative, organizational, communication, and collaboration skills.
How did your internship help you understand the industry or field you're interested in?
Before this internship, I expected agents and investigators to be fully prepared before executing a search warrant. By this I mean, I expected them to know that what they were looking for was in the area they had the warrant to search. However, this is not always the case, and I got to experience that. We once had to obtain and search a suspect’s devices for our warrant. However, upon arriving at the apartment, the suspect’s spouse informed us that he was on a trip and had his phone and laptop with him, which somewhat defeated the point of the warrant. This situation helped me understand the challenges and obstacles agents and investigators face.
What was the most surprising thing you learned during your internship?
The most surprising thing I learned is how frequently crimes against children occur and how easy it is for minors to become victims. Not only crimes against children, but the amount of crime HSI deals with daily was surprising to me...and the fact that most of the crimes never make it to the news.
How did the internship environment compare to your expectations of a professional workplace?
It was much more relaxed and laid back than I expected, and there was much more collaboration between agents.
Did your internship help you confirm or reassess your career path or aspirations?
This internship helped confirm my interest in working in the federal government. One of the agents from my internship is working with me to update my federal resume so that I have a well-prepared resume laying out my abundance of experience.
Were any specific courses or knowledge from your major particularly useful during your internship?
Peter Darling, my professor from “International Justice,” was my connection to this internship. He is a retired HSI Special Agent. Teachings and course material from the class were highly relevant, not only to the internship itself but also to the interview and application process.
How will this internship impact your future job prospects or academic pursuits?
It helped me to start thinking about the potential of earning a master’s degree and also to consider moving to Washington, D.C., for better job opportunities. I would love to have a job with HSI Boston, although the chance is slim due to the small field office in Boston, but I could start in D.C. and always make my way back to Boston.