COOS BAY — With such a baby face, who’d ever think he would give you a parking ticket?

John Sutten may look young for the job, but for a few hours every week, the 20-year-old Coos Bay Police Department intern dons a CBPD cap and jacket, grabs a chalking stick and hits the downtown streets in search of parking violators.

On Thursday, Sutten headed down Anderson Avenue to chalk tires. With a map of the area, he checked off where and when he had marked vehicles to keep track of those which could be overextending their stay. He carried the tools of his temporary trade: a citation booklet and a police radio.

 That morning, neither seemed necessary. Sutten walked briskly along the sidewalk — then, like a honeybee visiting a bed of flowers, stopped at each vehicle he passed to chalk a tire.

The job isn’t about confrontation. During his travels, community members sometimes stopped to joke with him.

“All we’re really looking for is cooperation. We don’t really want to cause problems,” Sutten said.

He said he tries to be reasonable with people if they try to comply. If someone sees him writing a citation, Sutten said he’ll often allow the owner to move the automobile and void out the ticket.

“People are pretty compliant,” Sutten said.

A Sweet Home High School graduate, Sutten attends Southwestern Oregon Community College. He began interning for the Coos Bay Police Department last year. He will finish school and his days as an intern in December, when he earns an associate’s degree. He hopes to become a patrol officer somewhere in Eastern Oregon.

 Along with college credit, Sutten and his supervisor, Helen Thompson, say the internship has given him some real-life experience with the police force. In addition to parking enforcement, Sutten assists with filing, helps Thompson find and remove abandoned vehicles, and occasionally goes on ride-alongs with police officers.

“It just really gives him an idea of what we do ... and how tough it is,” said Thompson, a civilian police assistant. “It really helps the intern to be able to make an informed decision as to whether that career is the right choice for them.”

Thompson said community members are sometimes thrown by how young Sutten appears. Some, including the Police Chief Rodger Craddock’s son, have called to ask if he’s an impostor.

“He looks much younger than he is,” Thompson said, laughing.

She said she believes Sutten will one day make a good officer because he’s smart, hard-working, a fast learner and aware of boundaries.

“We look forward to the opportunity of perhaps him applying with our department in the future if the opportunity arises,” she said.

Sutten said he decided to get in law enforcement when he was 16, after a wrestling coach at his school showed up in a police uniform. It sparked the boy’s interest, and a ride-along with a local police officer seemed to seal the deal.

“It just seems like a good honest job to do,” Sutten said. “You get to help people.”

His two-year criminal justice program at Southwestern has covered the basics of criminal justice and how to conduct investigations. One of his favorite classes, which focused on forensics and crime scene investigations, taught him finger printing and how to conduct blood tests.

But some of the best lessons he’s learned came from Coos Bay’s finest, such as how to get a police job by starting in a reserves program.

“It seems like they really want to help me out and I enjoy helping them out,” he said.