April 10, 2017

Criminal Justice Students Place at Nationals

Photo courtesy of CJSA Vice President Emily Lear with team at Nationals Final Awards Banquet. Pictured left to right (front row) is Devin Salas (First Place Winner), Bethany Kemi, Emily Lear, Jacob Nikko; (back row) Thomas Fleming, Charles Mahlen, Gabe Hendrickson. Not pictured, CJSA advisor Maureen Rappley-Larson.

Seven Criminal Justice students competed at the American Criminal Justice Association Nationals-Lambda Alpha Epsilon conference in Austin, Texas the week of March 25-April 2, 2017 and earned top honors out of dozens of universities across the nation.

Devin Salas won First Place Agility in the Men's Upper Division, the top recognition for that category of competition. Charlie Mahlen, Thomas Fleming and Gabe Hendrickson earned Third Place in the Crime Scene-Upper Division category. Region Six (the region within which UW-Superior competes) was awarded the Outstanding Region award for their professionalism and cooperation with other competitors. UW-Superior Criminal Justice Student Association members shared in this honor.

UW-Superior is a member institution and has a chapter student organization on campus with the Criminal Justice Student Association (CJSA). The organization competed at the Midwest Regionals in November 2016 in Pewaukee, Wisconsin to earn the right to compete at Nationals.

The National Conference provided training and educational sessions on Human Trafficking regionally and nation-wide. Several guest speakers, including the Austin Chief of Police, addressed the attendees and taught them about the reality of human trafficking. The Crime Scene simulated problem was developed around a human trafficking case that required the Crime Scene teams to solve a crime. The competitors also had a chance to tour local justice system venues and regional sites in Austin, TX.

Part of UW-Superior's team preparation involved active assistance from the Superior Police Department officers on crime scene skills, analytical abilities and observational capacities. Charlie Mahlen, President of CJSA, indicated "we really appreciated the time and effort that SPD put into helping us learn and prepare. We gained greater skill because of their efforts to help the students in Criminal Justice."

Team members included CJSA President Charlie Mahlen, Vice President Emily Lear, Firearms Coordinator Jacob Nikko, Crime Scene Coordinator Gabe Hendrickson, members Devin Salas, Bethany Kemi and Thomas Fleming. The organization is advised by Maureen Rappley-Larson of Social Work.

Charlie Mahlen emphasized "these applied learning experiences really round out our learning at UW-Superior. It's valuable to meet other students and professionals related to our professional field and to learn from each other in these conference and competition settings."

Dr. Maria Cuzzo, Program Coordinator of Legal Studies and Criminal Justice, said "We are very proud of our Criminal Justice students for their many achievements over this past year. The Criminal Justice Student Association (CJSA) is one of the premier student organizations related to the law and justice field at UW-Superior and all students should have the chance to apply their knowledge, skills and abilities in this kind of applied and experiential setting."