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Criminal Justice students at Trine University tailor their degree with different concentration areas. They must elect one 15 hour concentration, but most do two or three. The five concentration areas are: law enforcement, forensic and correctional psychology, agency administration, psychology and Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.
Most criminal justice and psychology students complete a minor, if not a double major. This is accomplished by knowing in advance what the student wants as a career and knowing the job market.
The Department of Criminal Justice, Psychology and Social Sciences is great at having the student specialize in a growing area of the market wherein they desire to work. We always encourage students to be solid generalists, so when they graduate they can more easily find their niche.
Trine Criminal Justice students in the news:
2012 ACJA Regional Conference
In what has become standard procedure, Trine University’s TAO-Tau Alpha Omicron chapter of the American Criminal Justice Association (ACJA) brought home 54 awards from the 2012 regional conference in Milwaukee, WI Oct.5th-7th. This breaks last year’s regional conference record of 43 awards.
Students claimed 45 team and individual awards at the conference of the ACJA, which improves criminal justice through educational activities, promotes professionalism in law enforcement and awareness of criminal justice issues, encourages the expansion of criminal justice education and training, provides a voice for professionals and students of criminal justice and promotes high ethical standards in conduct, training and higher education in the field.
The students and faculty members, Professors Craig Laker and John Milliken, competed in handgun marksmanship. In handgun upper division team competition, John Daniel, Amiee Huston and Colin Arona won first place, and Kate Wegert, Jeremiah Hardwick and Ruth Feliciano took second place. In lower division, the team of Zach Terrell, Marc Edwards and Andrew O’Connor won first place. Also in the professional division the team of Craig Laker, John Milliken and Julia Nell won first place. Andrew Wilhelm won the Top Gun Award for having the highest score overall among the competitors with a score of 422/480, Jeremiah Hardwick came in second place with a score of 421/480 and Professor Laker won second place in the professional division.
Among crime scene investigation three-member teams, in the upper division, the team of Nell, Daniel and Arona won first place, Wegert, Feliciano and Hardwick won second place and third place went to Wilhelm, Howard and Nichols. In lower division Terrell, Edwards and O’Connor came in second place.
In physical agility, the team swept first, second and third place in the female and male under 25, where Wegert won first place in the female division and Howard first place for males under 25.
Trine students also fared well on ACJA written exams. In all divisions the students and faculty won 23 awards including Kate Wegert winning Top Academic Award for the student with the most placements in all categories. The written exams covered the criminal justice areas of Criminal Law, Juvenile Justice, Police Management, Corrections and LAE Knowledge.
For the first time in our 13 years of competition, the TAO chapter won the Sweepstakes Award for having the highest number of awards at the conference, Top Gun, Top Academics and Spirit Award.
“Our students competed against several different universities and colleges from throughout the Midwest,” Laker said. “I am very proud of their accomplishments and teamwork. Applying their education at Trine University to real world applications is a critical for their future career plans.” Ruth Feliciano
The National ACJA conference will be held in Valley Forge, PA April 21-26, 2013 which Trine students will be attending.
CSI Competition for Indiana State Police Career Camp
The Department of Criminal Justice, Psychology and Social Sciences faculty Craig Laker and Dave Conklin will host a Crime Scene Investigation Competition for the Indiana State Police Career Camp on July 13, 2011. The competition will consist of a crime scene and solution to the events that occurred.
ACJA National Conference
Angola, Ind - Trine University's Tau Alpha Omicron chapter of the American Criminal Justice Association captured a record number of awards at the National ACJA Conference in Memphis, Tenn., March 20 - 25.
Eight students and one professor, in three teams, competed against more than 500 criminal justice students and practitioners in categories such as crime scene investigation, handgun marksmanship and written exams.
A professional team consisted of chapter advisor Craig Laker and students Alex Simmons and Vincent Keesler. Simmons and Keesler also serve as Hamilton Police Reserve Officers. The team won third place in crime scene investigation. Laker won second place in the professional division for the written exam competition of corrections.
An upper division team consisted of Dustin Eggert, Andrew Behnfeldt and Andrew Wilhelm. A second division team consisted of Andrew Ross, Amy Van Bonn and David Nichols.
All the ACJA members were able to make progressive strides in leadership, career development and education, preparing them for their bright and exciting futures in the criminal justice field, Laker said.
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