"I highly praise Truman for its exuberant faculty as well as its ability to bring culture from around the world to further enrich its student’s lives.  What I really appreciated about Truman was tha

Leslie Wallace, Attorney Justice Systems, '99

t it was large enough for me to meet a new face almost every day, but cozy enough for me to nourish enriching friendships that will last a lifetime. 

The faculty and administration love and encourage the students, and you can really tell.  From the moment I decided to change my major to Justice Systems during my Sophomore year, I received constant support and dedication for all of my work in my various courses.  The Professors’ doors were always open.  I remember taking a tour of prison facilities with Professor Davenport, then advisor of Lambda Alpha Epsilon Criminal Justice Fraternity; as well as participating in various clothing and food drives with Professor Cooley, then advisor of Alpha Phi Sigma, the National Criminal Justice Honor Society. 

Yet, probably the most forecasting moment in my time at Truman was sitting in Dr. Eichor’s office going over my schedule for my final semester.  After a brief review of my tentative schedule, and a discussion as to my future plans - he looked right at me and asked me if I had ever considered law school.   Long story  short (3 years plus a Bar later), I never would have considered law school if it was not for Dr. Eichor and the tremendous information, knowledge and support I gained from my time at Truman."  

When it was all said and done, Leslie received an academic scholarship to enter the Fall 1999 class at Saint Louis University School of Law and graduated in May of 2002; she thereafter clerked for the late Honorable Lawrence G. Graham of the Missouri Court of Appeals, and is now a practicing attorney at one of the largest firms in St. Louis among several colleagues who also haled from Truman State University.  "Truman doesn’t just graduate its students; it propels them to new heights they never would have imagined possible."

Leanne Gray, Forensic Scientist Justice Systems, '86 graysforensic.com

M. Leanne Gray ('86) graduated with a Major in Criminal Justice and a Minor in Public Administration.  While at NMSU, she participated and was president of the academic fraternity Lambda Alpha Epsilon, was a member of the Alpha Phi Sigma National Criminal Justice Honor Society, and received the Outstanding Freshman Criminal Justice Major in 1983.
 

Leanne was hired right out of college by the Illinois State Police as a Forensic Scientist and spent two years in a formal training program in the area of latent print examination.  Since completing training, she has worked well over 3,000 felony cases and has testified in both state and federal courts, to the results of those examinations.  In 1990, Leanne went through a training program for footwear examination and has been conducting footwear examinations since that time.  Footwear examinations involve looking at footwear impressions left at crime scenes and comparing them to the soles of shoes and boots.

In 1992, Leanne became a Certified Latent Print Examiner through the International Association for Identification, being only the third person at that time to complete the comparison portion of the test by correctly identifying 15 out of 15 latent prints.  (The test requires on 12 identifications out of a possible 15).  The International Association for Identification is the largest organization focused on fingerprint examination, as well as other pattern evidence.  It has a publication titled, "Journal of Forensic Identification," which is sent to all of its members around the world.

Leanne has acted as a Quality Review Coordinator, both for the Latent Print Section as well as the Footwear Section of the Illinois State Police, Forensic Sciences Command and her duties included review casework conducted by other forensic scientists within the state of Illinois as well as conducting reanalysis of cases completed by other forensic scientists.  As a result of her quality assurance work, she was asked by the Forensic Scientist Command to act as a Training Coordinator.  In this capacity, she was responsible for some or all aspects of training eleven individuals in the area of latent print examination.  As with her own training program, this program is a two-year formal training program.

Since completing her commitment to training, she has been working cases in the areas of both latent print examinations and footwear examinations for the Illinois State Police.  As a Forensic Scientist specializing in fingerprint and footwear examination, her duties include:  receiving evidence into the laboratory from law enforcement agencies; processing that evidence for the presence of latent prints and footwear impressions; preserving any found impressions; comparing any found impressions to known standards; writing reports based upon the conclusions of my examinations; and, testifying in court, when required.

In 2006, Leanne began a private training and consulting business titled "Gray's Forensic Fingerprint Training & Consultation."  She developed a class titled, "Documenting the ACE-V Methodology" and has provided training to the Drug Enforcement Administration as well as the United States Secret Service.  Leanne has also taught for the International Association for Identification at their 2007 and 2008 educational conferences, which were attended by forensic scientists from all over the globe.  This past conference had over 1,300 participants from over 137 countries.  She also taught for the New England Division of the International Association for Identification in 2007 at their annual educational conference.  To date, through her private business, Leanne has trained over 250 forensic scientists in "Documenting the ACE-V Methodology."

In addition to Leanne's training and consulting business, she has had articles published in the Journal of Forensic Identification in 1996 and 2005 and also had articles published in The Fingerprint World, a publication put out by the professional organization "The Fingerprint Society" based out of England.  Leanne has  also written a chapter on Quality Assurance for the forthcoming "Sourcebook" to be published by the National Institute of Justice. 

Leanne's memories of NMSU are the value of having small class sizes and individual attention from all of the professors.  She states,..."Specifically, I recall taking Matt Eichor's class on Crime Laboratories and getting to try my hand at a variety of scientific methods of processing evidence.  While at NMSU, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the National Fingerprint Center For Missing Children.  While volunteering, I was given the opportunity to learn how to take fingerprints and some basic understanding of how to classify fingerprints, which was relevant when I got hired by the Illinois State Police."

The Illinois State Police Forensic Sciences Command has the third largest crime laboratory system in the world, behind only Scotland Yard and the Federal Bureau of Identification.  The ISP Forensic Sciences Command currently has approximately 450 employees, including approximately 60 forensic scientists specializing in latent print examination.  It is a great laboratory system and there are always opportunities for internships as well as employment to qualified graduates at their 8 satellite locations.

 

 

Anthony Pavelcik, Inspector Justice Systems '96

Anthony Joseph Pavelcik ('96) graduated with a major in Justice Systems and a minor in Psychology from NMSU.  After graduating he was hired by the Federal Protective Service (FPS) as an officer to the St. Louis field office. He was responsible for the protection of federal assets and the people and agencies that work in those facilities. While working for the FPS, Anthony also attended Webster University part-time and graduated with an MBA in Business. Since then he was promoted to the position of Inspector for FPS in the St. Louis area. Anthony has also created and written the FPS Operational Plans for the 2004 World Series and the 2005 NCAA Final Four. 

Anthony enjoys not only the responsibilities of his job, but also the camaraderie of dealing with other law enforcement professionals from multiple different organizations. It is not uncommon for him to meet with individuals from many local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the same day.

 

Anthony’s position as Inspector requires him to implement and oversee the security of the major federal buildings in downtown St. Louis and investigate incidents of possible criminal or suspicious activities that could affect these facilities.  After 9/11, FPS, along with the former Immigrations & Naturalization Service and U.S. Customs Service were merged together under the newly created Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to form the bureau U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 

ICE is the largest investigative arm of DHS, responsible for the enforcement of border, economic, infrastructure and transportation security laws. ICE seeks to prevent acts of terrorism by targeting the people, money and materials that support terrorist and criminal activities.  FPS focuses directly on the interior security of the nation. FPS is an agency with  comprehensive Hazardous Response, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Explosive Detection Dogs, and Emergency Response programs.  In the course of his tenure at FPS, Anthony has worked major events throughout the nation and protection details for Senators and Cabinet members.  Anthony states, “From forging these strong relationships over the years, it’s a comforting feeling knowing that at any time day or night, I could personally call a number of officers or agents in other agencies to deal with an issue that needs immediate attention.  One of the primary reasons that I selected this career field is the bond of loyalty and trust that is paramount in law enforcement.  I’ve always had ‘the fire’ to be part of the law enforcement community, but the Justice Systems faculty at Truman was a significant factor in honing my desire and energizing me to always work hard – whether it be in my studies or on the job.” Anthony can be contacted at anthony.Pavelcik@dhs.gov and recommends visiting ICE for more information.

 

Dr. Charles “Chuck” Katz Justice System, '91

Charles “ Chuck” Katz ('91)  graduated with a Criminal Justice degree from NMSU.  Being persuaded by faculty to attend graduate school, he earned his Masters and then  his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice in 1997 from the University of  Nebraska at Omaha.  Currently, he is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. His scholarship interests include policing, gangs, strategic crime control, and evaluation research.  He has authored 13 research articles on such topics as police response to gangs, community policing, and drug use among arrestees.  His written work has recently appeared in top-rated journals such as Criminology, Justice Quarterly, and Police Quarterly; and  he is co-author of the books The Police in America: An Introduction (5th edition), and Controversies in Criminal Justice. Dr. Katz enjoys his time at Arizona State University doing research  related to the identification of successful policing strategies.  He spent over five years in discovering innovations in policing working with more than twenty police agencies across the country as part of two federally-funded projects sponsored by the Department of Justice Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

 

Dr. Katz has evaluated gang control strategies for police agencies and spent over 1000 hours observing gang unit officers in Phoenix, Arizona; Inglewood, California; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; and, Omaha, Nebraska  as part of one project that was funded by the National Institute of Justice,  the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice.  His work  received national attention and was presented at the annual conference.  Currently, he is expanding his research into a book on police response to gangs. 

 

Vince Webb, former chair of Criminology and Criminal Justice at ASU West, says “Chuck Katz has put together a very impressive record of published scholarship, accomplishing a great deal of work in several diverse areas at a rapid pace,” he continues to say, “his work on police response to gangs established him in national criminology circles as an expert on the subject.”

 

Webb states that Dr. Katz’ great strength is his ability to integrate his teaching and research and that he has done an outstanding job of serving Phoenix-area communities by applying his research to local crime and criminal justice problems.

 

The most interesting research to Dr. Katz  is Operation Restoration, an attempt to crack down on the disorder of illegal immigrants looking for day labor in the downtown area of Chandler.  The police and INS used aggressive tactics, making mass arrests which later were found to be unconstitutional. He says it was a political disaster and reduced no serious crime, yet  restored order to public nuisance crimes.

 

Dr. Katz likes the freedom of academe which drew him to teaching.  At ASU West  he gets to work with local agencies and put theory into practice.  The community-driven campus provides social scientists opportunities to explore their field and conduct fieldwork.  He states, “As corny as it sounds, the world is your oyster….you have the freedom here to pursue whatever interests you academically.”

 

Dr. Katz served as the first Graduate Director of the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice where he was responsible for developing curricula  modeled partly after the Justice Systems program at Truman State University.  Its focus provided criminal justice managers, or those aspiring to be managers, with the necessary skills to implement effective crime control strategies.  The student’s capstone course included required work evaluating a current policy or strategy implemented by a criminal justice agency.  He  remarks, “The capstone course provides an excellent opportunity for the student to demonstrate all of the skills learned while at the same time providing important feedback to local agencies with respect to how well their programs and policies are working.”

Dr. Katz praised the liberal arts education  he received as part of his program of study at NMSU.  He states that by “forcing  him” to take such a broad range of courses in literature, the sciences, and in mathematics he was much more prepared for the world in front of him.  He misses the interaction with many of his fellow justice systems majors and expresses thanks to the faculty for making his experience at NMSU enjoyable.  -Excerpts of article taken from Insight West:  Arizona State University West Faculty/Staff Publication, “Charles Katz”, October 13th, 2003 Issue-

Major Craig Chandler Justice Systems, ’87

Major Craig Chandler (’87) with the United States Army gives us an update of his service in Iraq from summer 2005 . Following are some excerpts of an email from him... Good morning! (Saba Hal kHare) (the kH is kind of like hocking up a luggie…) I am making friends here quickly both with the Iraqis and the rest of my American team, so life here is a never ending learning curve.  I spend most days training the Jundies (Iraqi soldiers) then in the afternoon between 1-3 most of them take a nap…good idea since it is 115-125 degrees here everyday by then. Usually the Sadies (literally meaning is Sir but is synonymous with any Officer) are quick nap takers so we end up having Chi-U-Chethub (literal Tea and some small lies/talk) and talking politics or things in general regarding America.  The Jundies have a completely different way of life.  The officers have cars, homes (baits) usually 1 Madame (wife) the Jundies have no car, will be living with parents and have 3 wives (and the corresponding number of kids).  The officers are extremely curious about how we live and what we do…how much we make, what can you buy, women in general…the married and unmarried you never know when you may run across another prospective wife!  In training we conduct Traffic Control Points (TCP’s), Raids, literally going into insurgent/terrorists homes for bad guys (think SWAT) and cordons, you cordon off an area and go house to house searching for weapons or bad guys.  So with training during the day and actions at night we stay fairly busy which makes the time go by quickly…Please know that I miss home and the US more each day, we are truly blessed as a nation.  Please keep me and my family in your prayers.  -Craig

 

Donald Snyder, Police Officer Justice Systems, '97

Officer Snyder ('97) from Overland Park Kansas Police Department states, "Truman teaches a student to really think through a problem.  Several of my projects were group projects that required you to use a team philosophy.  I found it comforting to have professors in the Justice Systems division who actually had the real world experience in different aspects of Law Enforcement teaching a class.  All of my professors had experience in either local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, forensics, juvenile system, corrections, or actual lawyers who had court room experience.  When you put this all together, the knowledge one gains from knowledgeable professors added with a high standard in the curriculum is immeasurable. 

Another strong point I found in the Justice Systems major was the idea of doing an internship.  This by far was the best experience I had.   Simply put, the internship actually helps you know if you are getting into the right career path.  That is what my internship did for me.  I did not learn how to handcuff, drive in a pursuit, or take control of suspects using pressure point tactics from Truman State.  That is what a Police Academy is for.  What I did learn was how to think and work through a problem.  I got the knowledge needed to hold myself to a higher standard, regardless of what field I have chosen."