Wed, Nov 5, 2014
3:00pm
Gresham Library, Thomason Room (Fourth Floor)

The Newton Gresham Library will hold a special presentation on the history of the Walls Unit, which houses the execution chamber for death penalty cases in the state of Texas.

The presentation will feature Jim Willett, former Warden of the Huntsville Unit (Walls Unit) and author of Warden: Texas Prison Life and Death from the Inside Out. He currently serves as Director of the Prison Museum in Huntsville.

Following the lecture, there will be a presentation featuring items from SHSU Special Collections. The Thomason Room includes collections about the history of criminal justice in Texas.

Space is limited to the first 40 attendees. To RSVP or for more information, call (936) 294-1619.

Michelle Moran with a child in Tibet during a SHSU Study Abroad Program in 2000.

Michelle “Deaneé” Moran always knew what she wanted to do with her criminal justice degree from Sam Houston State University: to make a difference in her community.

“From day one, that’s been my goal – to make a difference in the community that I live in,” Moran said. “This path has fulfilled that need in me.”

Moran advocates for sexual assault victims in Delaware.Moran has helped many communities – and many individuals – in her career in victim services, which has stretched from Texas to Delaware to Maryland. She has served survivors of sexual assault, victims of child abuse and neglect, and victims of domestic violence. Along the way, she earned her master’s degree in counseling and is pursuing a Ph.D. in child development.

Since January, Moran has served as the Program Manager for the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program in Southern Maryland, which provides a voice for foster children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse and/or neglect. Operated with highly trained volunteers, the program had 47 advocates who handled cases for 72 children in 2013.

“One of the biggest rewards that I have experienced is seeing the positive outcomes,” said Moran. “Children in the CASA program stay in foster care 1.5 to two years less than other kids, and they have many more resources out in community. For the older kids, they have a better chance of making it once they age out of care. For me, the work is what the teams are doing. I steer the ship, but everyone else is doing the hard work.”

Moran was recently appointed by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to serve on the state’s Child Fatality Review Team, which examines circumstances around child deaths to identify key policies, procedures and standards that could prevent future tragedies. “We are responsible for advising the Governor, General Assembly and the public on changes to the law, policy and practice to prevent child death,” she said.

Moran participates in a Sexual Assault Awareness event with Delaware Gov. Jack Markell.While earning a degree in counseling from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Moran became a peer counselor at a local crisis center, focusing on young victims, including children, teens and young adults who were victims of sexual assault. Later, she took a job at Patsy’s House Child Advocacy Center as a forensic interviewer for child victims of abuse and neglect for 12 counties in Northern Texas. She also served as the Director of the Relationship Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Program at the University of Texas in Arlington, developing education and awareness programs on campus.

At UT Arlington she developed programs against sexual violence on campus.In 2010, she left Texas to head the Sexual Assault Network of Delaware (the state’s coalition against sexual violence), where she helped develop standard protocols for law enforcement officers responding to sexual assault cases and served on task forces across the state. She also worked with the National Center for Victims of Crime, where she traveled the country to train law enforcement officers, judges and attorneys about stalking and victims rights.

When she decided to lay down roots, she settled in the Washington, D.C. area and took the position with CASA. Moran is hoping to make a difference on a larger scale in the area for victims of crime.

Moran lobbying for the Violence Against Victims Act in 2012.“Victim services has always been my interest,” said Moran. “I knew, even as a student, that there is a better way to serve child victims. When I started in the field, I could always see better ways of doing things.”

Moran is now pursuing a Ph.D. degree in child development at Texas Women’s University, a missing piece of the puzzle to provide her best for child victims. She is expected to graduate in December 2015.

Moran participated in Study Abroad programs at SHSU, such as this trip to China and Tibet.But despite her nearly three degrees in higher education, she still feels SHSU represents her true alma mater.

“I always held Sam Houston as my one and only,” said Moran. “There was a sense of family. Dr. Dick Ward (former Dean and Director) instilled this drive in me to do more, do better and achieve your best.”

“It feels like a whirlwind,” said Moran. “I have been all over the place, but I have always taken steps up the ladder, taken on new challenges, and was open to new opportunities. I certainly have not been chasing the money, but rather it has been a chase to serve society, making sure that I’m in a position where I can be more influential and better serve my community.”

Press conference announcing Project SAFE.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office recently launched a prostitution prevention program for young adults, and Sam Houston State University will help evaluate the success of the new initiative.

Called Project SAFE (Survivors Acquiring Freedom and Empowerment) Court, the program will target first-time offenders between 17 and 25 years old -- as well as some young repeat offenders – who face misdemeanor prostitution charges in court. The specialty court will focus on increased treatment, improved psychosocial outcomes, and enhanced personal safety for program participants as well as reduced criminal activities.

“In my opinion, the creation of this court is further evidence that a paradigm shift is occurring in the way the criminal justice system handles prostitution and sex trafficking cases which is especially salient in Houston/Harris County as it is a primary hub for such activities,” said Dr. Lisa Muftic of SHSU’s College of Criminal Justice, who will lead the evaluation component of the project. “There is a growing recognition that the manner in which we handled these types of cases in the past, such as arrests and jail time, have not been very effective as most individuals arrested for sex work cycle in and out of the system for years. The specialty court model allows for the development of a program that can address the unique needs of the target population in an effort to decrease the further sexual exploitation of program participants.”

The Houston metropolitan area is known as a hub for sex trafficking and prostitution, both domestic and international. Many of those arrested are girls and women who have been sexually exploited by customers, pimps and traffickers. Texas recently joined other states in adopting legislation to differentiate sex trafficking and prostitution. The law, “Continuous Trafficking of Persons,” creates a first-degree felony offense for individuals who commit two or more acts of human trafficking within a 30 days period.

In 2013, there were 340 first-time offenders charged with prostitution under the age of 25 in Harris County, with about 2,000 prostitution cases filed over the last four years involving young adults 17 to 25.

The high recidivism rate among people convicted of prostitution demonstrated that incarceration alone has not provided the tools needed to “break the cycle.” Many of those in the sex trade have long histories of abuse, neglect, and addiction. SAFE Court will address their needs by combining a specialty court therapeutic model with supervised, evidence-based treatment intervention. The goal is to reduce victimization and criminalization of these young adults and to improve public safety and health.

“SAFE Court is designed to bridge the gap between the criminal justice system and community organizations that help those engaged in prostitution,” said Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson. ”This court will provide these young people life skills needed to transition out of the prostitution lifestyle and to become a contributing member of society.”

Project SAFE Court is among a growing number of specialty courts in Harris County and across Texas, which target specialized populations, such as drug offenders, drunk driving cases, female offenders and veterans, to name a few. Prostitution courts may operate at the felony level, such as the Strengthening, Transition, Recovery (STAR) Court in Dallas, or at the misdemeanor level, such as the Growing Independence and Restoring Lives (GIRLS) Court in Harris County Juvenile Court.

Dr. Muftic will evaluate the early development of the program as well and its implementation and outcomes. Two graduate students from SHSU also will assist in the study.
“Limited research exists on the use of intervention/specialty courts for sex workers,” said Dr. Muftic. “However, evidence does suggest that non adversarial court methods, similar to what drug courts provide, may be an effective intervention strategy for this population.”

Mike McDaniel (foreground) and Bryan Smith lead Houston HIDTA.

When Mike McDaniel started as a DEA Agent in 1987, it would take him two months to gather data and call his contacts at local, state and federal agencies to get a narcotics investigation underway.

Now, as Director of the Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), McDaniel and the investigators of the HIDTA task forces have 36 law enforcement agencies in 18 counties at their disposal to accomplish the same task in about 30 minutes. As part of a unique partnership with Sam Houston State University, the program also trains and employs 24 intelligence analysts to gather information to guide the coordinated attack against drug trafficking organizations.

X-ray of a truck carrying drugs.“The agencies are all co-located and co-mingled in task forces to target cartels around the world,” said McDaniel. “We identify strategies that augment the efforts of each agency. We have been extremely successful, and the program has greatly exceeded our expectations.”

In 2013, Houston HIDTA is credited with dismantling 75 international, 41 interstate and 29 local drug trafficking organizations and seizing more than $231 million in drugs, cash and assets. As a result of its success, it was named “2013 HIDTA of the Year” among 33 similar programs nationwide, and earned accolades for Outstanding IT for its use of technology and Outstanding Investigative Initiative for its Texas Coastal Corridor Initiative (TCCI), a multi-agency task force that targets drug trafficking organizations in and around Corpus Christi through intelligence developed by arrests by Border Patrol and investigative information from money seizures in the area.

Houston HIDTA teams seize cash, guns and drugs.Houston HIDTA, funded through a $10 million grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, is one of the successful partnerships that the College of Criminal Justice has engaged in over the last five decades. It allows the College to assist outside agencies with resources and provides opportunities for graduates to get experience in the field. For the last 10 years, SHSU graduates who began with the Houston HIDTA program have often gone on to become valued analysts for federal agencies.

“It is a symbiotic relationship,” said Bryan Smith, Deputy Director of Houston HIDTA. “We get eager motivated candidates for intelligence analyst positions, and SHSU knows they have employment opportunities here. It really helps to build the image of SHSU among the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and helps strengthen law enforcement connections.”

Marijuana seized by HIDTA teams along the roadways.Houston HIDTA covers the Texas Gulf Coast areas around Houston and Corpus Christi and includes 431 miles of coastline. The area includes the fourth largest city in the country, home to six million people; four of the top 10 ranked ports in the U.S.; the sixth largest airport in the country, and sophisticated rail and highways systems. It also includes long-standing, international business relationships, making it a prime target for drug trafficking.

Houston HIDTA operates through task forces and programs through Southeast Texas, which target cartels using 500 representatives from local, county, state and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Attorneys’ Offices; the U.S. Marshals Service; Texas Department of Public Safety; Houston, Pasadena and Corpus Christi Police Departments; Harris County, Fort Bend County, Jefferson County, and Montgomery County Sheriffs’ Offices, and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Houston was recently recognized for being the outstanding HIDTA agency, investigative initiative and IT.“The goals and objectives of the Houston HIDTA are established by a 19 member board of directors, consisting of agency heads from the participating federal, state and local law enforcement agencies,” McDaniel said.

In addition to the award-winning TCCI task force in the Corpus Christi area, the initiatives include:

• The Fort Bend Enforcement Team, which handles drug enforcement in the suburban and rural county
• Gangs And Non-traditional Gang Squads (GANGS), which identify, monitor, disrupt and displace activities and membership of traditional and non-traditional gangs in the Houston area using the Gang Tracker software program
• Houston Investigative Support Center, which provides timely strategic, operational and tactical intelligence to direct drug control activities
• Houston Money Laundering Initiative, a multi-jurisdictional task force that focuses on money laundering and their organizations, especially new trends and methods, which are shared through major federal databases
• Major Drug Squads, which conduct complex investigations to bring down drug cartels at the local, regional and international levels by targeting high-level operatives
• The Methamphetamine Initiative Group, which targets local clandestine labs and the import of products from Mexico
• Narcotics Operation Control Center, which coordinates narcotics operations for all agencies involved in drug enforcement to prevent overlap or conflict and promote officer safety.
• Targeted Narcotics Enforcement Team, addresses mid-level drug trafficking groups, stash houses and informant development using state and federal prosecutions, building code violations and varied enforcement opportunities
• The Texas Narcotic Information System, which provides intelligence, databases, tactical and case support for all agencies.
• Truck, Air, Rail and Port, which interdicts drugs at transportation hubs, including airports, seaports, rail stations, bus station, and express mail couriers.

Smith (foreground) and McDaniel in the classrom where analysts and officers are trained.Key to many of the operations are the intelligence analysts, who track activities in reports and through the internet. The analysts and law enforcement are trained by Houston HIDTA to identify and document leads and links between cartels and their various members.

“The analysts add so much value to the work that one good analyst can be worth several officers,” said Smith. “They are turning data into actionable information that is useful and relevant. A database is useless; you need a trained mind to glean data for it to make a difference.”

The Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility (STAFS) will collaborate with two other research centers across the country to develop a standard quantitative method describing the human decomposition process.

The research, funded by the National Institute of Justice, is designed to provide a standard in the forensic discipline that can be used as scientific evidence in court cases. It is part of an initiative by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to standardized procedures and testing in the forensic science field.

“What it will do for the field is to standardize decomposition processes beyond the first 72 hours,” said Dr. Joan Bytheway, Director of STAFS. “We will study post-mortem intervals and clarify if there are regional differences.”

Dr. Joan Bytheway, Director of STAFSSTAFS is one of six “body farms,” in the country, which are used to study forensic anthropology as it pertains to criminal cases and the forensic field. Two other facilities, including the University of Tennessee and Texas State University, also will participate in the study to determine if the decomposition process is different by region or climate. Tennessee has a temperate climate; Texas State is located in a subtropical sub-humid climate; and STAFS is subtropical and humid.

In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report that found serious deficiencies in the nation’s forensic science system and called for major reforms and new research in the field. The NAS recommended rigorous and mandatory certification programs and strong standards and protocols for analyzing evidence. A bill, the Criminal Justice and Forensic Science Reform Act, which would create national accreditation and certification standards and require forensic examiners to be certified to be eligible for direct or indirect federal funds, is currently pending in Congress.

Law enforcement officer work on a clandestine grave during a training at STAFS. Currently, forensic anthropologists generally rely on qualitative data – descriptions of processes in decomposition -- to determine time of death and the evidence is not often used in court yet because there is no established quantitative data analytic. In an effort to provide a more standardized system, the study will use an existing mathematical formula to determine the stages of decomposition, which assigns scores to measure decomposition in different areas of the body – including head, trunk and limbs – and correlate this data with accumulated degree days (averaging the minimum and maximum daily temperatures) The results will be compared among the three facilities to determine if quantitative approaches need to be modified based on different ecoregions.

The study will include 96 human research subjects – four at each site, four times a year for a two-year period. The study sample will be the largest known-dates-of-death sample ever used in this type of research.

A bone is identified during a training at STAFS.STAFS provides ongoing research experiments in many areas of forensics and other sciences, including anthropology, biology and chemistry. Among the other research activities that have taken place are documenting the decomposition process under various conditions, studying the succession of insects at the site, determining if bacterial microbes can be used as an alternative to determine post-mortem interval, and identifying scavenger activities.

STAFS also provide training to professionals in the field, including crime scene investigators, law enforcement, educators and anthropologists. The classes they offer involve hands-on processes, such as blood spatter, pattern evidence, advanced crime scene, entomology, and photography, to name a few.

The Anthropology Research Facility (ARF) at the University of Tennessee was the first natural outdoor laboratory to study human decomposition. Established over 30 years ago, the ARF has provided scores of studies that document the decomposition process under varying conditions. Some current decomposition-related research topics include soil microbiology and isotopes, human microbiology, remote sensing of graves and NIJ sponsored research to evaluate the utility of non-human animal models as proxies for human decomposition. Training for law enforcement, medico-legal professionals and students is also provided at the ARF each summer, including Field Methods, Outdoor Recovery, and Scene Documentation.

The Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University is a research, teaching, and outreach center within the Department of Anthropology. Established in 2008, FACTS encompasses a large outdoor decomposition facility on Freeman Ranch known as the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF), Like the other facilities, FACTS provides training for law enforcement, medicolegal investigators, and human detection dog handlers in forensic taphonomy, search and recovery of human remains, and forensic anthropological skeletal analysis methods. FACTS personnel also aid in medicolegal death investigations. Current decomposition-related research topics conducted at FARF include examining environmental thresholds that affect the necrobiome, soil microbiology and isotopes, the use of remote aerial vehicles with multispectral cameras to search for human remains, and the effects of vulture scavenging on decomposition.

Stephen Dicker is senior officer with the Environmental Investigation Unit at the Houston Police Department.

As a Senior Police Officer with the Environmental Investigations Unit, Dicker conducts criminal investigations of illegal dumping, air and water pollution, and chemical releases throughout the Houston region. He now shares his skills as a board member and instructor with Project EnCriPT, which produces training for law enforcement and civil enforcers on how to investigate environmental cases through the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) at Sam Houston State University.

“The one thing I like about environ- mental enforcement is that if you go out and stop a robbery, it’s an event that stops one, two, maybe three guys which affected a small amount of victims,” Dicker said. “When you get out there and stop polluters, it affects the entire neighborhood. We have a positive effect.”

Dicker is part of 14-member environmental unit, which includes law enforcement officers and civilian investigators. It is one of the largest units of its kind in the country and is co-housed with representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and Texas Game Wardens. The agencies work together on large cases, but the Houston Police Department also focuses on offenses in their backyard.

In addition to the penal code, the unit can enforce federal laws, administrative codes and health and safety codes.

Dicker once helped shut down a company in Houston that killed two workers by exposing them to hazardous materials and spread noxious odors throughout the neighborhood. After the company relocated to Port Arthur, the owner was indicted on conspiracy charges for illegally transporting hazardous material.

But the majority of Houston’s cases – 70 percent – involve illegal dumping, which can include anything from construction debris, household trash, commercial waste, appliances, automobiles, boats – and the occasional house. The cost for cleanup of these piles left on public and private property can run from $200 to several hundred thousand dollars each.

“Literally, we have the whole building show up sometimes,” said Dicker. “Illegal dumping attracts rats and snakes and includes nails and glass. Kids can get into this and get hurt. There are often tires, which attract mosquitoes, and they carry encephalitis and West Nile.”

Dicker also investigates water and air pollution, such as the release of sewage, industrial waste or chemicals. The unit is manned around the clock because it is imperative to get to these scenes quickly. For air pollution issues, investigators use their noses to detect noxious gases in the neighborhood and trace it to its source.

“Our evidence is washing – or floating -- away,” Dicker said. “We need to secure samples and get them to the lab. “

The Environmental Investigations Unit, which often works hand-in-hand with Houston’s Haz-Mat Unit, has unique equipment at its disposal. It includes protective equipment, chemical suits, thermal cameras, sanitizing equipment and patrol boats for work on the water.

Environ- mental enforcement is still a new area for many police departments. For Dicker, an officer since 1982, it started with responses to illegal dumping around Houston, which soon included asbestos ripped out of buildings. Dicker got a lot of on-the-job training, occasionally augmented by classes from the EPA, the state of Texas or the Southern Environmental Enforcement Network. Eventually, Dicker started going around the country as an instructor for other departments.

Because of a dearth of training resources, Dicker got involved with Project EnCriPT, an EPA-funded program which offers free, online courses to local, county, state, federal and tribal agencies that are involved in criminal and/or civil investigations. The classes include Introduction to Environmental Investigation, Personal Safety for Environmental Enforcement Professionals, and Ethics of Environmental Enforcement, with dozen of classes planned over
A live training at Project EnCriPT.a three year period. A more in-depth program is available through cohorts, which provides opportunities for online class discussions and research papers for participants. In addition, live training sessions will be offered on a regional basis for participants who prefer to learn in a face-to-face, hands-on setting.

“It was devised because there are limited education opportunities for environmental enforcement,” Dicker said.

Dicker serves as a valuable member of the Advisory Board with Project EnCriPT.

For more information about Project EnCriPT, visit www.lemitonline.org/environmental.

Tue, Nov 18, 2014
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom

As Victim Assistance Coordinator for the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Karen Martin’s job is to aid victims in criminal cases, focusing mainly on surviving family members in capital murder cases. Occasionally, that means accompanying the victim’s family to the execution.

“You are a familiar voice, a familiar person,” said Martin, who has worked in victim services since 1995. “Most of the victims’ families, I have never met in person, but they at times want me to be there to the end. I am honored by that.”

In capital cases, Martin often works with families for years, notifying them about legal proceedings in cases or outcomes of appeals. She often accompanies family members to trials or hearings and advises them about financial and counseling assistance available through the Crime Victims Compensation Fund. She informs them the rights of victims in the system and about the victim impact statement, which provide a voice for the families in sentencing, plea bargains and parole.

“They really just want information,” said Martin. “People really want to be kept up to date on what’s happening."

The appeals process in capital murder cases is long and complex. Following the trial and sentencing, the convicted offender is automatically entitled to an appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest court with criminal jurisdiction in the state. They also can file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. The capital murder offender also may pursue a state habeas corpus review, an appeal that raises issues outside of the trial record. If unsuccessful, the defendant can take the habeas corpus review to the federal level, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Finally, the offender may apply for executive clemency from the Board of Pardons and Paroles. When all appeals are exhausted, an execution date is set.

The victim’s family has the right to be present at the execution and is given five seats in the gallery. The victim representatives are briefed before the execution by watching a video and by familiarizing themselves with the death chambers and the activities that will take place. The victim advocate continues to be available to the family before, during and after the process.

“Once an execution is over, families and friends have complex reactions,” according to a briefing on the Attorney General’s web site. “Despite feelings of relief, one can also still feel very empty and depressed. While some may feel that justice has been served, others might still feel upset. The execution may in some cases trigger new emotions. There is no right or wrong way to feel. Whatever the reaction to the execution, it is a personal reaction. The Victim Services Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is available throughout the process.”

In addition to the Attorney General’s Office, Texas law enforcement departments and District Attorneys’ offices are required to have liaisons to assist victims of violence crime through the criminal justice process. Among the rights afforded to victims in Texas are: protection from harm or threat; safety consideration in setting bail; information on court, prosecutor and parole proceedings; information about the Crime Victim Compensation Fund and the ability to file a victim impact statement. These rights also extend to family members, including dependents or those related by blood or marriage.

To make newly-appointed victim liaisons and Victim Assistance Coordinators aware of provisions for victims, Martin also serves as a trainer for law enforcement liaisons, prosecutor offices and advocates working with agencies that assist crime victims.

Martin said she loves her job and has been very successful at leaving the work at the office.

“My job is very rewarding,” said Martin. “I love to help victims, and I love to do the training, and I am really good at leaving it at work. There are boundaries. However, some cases make more of an imprint, and some people call more often than others and I get to know them well. “

Martin said there are many job opportunities in the victim assistance field at police departments, district or county attorney offices, probation departments, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Some positions require a college degree while others need a counselor’s license.

Martin suggests that students interested in working in the field get volunteer experience in victim service offices. Many local police departments, such as Austin, Waco and Arlington offer these opportunities. “Having a degree with this volunteer training experience helps,” Martin said.
The presentation will also be available live on the web at www.cjcenter.org/live.

Here is a list of publications recently produced by faculty, students and alumni of Sam Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice.

*Grubb, J. A., &Bouffard, L. (2014). The interrelationships between victimization, fear, and acculturation among Asian immigrants. Victims & Offenders, 9(4), 353-385.

*Koeppel, M., &Bouffard, L. (2014). Sexual orientation, child abuse, and intimate partner violence. Violence & Victims, 29(3), 436-450.

**Morris, R. G., & Worrall, J. L. (2014). Prison architecture and inmate misconduct: A multilevel assessment. Crime & Delinquency, 60(7), 1083-1109.

Muftić, L. R., *Grubb, J. A., Bouffard, L. A., & Maljević, A. (2014). The impact of life domains on juvenile offending in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Direct, indirect, and moderating effects in Agnew’s Integrated General Theory. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 51(6), 816-845.

**Pollock, W. (2014). Things change: An intergenerational examination of the correlates of police contact. Crime & Delinquency, 60(8), 1183-1208.

Vartkessian, E.S., **Sorenson, J.R., & Kelly, C. E. (2014). Tinkering with the machinery of death: An analysis of juror decision-making in Texas death penalty trials during two statutory eras. Justice Quarterly. Advance online publications.

**Wilson, F. (Ed). (2014). Crime and media studies. Cognella: San Diego, CA.

Wozniak, J. R., Thies, M. L., Bytheway, J. A., & Lutterschmidt, W.I. (2014). A hydrologic retention system and water quality monitoring program for a human decomposition research facility: Concept and design. Journal of Forensic Science. Advance online publication.

Wright, K.A. & ** Rodriguez, N. (2014). A closer look at the paradox: Examining immigration and youth reoffending in Arizona. Justice Quarterly, 31(5), 882-904.

Menard, S., & **Johnson, M.C. (2014) An intergenerational test of integrated theory. Deviant Behavior. Advance online publication.

Menard, S., and **Pollock, W. (2014). Self reports of being falsely accused of criminal behavior. Deviant Behavior, 35, 378-393.

Key
Bold: Faculty
*: Doctoral Students

**: Alumni

Dr. Chi-Chung Jorn Yu is leading the study to trace the origins of marijuana samples.

The Department of Forensic Science is testing a cost-effective analytical tool that can trace the geographic origins of marijuana samples for criminal investigations.

“Marijuana is one of the most common controlled substances not only in the United States, but also worldwide,” Dr. Chi-Chung (Jorn) Yu, principal investigator of the study. “It is of forensic interests to trace the origin of marijuana for the purpose of criminal investigations.”

The department is developing a forensic chemistry technique to capture gases from marijuana samples, which could be analyzed using a common instrument, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), found in most crime labs. Right now, the only agency capable of creating geographical profiles of marijuana is the Drug Enforcement Administration using an expensive analytical instrument and process.

The results could aid law enforcement in identifying the regions where marijuana plants are grown and creating a database to link cases with the same profiles, Dr. Yu said.

Sam Houston State University will collaborate with the Southwest Regional Science Center within the Department of Homeland Security to obtain test samples. The project is being funded through a grant from the National Institute of Justice.

The study will use chemical forensics to collect and analyze chemical signatures in marijuana samples, which can be classified and traced back to the source. The research will use heated headspace solid phase microextraction to capture the sample and GC/MS to analyze the results. This can lead to a database, which can be shared by law enforcement agencies in drug cases.

Dr. Yu is involved in several areas of criminalistics in the Department of Forensic Science. In 2014, he was certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Criminalistics (ABC) and promoted to Fellow in the Criminalistics Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Before joining SHSU, Dr. Yu was a forensic scientist at Forensic Science Center, Taipei, Taiwan. As a practitioner in crime scene investigation, he had numerous opportunities to resolve major crimes within the Taipei municipal area. During his graduate training, he completed a study using different algorithms to search infrared spectra for automobile coatings by the use of Fourier Transform Infrared Microscopy.

Human sex trafficking is a serious problem both domestically and internationally, and more education is needed to address the risk factors and the physical and mental health issues that arise for victims in the sex trade, according to a new series by the Crime Victims’ Institute at Sam Houston State University.

According to “Human Sex Trafficking: An Overview,” the prevalence of sex trafficking victims vary widely. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across the globe annually, with 70 percent forced into the sex trade. In 2004, The Department of State suggested that 14,500 to 17,500 people are brought into the U.S. annually from countries such as the Ukraine, Thailand, the Philippines, and Mexico for prostitution.

In the U.S., there are about 100,000 children who are sexually exploited by forced prostitute, many of them entering the sex trade between 12 and 14 years old, with some as young as five years old. Once these children reach adulthood, they face many barriers to getting out, including violence and control by traffickers, limited options for paid labor, negative perceptions of prostitutes, and mental and physical health issues.

“This is an issue that is a problem and people are not aware of it,” said Dr. Cortney Franklin, who is the guest editor on the Human Trafficking Series. “This is an opportunity to raise awareness.”

Dr. Cortney FranklinThe most common risk factors for becoming involved in forced prostitution are youthful age, family dysfunction, child sexual and physical abuse, child neglect, and homelessness. Mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety and borderline personality disorders, as well as runaways, also contribute to the issue.

“Research has consistently found that sex traffickers prey on homeless youth and manipulate their vulnerabilities, including the basic need for shelter, food, social support, love, care and self-esteem,” said Lindsay M. Ashworth, co-author of the report. “Moreover, many homeless youth have reported feelings of hopelessness, are without options to sustain themselves, and resort to ‘survival sex.’”

Sex trafficking victims are at a higher risk than the general population for physical and mental illnesses. These include injuries from physical and sexual assaults, sexually transmitted diseases, substance use and abuse, and mental health issues. Research shows that 70 to 95 percent of victims are physically assaulted; 88 percent are subject to verbal abuse; and 60 to 75 percent report being raped by pimps or customers.

As many as 100 percent of human trafficking victims meet the criteria for some type of mental illness, including 68 percent with qualifying characteristics of post traumatic stress disorder.

“To combat the psychological aftermath associated with these extreme forms of trauma, victims often resort to drugs and alcohol, which have become a common coping strategy to mitigate their experiences in the sex trade,” Dr. Franklin said. “This chemical dependence often leads to additional physical and mental health problems, producing a cycle of victimization and trauma, injury, substance abuses and adverse mental health outcomes.”

“Human Sex Trafficking: An Overview” is available on the CVI web site.

Carmella Jones

Carmella Jones recently joined the staff at the Correctional Management Institute of Texas (CMIT), assisting with programs for jail administrators, the Texas Jail Association (TJA), Women in Criminal Justice, and a new mental health conference that was held Oct 27-30 in Conroe. The program was designed for correctional officers, jail staff, probation officers, parole officers, law enforcement, and judicial personnel to address mental health issues in the system. It focused on the assessments for mental health, first line responders, collaborative programs, effective services, veterans and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, medication and reentry.

“We are very excited that Carmella has joined our CMIT team,” said Doug Dretke, Executive Director of CMIT. “In our passion to continue to develop and deliver critical, relevant, and valuable training and professional development programming, Carmella brings a rich level of experience both from a criminal justice professional perspective as well as from a training perspective. Carmella has a high level of knowledge, energy, excitement, and passion that will be a tremendous benefit to CMIT, Sam Houston State University, and the thousands of criminal justice professionals across our state that we seek to serve.”

Limestone County Sheriff Dennis Wilson.“She is a tremendous hire for CMIT,” said Sheriff Dennis Wilson of Limestone County, who served as Vice President of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas and is a board member for TJA. “Her reputation is known across the State of Texas, and she is well respected by law enforcement. She will be a great asset.”

Carmella says it has been a direct road to CMIT, but she has built experience for this position for her entire life. As the Sheriff of Armstrong County in the Texas Panhandle, Carmella Jones learned to handle the unexpected and conduct herself with diplomacy and confidence.

Jones served as Armstrong County Sheriff in his earlier career. “Twenty four percent of the population of Armstrong County is over the age of 65,” Jones said. “And the lower third of the county is part of the Palo Duro Canyon. Those two factors require a different type of policing.” From lost cowboys to welfare checks, Jones learned that the most important issue is the current person in crisis.

Following her career as sheriff, Jones became a law enforcement liability specialist for the insurance risk pool at the Texas Association of Counties (TAC), where she trained law enforcement agencies how to avoid lawsuits by boosting training and supervision. Jones retired from TAC in 2011. She traveled the world going to Hawaii, Italy, France and the Caribbean.

Jones is Historian for the TJA.Jones became active in the Texas Jail Association and has continued to be reappointed as historian for the last 10 years. She worked with Dan Beto, former Director of CMIT, and an advisory group to develop the jail administrator’s curriculum for the Jail Administration Operations and Management Program which has trained over 450 participants in jail administration. Coming full circle, she will now run that program for CMIT, as well as a lot of other initiatives in the field.

“Carmella Jones possess the knowledge, skills and prior experience which brings such a benefit to the Correctional Management Institute of Texas,” said Kim Howell, President of the TJA and Assistant Chief Deputy – Detention in Lubbock County. “From her experience as Sheriff to her work as a Law Enforcement Specialist with the TAC, Carmella understands what the emerging trends and needs are of our profession. I have worked closely with her through the TJA and I look forward to collaborating on future projects as she begins her new position with CMIT. “

Over 300 people attended the inaugural Mental Health Conference offered by the Correctional Management Institute of Texas (CMIT), where counties and professionals presented and discussed best practices in serving mental health offenders in the various components of our criminal justice system.

“It starts with intake by the officer on the street and goes all the way through the criminal justice system until they reach the end of their probation and or parole,” said Carmella Jones, program specialist for CMIT. “The process is a challenge for all offenders, but for those with mental health issues, there are so many more needs for services. All the counties are facing the issue, but some are more amplified than others. We realize it takes all of us working together to deal with these issues.”

More than 300 people from the medical and criminal justice systems attended the CMIT Mental Health conference.The conference featured a series of workshops that addressed mental health issues throughout the system, including corrections, parole, probation, courts, law enforcement, advocacy groups and medical professionals. It featured initiatives implemented in many counties in the state as well as professionals in the field.

“It was valuable to work with numerous people from all walks of the criminal justice system,” said one participant.

To address the needs of people with mental health issues in the criminal justice system, the four-day conference offered sessions on assessing offenders for suicide, medical and mental health issues; implementing effective mental health services in jails; understanding criminal and civil competency issues in courts; addressing the needs of veterans and other special populations with substance abuse or medical issues; establishing mobile crisis intervention services; focusing on medication issues; exploring legislative mandates; and collaborating with other agencies.

Brian Shannon discussed legal issues for those with mental health issues.“I found the speakers and their knowledge of the topics to be very beneficial,” said another participant. “They were all very open to answering questions as well as providing contact information for future questions.”

Counties shared programs they have implemented to address the needs of offenders with mental health issues. Among these are:

• Rockwall County, the smallest county in the state, provides direct behavioral health service to identified inmates.
• The University Health System in San Antonio developed a diversion program for people arrested by the city magistrate to prevent incarceration of persons with special needs, and offers assessment, crisis intervention, brief counseling and community referrals for those in the program.
• Montgomery County offers an inpatient competency restoration program through a collaborative effort between the county jail and the Texas forensic hospitals.
• The Travis County Sheriff’s Office established a mental health team to respond to calls for people in crisis and to divert them to mental health services.
• The Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office implemented special therapeutic housing units in its jail and conducts in-jail restoration.
One of the sessionss discussed mobile crisis intervention.
• MHMR of Tarrant County has developed programs to deal with people with mental illness who come in contact with the criminal justice system, from pre arrest through sentencing.
• The Harris County Office of Mental Health and Medical Security Unit, which was awarded the 2013 Program of the Year by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, provides specially trained sheriff’s deputies assigned exclusively to the unit, where inmate receive mental health and general health care.
• Bell County’s Community Supervision and Corrections Department, which developed a PTSD/Substance Abuse Program and Veteran Court to address issues involving the unique needs of this population.
• Brazos County Mental Health Unit, which provides a crisis intervention team and diversion program for offenders with mental health issues.
• The Burke Center, which provides a variety of quality behavioral healthcare services to people with mental health and intellectual and development disabilities for 12 rural counties.

Several counties and agencies shared their expertise. “Having the opportunity to hear what other mental health center are doing and the way they collaborate with the various community agencies in their area was the most beneficial,” said a third participant.

The sessions also discussed upcoming legislative changes, including the Mental Health Standards by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, which outlines benchmarks for care and treatment, administration, personnel and legal issues. The sessions also explored issues for the upcoming legislative sessions.

One of the key messages from the conference was the need to work collaboratively with partners in the community. “There is strength in numbers,” said Lee Johnson, Deputy Director of the Texas Council of Community Centers. “Strong partnership can have a tremendous impact on public policy decisions.”
“The collaboration from all the agencies was helpful,” said another participant.

Posing with the Gold Medal in Research are (l to r) Dr. Bill Wells, Capt. Lori Bender, Sgt. Steven Morrison and Executive Assistant Chief Martha Montalvo.

The Houston Police Department took home the Gold Award in Research from the International Association of Chiefs of Police for an experiment conducted in collaboration with Sam Houston State University on eyewitness identification procedures.

“The Houston Police Department has had a long standing relationship with Sam Houston State University,” said Martha I. Montalvo, Executive Assistant Chief at the Houston Police Department. “SHSU has long been our partner in identifying best practices. The goal in this study was to ascertain which eyewitness identification method was more reliable. Surprisingly, the study determined that no one method was more reliable than the other. The department has established a committee of seasoned investigators to look at the study and determine how best to incorporate the results into our policies and procedures.”

The study, “The Houston Police Department Eyewitness Identification Experiment: Analysis and Results,” tested four different methods of presenting photo spreads to robbery eyewitnesses to determine if the methods produced different patterns of eyewitness selection results. The results showed the methods did not differ in important ways.

The findings from this experiment contribute to an ongoing discussion in the criminal justice community about the best ways to conduct eyewitness identification procedures. The Houston Police Department results were based on an analysis of surveys from more than 700 photo spread procedures conducted in 2013.

The experiment looked at four variations of eyewitness identification procedures, including sequential and simultaneous present- ations, and blind and blinded procedures. In the sequential presentation, the eyewitness viewed photos one at a time, while in a simultaneous presentation, all photos are viewed at the same time.

“The lack of differences between the methods of showing photos is consistent with more recent discussions in the literature that suggest one method is not clearly superior,” said Dr. William Wells, author of the SHSU study. “In addition, research on the sources of erroneous convictions demonstrates that reforms should be multi-faceted and should not focus exclusively on police eyewitness Identification procedures.”

“The Houston Police Department deeply appreciates Sam Houston State University’s efforts and profession- alism in conducting this experiment and producing results that can be used to develop best practices and policies in the area of eyewitness identification,” said Capt. Lori Bender with the Houston Police Department Robbery Division.“Dr. William Wells and his associates were very knowledgeable and thorough and a pleasure to work with."

The experiment earned the Gold Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement Research from the International Association of Chiefs of Police at its annual conference in October. The award is presented to law enforcement agencies that demonstrate excellence in conducting and using research to improve police operations and public safety. The goal of the award is to establish effective research and promote partnerships with researchers.

The IACP is the oldest and largest non-profit member organization of police executives, with over 16,000 in 94 countries.

Dr. Peter KraskaHere is the latest news from graduates of Sam Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice!

Dr. Peter Kraska (Ph.D. '89), Professor and Chair of Graduate Studies and Research at the School of Justice Studies in Eastern Kentucky University, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on “The Oversight of Federal Programs for the Acquisition of Military-Grade Equipment by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies.” Dr. Kraska has participated in extensive and long-running research on the militarization of civilian police in the U.S.

Dr. Victor KappelerDr. Victor Kappeler (Ph.D. ’88), Foundation Professor and Associate Dean at the School of Justice Studies in EKU’s College of Justice and Safety, was invited to the White House to participate in a “policy review listening session” and to discuss federal programs and policies related to equipping state and local law enforcement agency.

Brigadier General Daniel Doherty

Following the Vietnam War, when college campuses were hotbeds of protest and unrest, Sam Houston State University opened its doors to military police for an intensive master’s program to guide their future careers.

“During the Vietnam Conflict, those in the military who wanted to go to graduate school were not welcome on college campuses,” said Larry Raab, one of the graduates of the master’s program in Criminal Justice. “Most campuses were protesting the war and most didn’t want military on campus. Three universities welcomed us with open arms, and Sam Houston State University (SHSU) specialized in the correctional aspects of policing. Dr. (George) Killinger, Dr. (George) Beto and the entire faculty welcomed us with open arms and made us feel welcome.”
After a two year program crammed into one, the cohort left SHSU and were disbursed to manage army prisons across the country. Since then, the graduates have climbed the ladder in the military, corrections and academia. That class produced a Brigadier General who headed the Criminal Investigation Division for the U.S. Army; the director of the Iowa Department of Corrections; a top administrator for the U.S. Parole Commission and a member of the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole; and an administrator for West Point and Prairie View A&M, to name just a few.

Current students from the College of Criminal Justice continue to be active with the Army through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program on campus, with criminal justice majors representing the vast majority of cadets.

ROTC cadets are sworn in as commissioned Army officers at SHSU.“The College of Criminal Justice and the Military Science Department have had a long and fruitful history together,” said Lt. Col. Robert L. McCormick, Professor and Department Chair of Military Science at SHSU. “They have the same goals of protecting this country’s citizens from threats both here in the States, and for the military, overseas. Many of our ROTC’s commissions have gone on to serve in the Military Police or Military Intelligence career fields either on Active Duty, National Guard (NG), or Reserves. Most of our NG and Reserve Officers have pursued a law enforcement career on the civilian side.”

The College’s involvement with the military began in 1968, after being selected by the Department of the Army to train high ranking military police personnel in criminal justice. Then Director, Dr. Killinger, is credited with bringing the program to SHSU because of his service on the Army Clemency and Parole Board at the Pentagon.

Dr. Charles Friel, Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the College, said the military graduate students helped elevate the program. “They were really smart guys,” Friel said.

Brigadier General Daniel Doherty was a member of the prestigious class of 1974. He devoted his career to the military before retiring to become a consultant for police departments on policies and procedures. After serving in army prisons and on bases in Kansas, Colorado and Germany – including a stint in Berlin as the officer who ushered people between East and West Germany at the Berlin Wall -- Doherty worked his way up through the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID). He commanded the CID unit for three years, including the investigation of the Aberdeen Proving Ground sex scandal, where training drill sergeants were convicted of raping and sexually harassing female recruits.

Doherty said he used lessons learned in corrections and criminology classes at SHSU to develop programs in army prisons.

“It was a great experience,” said Doherty. “The theory was interesting and I used it in corrections because I went to the Disciplinary Barracks in Kansas. I did go into the assignment with a bit of the foundation.”

After graduation, Raab was assign to Fort Bliss, Texas to operate the then-newest Army prison in the U.S. He credits Drs. Beto and Killinger with introducing him to the “humanistic” way of running prisons.

Larry Raab”The biggest challenge was getting it organized to receive new prisoners,” said Raab. “We had brand new rules, policies and procedures, and military soldiers from all over the world.”

Raab would later serve in posts in Dallas, Germany, and Panama, before becoming Chief of Staff at the Military Police School. He also was Director of Academic Advancement at West Point, before being tapped by a former general to join him at Prairie View A&M, where he continues to serve as Director of Space Management.

“We can attribute all of this to the tenets and principles of leadership and management from a humanistic point of view,” said Raab. “That is what I listen to and a view I learned from Drs. Beto and Killinger.”

Lynn Brown too was sent to manage a military prison following graduation. It was the Installation Confinement Facility at Fort Polk, LA., which had just gone through a major disturbance. New tensions were closely monitored the month following arrival sparked by the standoff at the Huntsville prison in Texas. Inmates at the Huntsville Unit had taken hostages in a failed escape attempt. The issue quickly dissipated, however, after state inmates shot and killed some of the hostages, including women, which the Army inmates viewed as cowardly.

After his military service, Brown joined the U.S. Parole Commission as an analyst and later served as a Hearing Officer and Assistant Regional Administrator for the five state area of New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma. He used statistics learned in Dr. Friel’s class to begin a pilot electronic monitoring program and would later coordinate with Dr. Friel in completing a nationally recognized Community Sanctions Evaluation project. His Federal career included conducting presentencing investigations for U.S. Probation and making recommendations commensurate with Federal Sentencing Guidelines to the U.S. Court of the Northern District of Texas.

“The master’s degree opens so many doors for you,” said Brown. “I would not have been considered for the Justice Department analyst position without the master’s.”

Upon his retirement from federal service, Brown was appointed by then Texas Governor George W. Bush to serve on the state Board of Pardons and Parole, where he reviewed cases for paroles, revocations and pardons, including the Death penalty case of Karla Faye Tucker.

Brown received additional post graduate education at the University of Texas at Arlington. He then taught criminal justice at Tarleton State University and worked with Elementary school age children with whom he continues to volunteer.

After his military career, Paul Grossheim returned to his home state of Iowa, where he led the state’s prison system until his death in 1992. “He will be remembered for his professionalism, his straightforward approach to problem solving, and his firm but compassionate way of dealing with people,” said a resolution adopted by the Iowa Legislature. His picture still hangs in the administrative offices of the statewide system.

It stands as a testament to the military men that graced the halls of SHSU and brought honor and dignity to the foundation of the College of Criminal Justice.

“The master’s degree was a building block to a much greater levels,” said Brown.

Thu, Dec. 4, 2014
1:00pm - 2:00pm
CJ Auditorium

Radley Balko is a writer, reporter, and blogger for the Washington Post and author of the book, Rise of the Warrior Cop. In the wake of the controversy over the police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, Balko will discuss the "Militarization of the Police Force."

Thu, Feb 19, 2015
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom

Three new Ph.D. graduates, 28 master’s students and dozens of undergraduates earned degrees in the criminal justice field during the December 2014 Commencement.

The three Ph.D. graduates include Dr. Kimberly Ann Chism, who will teach at the University of South Mississippi; Dr. Carl McKay Williams, who was recently appointed Police Commissioner in Jamaica; and Dr. Soraya K. Kawucha. They were joined by 21 graduates of the Master of Science in Leadership and Management online program, two from the Master of Science in Security Studies program and two from the Master of Science in Criminal Justice program.

Second Lt. Travis Watson(l) with fellow ROTC commissioned officers.Travis Watson, who earned his master’s in Security Studies, also was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Bearkat Battalion Commissioning ceremony. Watson was a member of the ROTC at SHSU.

Dr. Chism’s dissertation was “A Stress Test: Examining Agnew General Theory of Crime and Delinquency.” Her committee was chaired by Dr. Scott Menard and included Drs. Jurg Gerber, Matt Nobles, and Kelly Knight.

Dr. Williams’ dissertation was “In Harm’s Way: Influential Factors in the Violent Victimization of Police Officers in Jamaica.” His committee included Dr. Roth as chairman, with members. Drs. William King and Victoria Titterington.

Dr. Soraya Kawucha (r) with Dr. Gaylene ArmstrongDr. Kawucha’s dissertation was on “Sheriffs – the Other Police.” Her committee chaired was Dr. Will Oliver, with members Drs. Mitchel Roth and Phillip Lyons.

Commencement ceremonies were held Dec. 13 in the Johnson Coliseum.

Intern Stephany Cornejo served at the U.S. Mission to International Organization in Vienna.

For first generation college student Stefany Cornejo, her internship turned out to be even bigger and better than her dreams.

Cornejo, a native of Huntsville who envisioned joining the local police department, recently returned from a fall internship in Vienna, Austria, where she assisted the United States mission to control drug trafficking, track international organized crime, fight human trafficking and wage war on corruption through cooperative projects with the United Nations. Along the way, she interacted with ambassadors, mission chiefs and political officers from countries around the world and got a behind-the-scenes look at two diplomatic missions by Secretary of State John Kerry during his nuclear talks with Iran.

“Being a first generation minority student, I could have never even imagined this,” said Cornejo, who graduated in December. “I had many amazing mentors here at Sam Houston State University and in Huntsville, who told me to look at all my options because they could open more doors. Every time, it opened doors beyond what I thought I could have ever imagined.”

Cornejo (fourth from right) worked with the U.S. delegation at the United Nations Office in Vienna.At the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Vienna under the United Nations Affairs Section, Cornejo served the U.S. Department of State as a liaison to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, monitoring issues on international –wildlife crime and controls for shipping containers, which are used to transport goods – and sometimes drugs, human trafficking victims or other contraband – across the globe. Her job was to be the U.S. representative and summarize meetings among UN member countries on $12.2 million in projects funded by the U.S.

Among the issues addressed during her internship were: training programs for foreign officers to recognize and seize wildlife being traded illegally; legislation in Thailand to prohibit the internal trade of wildlife; and training program for foreign officers to identify, document and investigate shipping containers used for drugs, human trafficking, the wildlife trade, or stolen cars.

“I didn’t realize the quantity of illegal things being shipped and that, through training, how much of it we can get and bring criminals to justice,” Cornejo said. “They are hiding drugs in bananas, pineapples and car engines; they are smuggling in illegal firearms and stolen cars and they are involved in illegal trafficking of people, wildlife – even timber.”

Cornejo assisted at international conferences on shipping, nuclear technology and international crime issues.She also assisted at three conferences for international delegations, including providing assistance to the U.S. Delegation team on technical training for landlocked countries to make it easier to ship goods through ports; preventing nuclear proliferation and using nuclear technology for economic development and human welfare; and updating members on international crime issue.

The highlight of her experience in Vienna was preparing for visits by Secretary of State John Kerry. She personally was assigned to take two shifts to set up activities for his free time in Vienna and to set up his rooms with office supplies during his stay. While she did not handle any of the security issues, she did provide logistical information and recommendations to attend a Christmas Fair and a football game. She also accompanied the entourage to the Palais Coburg for Kerry’s meeting with high-level officials and helped set the room for the meeting. Finally, she helped the Public Affairs section in editing the official State Department photos that were distributed by the department on social media on the visit.

Cornejo scoped out local activities for Secretary of State John Kerry.“It was fun to see how it all worked,” said Cornejo. “There were high officials in and out and everyone has a different role. There are so many moving parts – it’s amazing.”

The experience prepared her well for her future career in the foreign service.

Cornejo said she always wanted to work in criminal justice since junior high when she began volunteering at the Huntsville Police Department and shadowing officers. At Sam Houston State University, she studied criminal justice, and one of her mentors suggesting studying a foreign language to expand her opportunities. In December, Cornejo will graduate with a double major in Spanish and Criminal Justice. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school at SHSU, Texas A & M, or Columbia University. She is also investigating fellowships with the Department of State.

Cornejo capped off her undergraduate program at the Summer Palace in Vienna.Cornejo said she learned more lessons than she can count from her internship and said it was the “perfect end” to her undergraduate career. The experience enhanced her knowledge in foreign service, in working with people from many countries, in taking quick and efficient notes, and on understanding the life of a foreign service officer.

“Every day I was drowning in new information, and it was hands-on learning as I went,” Cornejo said.
Her supervisor, James D. Applegate, Deputy Counselor for UN Affairs, had high praise for her work.

“Stefany Cornejo was an exceptional intern, and I cannot recommend her highly enough,” Applegate wrote. “Her motivation, hard work and team spirit will take her far in whatever she does. Her criminal justice background was a huge asset.”

According to a study by the Crime Victims’ Institute at Sam Houston State University, college students are at higher risk for stalking than the general public, but are less likely to report the crime to police.

"Majoring in stalking: Exploring stalking experiences between college students and the general public," co-authored by Patrick Q. Brady and Dr. Leana A. Bouffard, found that stalking was more prevalent among college students than the general public, with 4.3 percent of college students experiencing the crime in the last 12 month compared to 2.2 percent of the general public. Yet, only one-quarter of college victims filed reports with police, compared to 32 percent of the general population, according to a study based on data from the 2006 National Crime Victimization Survey, Stalking Victimization Supplement.

Stalking, defined as a repeated course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear, is a crime in all 50 states. This crime most commonly occurs between current or former intimate partners, with the highest rates of offenses between 18 to 24 years old. With advances in technology, stalking offenders can now pursuit their victims through new mediums, with one in every four incidents using electronic devices, such as GPS, audio-video recording, social networking sites or surreptitious software.

“Given the pervasiveness of the issue, campus administrators, school personnel and public safety officials must consider the seriousness of the crime and tailor their efforts to proactively address stalking among college campuses and the general public through effective strategies of prevention and intervention,” said Dr. Bouffard, Director of the Crime Victims’ Institute.

Public college campuses also face new mandates to assist victims and promote education on stalking under the Sexual Violence Elimination Act and the Clery Act. This legislation also targets issues such as domestic violence, sexual assault and dating violence.

“The findings from the current analysis suggest that more is needed to build the capacity of universities and public safety officials to systematically address the barriers that inhibit victims from reporting,” said Brady, an SHSU graduate student. “Additionally, universities need to ensure that they have the resources necessary to appropriately respond to reports of stalking and other forms of interpersonal violence.”

This study is the third in a series by the Crime Victims’ Institute on stalking. "Stalking in Texas – 2014" provides an overview of data, policies, procedures and practices on stalking in the state. The second study, “Stalking on College Campuses: Perceptions & Approaches of Campus Law Enforcement Officers,” addressed stalking on college campuses and the response and perceptions of campus law enforcement. Both studies can be found at the Crime Victims' Institute web site.

The Stalking Resource Center recently released a guide that can help assist universities develop a model stalking policy for college campuses. It can be found at www.victimsofcrime.org.