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

Armstrong, T., Armstrong, G., & Katz, C. (2015) Testing the influence of community characteristics on school misconduct. Justice Quarterly, 32(5), 792-817.

*Brady, P. Q., Randa, R., & Reyns, B. W. (2015). From WWII to the World Wide Web: A research note on social changes, online "places," and a new online activity ratio for Routine Activity Theory. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice. Advance online publication. doi:0.1177/1043986215621377

Bytheway, J. A., Connor, M., Dabbs, G. R., Johnston, C. A. & Sunkel, M. (2015). The ethics and best practices of human decomposition facilities in the United States. Forensic Science Policy & Management: An International Journal, 6(3-4), 59-68.

Espinosa, E. M., & **Sorensen, J. R. (2015). The influence of gender and traumatic experiences on length of time served in juvenile justice settings. Criminal Justice and Behavior. Advance online publication.

Fox, K. A., &Bouffard, L. A. (2015). Violent victimization vulnerability: Testing a conceptual model of personality, social, and community factors. Deviant Behavior, 36(11), 1-25. doi:10.1080/01639625.2014.977201

Franklin, C.A. (2015). Sorority affiliation and sexual assault victimization: Assessing
vulnerability using path analysis. Violence Against WomenAdvance online publication. doi:10.1177/1077801215614971

Franklin, T. W., *Dittmann, L., & *Henry, T. K. S. (2015). Extralegal disparity in the application of intermediate sanctions: An analysis of U.S. district courts. Crime & Delinquency. Advance online publication.

*Houston, R., Birck, M., Hughes-Stamm, S., &Gangitano, D. (2015). Evaluation of a 13-loci STR multiplex system for Cannabis sativa genetic identification. International Journal of Legal Medicine. Advance online publication.

Hughes-Stamm, S., Warnke, F., & van Daal, A. (2015). Alternate method for extracting DNA from environmentally challenged teeth for improved DNA analysis. Legal Medicine, 18, 31-36.

**Kim, B., Benekos, P. J., & Merlo, A. V. (2016). Sex offender recidivism revisited: Review of recent meta-analyses on the effects of sex offender treatment. Trauma, Violence and Abuse, 17(1), 88-104.

**Kim, B., Lin, W. C. A., & Lambert, E. G. (2015). Comparative/international research on juvenile
justice issues: A review of juvenile justice. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 26(4), 545-562.

**Kim, B., Stallings, R. P., Merlo, A. V., & Lin, A. W. C. (2015). Mentoring in criminology and criminal justice doctoral education: Doctoral program coordinators’ perspectives. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 26(4), 390-407.

Li, M., Lu, J. Qi, J., Zhao, F., Zeng, J., &Yu, J. C. C. (2014). Stamping surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for label-free, multiplexed, molecular sensing and imaging. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 19(5). doi:10.1117/1.JBO.19.5.050501

*Luo, F., &Bouffard, L. (2015). Immigrants as victims: Examining the function of assimilation. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice. Advance online publication.

Muftić, L. R., Finn, M. A., & Marsh, E. A. (2015). The victim-offender overlap: Intimate partner violence and sex. Crime & Delinquency, 61(7), 899-926. doi:10.1177/0011128712453677

Muftić, L. R., Maljevic, A., Mandick, L., & Buljubasic, M. (2015). Factors that influence death penalty support among university students in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Criminal Justice Studies, 28(3). doi:10.1080/1478601X.2015.1030076

Muftić, L. R., & *Smith, Molly. (2015). Sex, parental incarceration, and violence perpetration among a sample of young adults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0886260515605123

Newsome, J., Vaske, J. C., Gehring, K. S., &Boisvert, D. (2015). Sex differences in sources of resilience and vulnerability to risk for delinquency. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. Advance online publication. doi:10.1007/s10964-015-0381-2

Pyrooz, D. C., Turanovic, J. J., Decker, S. H., & *Wu, J. (2015). Taking stock of the relationship between gang membership and offending: A meta-analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior. Advance online publication.

Reyns, B. W., &Randa, R. (2015). Victim reporting behaviors following identity theft victimization: Results from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Crime & Delinquency. Advanced online publication. doi:10.1177/0011128715620428

**Schield, C., **Campelli, C., **Sycalik, J., Randle, C., Hughes-Stamm, S., &Gangitano, D. (2015). Identification and persistence of Pinus pollen DNA on cotton fabrics: A forensic application. Science & Justice. Advance online publication.

*Simmons, S. B., & Knight, K. E., & Ellis, C. (2015). Youthful animal abuse and later problem behavior outcomes: Findings from two generations. Contemporary Justice Review. Advance online publication.

*Simmons, S. B., Knight, K. E., &Menard, S. (2015). Long-term consequences of intimate partner abuse on physical health, emotional well-being, and problem behaviors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Advance online publication.

*Smith, M., Wilkes, N., &Bouffard, L. A. (2015). Rape myth adherence among campus law enforcement officers. Criminal Justice and Behavior. Advance online publication.

**Steinmetz, K., & Henderson, H. (2015). Inequality on probation: An examination of differential probation outcomes. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice. Advance online publication.

Tasca, M. (2015). The gatekeepers of contact: Child-caregiver dyads and parental prison visitation. Criminal Justice and Behavior. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0093854815613528N00657G

Wright, K. A., &Bouffard, L. A. (2015). Capturing crime: The qualitative analysis of individual cases for advancing criminological knowledge. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 60(2), 123-145.

*Wu, J., & Pyrooz, D. (2015). Uncovering the pathways between gang membership and violent victimization. Journal of Quantitative Criminology. Advance online publication.

Zeng, J., Qi, J., Bai, F., Yu, J. C. C., & Shih, W. C. (2014). Analysis of ethyl and methyl centralite vibrational spectra for mapping organic gunshot residues. The Analyst, 139(17) doi: 10.1039/C4A

Key
Bold: Faculty
*: Doctoral Students
**: Alumni

Wed, Jan. 27, 2016
2:00 – 3:00 pm
Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom

Human trafficking is one of the most lucrative criminal enterprise nationwide, second only to drugs, and Houston is a hub of activity in sexual exploitation, with domestic and international victims that include children and adults, men and women.

Kyle Matheson (‘96, BS-CJ) is a Captain for the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) in Region II for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). Capt. Matheson’s area of responsibility covers Houston, Bryan and Lufkin, including cases involving drugs, gangs and special investigations, such as auto and cargo theft and fraud, for a 17-county area in Southeast Texas. About 18 months ago, CID added a Human Trafficking Unit, which works hand-in-hand with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Houston Police Department, to identify, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle sex trafficking organizations.

Human trafficking is a $1 billion industry in the U.S. and takes many forms in Houston, with operations run by organized crime groups, gangs and independent traffickers. Many human trafficking victims come across the Mexican border and are forced to work in prostitution in cantinas throughout the area. Asian victims work many of the massage parlors and spas, while independent traffickers bring women into town for business expos or sporting events. Even children are forced into the life of prostitution on the streets or through child pornography, and the unit works with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to identify minors and arrest those who abuse them.

One of the most difficult issues in human trafficking is enlisting cooperation from victims. Many are afraid to talk, fearing for their lives. Victims often have troubled pasts and have no great desire to cooperate with police, but they are the key link to getting to the traffickers, Matheson said.

Drugs and human trafficking are frequently intermingled, with many drug dealers opting for the sex trade because they believe they can make as much or more money and have less risk of arrest because of the lack of cooperation by victims.

Capt. Matheson has worked for DPS for 19 years. After spending five years in Highway Patrol in the Conroe office, Matheson was promoted to the Criminal Investigation Unit, where he made his way up the ladder working in several offices across the state. He said that Sam Houston State University gave him a solid foundation for his career, and the school has a strong reputation in law enforcement as one of the top programs in the country.

Capt. Matheson said that while every law enforcement agency has a role in fighting crime, it is important that students understand their personal goals to determine what career path fits their needs.

The online graduate program in Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University advanced to third best in the country in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.

In 2014, the College of Criminal Justice was invited to participate in the ranking process for Best Graduate Online Criminal Justice degree programs, and it placed fifth in the nation. The 2016 rankings are based on five categories, including student engagement; faculty credentials and training; student services and technology; admissions selectivity; and peer reputation.

The CJ program earned its highest marks for faculty credentials and training, in student engagement, and in student services and technology. Faculty credentials and training indicate that online instructors mirror the academic credentials of campus-based programs, and resources are available to train faculty on how to teach distance learners. Student engagement promotes participation in courses with faculty and classmates and provides instructors that are accessible, responsive and supportive in completing degrees in a reasonable amount of time. Student services and technology offer greater flexibility to take classes from a distance through learning assistance, career guidance, and financial aid resources commensurate with campus-based programs.

“We are very proud that the quality of our online programs has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report,” said Dr. Phillip Lyons, Dean of the College of Criminal Justice and Director of the Criminal Justice Center. “The rankings demonstrate that we can expand our reach significantly through our online courses without compromising the quality of our programs.”

In 2016, U. S. New & World Report ranked 51 higher education institutes which offer online degrees in criminology, forensics or homeland security. Sam Houston State University offers the Master of Science in Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Leadership and Management, Victim Services Management and Homeland Security Studies online.

“We are continuously striving to be the best in the country in online graduate education,” said Dr. Danielle Boisvert, Director of Criminal Justice and Criminology Graduate Programs. “For us, that means using the latest technology and practices in online education, and highly qualified faculty to provide quality education to students who are going to make a difference in the field of criminal justice.”

In addition to advances in its Criminal Justice program, Sam Houston State University continues to earn high marks for its other online offerings. It ranks sixth for its Graduate Information Technology Program; in the top quarter of all universities for its online bachelor’s degree programs; in the top third for its MBA program; and in the top eighth for online graduate programs overall.

“As always, we are pleased to support the university’s outstanding faculty members who offer their courses online, and we salute them on achieving such high rankings from U.S. News & World Report for their quality online degree programs,” said Bill Angrove, Associate Vice President for Distance Learning. “We look forward to continue working with SHSU faculty members over the coming year in their ongoing commitment to providing the best possible online learning experience for our students.”

SHSU offers more than 40 fully online degree programs, including two doctoral programs, as well as 25 online certificate programs. For more information on any of SHSU’s online programs, visit distance.shsu.edu.

Forensic Fellows

Three students in the Department of Forensic Science earn Fellowships from the National Institute of Justice in the first year of the Ph.D. program.

n the first year of the Ph.D. program in Forensic Science at Sam Houston State University, three students received National Institute of Justice Fellowships grants for research on room temperature preservation of DNA in cases such as mass disasters, DNA-based identification of marijuana, and designer drug identification in crime labs.<--more-->

The three doctoral students, Amy Sorensen, Rachel Houston, and Jessica Winborn received full scholarship, stipends and travel expenses – up to $50,000 annually – as part of the fellowship. The NIJ program is designed to strengthen and broaden research on emerging issues in criminal justice by allowing students to work full time on research and promote critical and innovative thinking on issues affecting criminal justice professionals.

Sorensen is conducting research with Dr. Sheree Hughes-Stamm to improve the preservation of DNA in tissues and to speed up the DNA identification process for victims following a mass disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina or the Haitian earthquake. Recovery and identification efforts are sometimes complicated by harsh environmental conditions, limited facilities, loss of electricity and refrigeration capabilities. Therefore, DNA quality often is compromised, and identification processes can take up to several months to complete.

“Given these circumstances, it is important to quickly collect DNA samples from victims for immediate preservation in order to help with later identification,” said Sorensen.

Sorensen worked with Dr. Hughes-Stamm as part of a research grant funded by National Institute of Justice, which found that human samples could be stored in chemical preservatives at room temperature for up to three months. In collaboration with colleagues from Australia, further research was conducted on human samples stored in chemical preservatives to speed up the DNA identification process. This research was recently published in the International Journal of Legal Medicine. Titled “Direct-to-PCR Tissue Preservation for DNA Profiling,” the study found that these types of DNA samples in chemical preservatives could be processed much faster by removing a time-consuming step in the DNA identification process.

Houston, who works with Dr. David Gangitano, is examining a new DNA profiling method for identifying marijuana, which will aid law enforcement in linking cases and identifying illegal growers.
“Similar to humans, individual marijuana plants contain a unique DNA profile,” said Houston. “However, there is no commercial kit available to process marijuana DNA.”

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit substance in the U.S. and is legal for medical use in 23 states and for recreational use in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia. As a result of legalization, law enforcement faces a unique challenge in tracking and preventing the flow of legal marijuana to states where it is still illegal.

Houston’s research focuses on developing a validated method for evaluating the DNA of marijuana using the same standards as processing human DNA. The completion of such a method will legally allow for the genetic identification of marijuana and will aid in the individualization of Cannabis samples as well as serve as an intelligence tool to link Cannabis cases, such as illegal traffic at the US-Mexico border.

The study, “Evaluation of a 13-loci STR multiplex system for Cannabis sativa genetic identification,” by Houston, Matthew Birck, Sheree Hughes-Stamm and David Gangitano, was recently published by Science and Justice and is available at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00414-015-1296-x
Winborn, who works with Dr. Kerrigan, is developing a new test to detect desomorphine, also known as “Krokodil,” a powerful heroin alternative that gained notoriety in the media for its ability to produce severe tissue necrosis following use. The surge of novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) over the past decade has made it increasingly difficult for forensic laboratories to keep pace with current use.

“In order for us to reliably interpret toxicological findings, we need to understand how the drug behaves in the human body, including how it breaks down,” said Jessica Winborn. The new study will systematically evaluate metabolism of desomorphine using human liver microsomes an identify potential analytical targets or “markers” to identify its use in biological evidence.

“At SHSU we are absolutely committed to research efforts that address the current needs of the forensic science community. This type of academic-industrial partnership is critical to our mission, and to a forward-looking profession within forensic science,” said Kerrigan, Chair of the Department of Forensic Science. Kerrigan is along-time advocate of forensic reform and currently serves on the Forensic Science Standards Board, the governing body of the federal government’s effort to enforce consensus standards within all of the forensic disciplines.

During his internship with the U.S. Marshals Service, Kadeem Pickett observed the seizure of a cargo ship, the disassembly of approximately 300 guns and 100 cell phones devices, training with the explosive detection canine, and the process that goes into serving civil subpoenas, summons, writs of garnishment, and student loan warrants.

Pickett also learned about the Deputy U.S. Marshals’ main job, which entails the protection of federal judges.

“It taught me that what I thought I knew about the U.S. Marshals was totally irrelevant,” said Pickett. “A lot of it has to do with courts, and you don’t get the action you expect. As a new guy, I would be doing a lot of bringing prisoners to court.”

Pickett has dreams of one day joining the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group, an elite, specially-trained, tactical unit that apprehends fugitives, protects dignitaries, provides court security, transports high profile and dangerous prisoners, provides witness protection and seizes assets. To achieve his goal, Pickett plans on joining the U.S. Army Rangers and then getting a federal law enforcement job that can transfer to the U.S. Marshals Service.

To earn this coveted internship, Pickett worked on his goal since he got to Sam Houston State University, talking to and emailing members of the U.S. Marshals Service who attended Real Talks w/CJ at the College of Criminal Justice. He became a counselor for CJ Summer Camp and worked side-by-side with U.S. Marshals in teaching high school students about the duties and responsibilities of the job as well as simulating a room raid searching for suspects. Pickett asked a lot of questions along the way and kept in touch with the U.S. Marshals, keeping his name and face fresh in their minds.

Last summer, his work paid off with a full-time internship in the Houston office. He learned a lot more about the organization and networked with other Marshals as well as agents from Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“Make every moment like it’s your last moment because you never know who you will meet,” Pickett said. “I met a lot of people. It may help me get a federal job. The federal business is very competitive, and you just have to get in the system.”

During his internship, Pickett observed deputies spending time in courts, either protecting judges or transporting prisoners. Among the duties he observed were protecting judges during two investitures in Houston and Galveston. Pickett also observed the preparation that goes into the service of a subpoena and the seizure of a cargo ship. Pickett also witnessed how deputies assist the Asset Forfeiture Division with the disassembly of weapons to prepare them to be sent to a shredder and how each weapon is inventoried.

Picket also had the opportunity to assist with training aids for the explosive detection canine assigned to the Houston office. Every morning, he would help set the course with non-explosive decoys to train the canine.
Pickett credits the relationships he started at SHSU with helping him through the application process to get into the U.S. Marshals Service and the internship for providing mentors for his career.

“I had mentors throughout the process that cared a lot about me,” said Pickett.

Jessica Spencer helped law enforcement officers across Texas keep track of parolees in their communities as part of her internship with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Office of Inspector General.

Spencer enrolled representatives from law enforcement agencies, the Department of Public Safety and the Office of the Attorney General’s Office in the state’s Fuginet system, which provides access to information about parolees supervised by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The system has about 5,000 active users from municipal, county, state and federal agencies. Since 2000, nearly 12,000 fugitive cases have been closed with help of the system.

“Fuginet helps law enforcement to know if there is a parole violation or if a parolee has moved,” said Spencer. “It helps officers to keep in contact with parolees in the state.”

Fuginet is one of the services provided by the Office of Inspector General, which is the primary investigative and law enforcement entity within TDCJ. The office investigates criminal cases and serious staff misconduct on TDCJ property and participates in several task forces, including those for fugitives, gangs, auto thefts and crime stoppers. It also monitors the offender telephone system in the prison system and works with law enforcement agencies and the Texas Fusion Center to provide timely information of threats or investigations involving state inmates.

During her internship, Spencer also worked with the auto theft task force, identifying career car thieves that could be interviewed to gain insight into ways to protect the public from this crime. Spencer was tasked with reviewing inmate files from the Manuel A. Segovia Unit and Reynoldo V. Lopez State Jail in Edinburg to select the best candidates for investigators to interview. Although many inmates had offenses for unauthorized use of a vehicle, it required a more thorough investigation to find those who had repeated offenses over a period of years.

“I’ve learned to look at the bigger picture,” said Spencer. “I can understand a lot of the codes, and I can search through records… Since coming here, I gained a lot of skills, both communications skills over the phone and face-to-face.”

Internships provide opportunities for TDCJ staff to introduce students to the field.

“One of the great things about this internship program is it allows students interested in criminal justice to get real world, hands-on experience in the field,” said Inspector General Bruce Toney. “It’s also motivating for my staff to be able to mentor students like Jessica that are pursuing careers in law enforcement and criminal justice.”

Spencer said the internship also opened her eyes to the diverse career opportunities available in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

“TDCJ has so many departments,” said Spencer. “I definitely didn’t know that there were so many different opportunities. I can say that TDCJ opened my mind to all aspects of the agency.”
Spencer said that Sam Houston State University helped pave the way to her internship, both through the advisement office, which helped her select classes, and the internship office, which helped her through the application process.

“I really love it – the people that I met and the things that I got to do,” said Spencer. “I feel good that I got to work in the field and that I got to do something for society.”

Protecting Seniors

Dr. Victoria Titterington is bridging the gap between seniors and students in her criminal justice ACE course.

As part of his class on Aging, Crime and Victimization, senior student Daniel Vazquez recently spent time teaching residents of a senior living facility how to prepare for emergencies using a bingo game.

During the lively game, complete with prizes, Vazquez showed seniors at the Parkview Place Apartments the essentials they would need in the event of a disaster. In exchange, the student, who plans to become a state trooper, learned how to work with an elderly population.

“It definitely was an eye opening experience,” said Vazquez, a senior in the College of Criminal Justice. “It is amazing how you can help someone by doing something little and what a large effect it has…It taught me that you should handle the elderly differently than younger people. You have to be able to communicate with them.”

The lunch time bingo game was a cooperative effort with the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security. They provided the colorful cards illustrating the devices needed and how they can come in handy when facing natural or other emergencies. Participants were given many of these items as prizes during the game.

Vazquez and other students are getting practical experience in the field along with their academic studies in Academic Community Engagement (ACE) classes at Sam Houston State University. In Dr. Victoria Titterington’s class, students can choose from many projects, including Meals on Wheels, assisted or independent senior living facilities, or Adult Protective Services, to learn about the elderly and crime. The writing enhanced course requires nine hours of volunteer work and a journal documenting what students learned along the way.

“I think it is just another way of imparting learning that comes alive,” said Dr. Titterington. “It has become very typical that by the end of the class, at least a few students want to get into an aging-related career. Even when students pursue traditional careers, this equips them with a sense that will enable them to relate to the elderly.”

Dr. Titterington, who has been offering ACE class for four to five years, is one of many professors in the College of Criminal Justice to provide community-based learning opportunities outside the classroom. She teaches both ACE and traditional versions of the course and finds that students in community engagement gain a better understanding of aging issues through direct contact with the elderly.

The College of Criminal Justice offers many ACE classes at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Among these are:

Criminal Justice and Criminology

• CRIJ 2361 - Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
• CRIJ 2362 – Criminology
• CRIJ 3341 - Aging Crime and Victimization
• CRIJ 3396 - Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice
• CRIJ 4330 - Law and Society
• CRIJ 4336 - Understanding Human Behavior
• CRIJ 4338 - Child Abuse and Neglect
• CRIJ 4365 - Professionalism and Ethics in Criminal Justice
• CRIJ 4373 - Undergraduate Internship
• CRIJ 4383 - Family Violence
• CRIJ 4384 - Police Strategies
• CRIJ 6338 - Coordinating Victim Services
• CRIJ 6370 - Graduate Internship
• CRIJ 6394 - Crisis Management Integration II
• CRIJ 6394 - Crime Prevention

• FORS 6371 - Forensic Science Internship

• SCST 5320 - Crisis Management Integration I
• SCST 5338 - Security Management
• SCST 6093 - Independent Study

For Claudia Pasantes, this year’s Common Reader – Enrique’s Journey– hit home. Pasantes experienced her own journey from Mexico to the U.S., which led to a long separation from her father.

“If I could use just one word to define my journey up to this moment, it would be determination,” Pasantes wrote in an award-winning essay. “I never asked to leave the land that birthed me; this was a decision my parents made, which I understand and appreciate now, because they wanted me to have the opportunities that they missed out on and to have a better life than the one my home country could offer me. They simply wanted me to seek a high level of education that would open many doors for me in terms of success and self-sufficiency.”

Pasantes, a senior and Criminal Justice major with a minor in Spanish, recently won a campus-wide essay competition reflecting on the common reader, which included a $250 scholarship and a meeting with author Sonia Nazario and Lourdes Pineda, Enrique’s mother. Like the main character in the book, Pasantes has dreams, but hers include going to law school or getting her master’s degree to be a researcher to come up with solutions to immigration issues or the drug cartels that force families from their homes in Mexico.

“Claudia is a strong writer and her story is very inspirational,” said Dr. Bill Wells, who has Pasantes in his Research Methods class. “I am certain she will have a positive impact regardless of the career path she chooses. She has already expressed an interest in conducting social science research on immigration-related issues.”

Pasantes was born in a small town on the outskirts of Mexico City, walking three miles daily to her grandmother’s house to get to a daycare so her mother could work. At about three years old, her father left Mexico for a job in the United States, leaving the family in their home country. The family would travels hours to see him for short, two-day visits. “…the happy child in me left when my father went to Texas,” she wrote in her essay.

In 1998, the family was reunited in Texas, bearing just two suitcases and 500 Mexican pesos, the equivalent of $300. One suitcase bore her favorite toys and the stuffed bear a family friend gave her when she was born. The other suitcase held clothes for her mother and herself.

Left behind on the journey were maternal grandmother “Mama Themis,” who told her bedtime stories and let her use watercolor pencils; Uncle Gerardo, who had a cat named Jensen and let her read his poetry books; and maternal grandparents, Manuel and Emma – a grandmother who cooked delicious food and a grandfather who carried her around on his shoulders.

In the U.S., Pasantes was enrolled in ESL classes, was bullied by her peers and belittled by a few teachers. Other teachers encouraged her to pursue her dreams. She became fluent in English, won a spelling bee in school, was selected for the National Junior Honor Society, made it to the All Region Symphonic Band playing the trombone, was named the Most Valuable Player in Varsity Girl’s Tennis team and got high scores for painting and photography from the Visual Arts Scholastic Event art competition.

“My one goal in life has always been to make my parents and little brother proud,” she said. “All of these awards plus my excellent grades and service to the community helped me gain the confidence to keep fighting.”

Along the way, there were tough economic times in Texas too, forcing her father to relocate to Dallas to find work as an airplane mechanic without the family. There were disappointments too – her immigration status would prevent her from attending college. One day, after attending “College Day” in 11th grade, she came home to find three large envelopes containing permanent residency cards for her family that would allow her to enroll here at SHSU. She cried, knowing she would serve a higher purpose in life through her success.

Pasantes said she knew immigrants who were smuggled into the U.S. in a tire, who swam the chilly waters of the Rio Grande, and like Enrique, who rode the Beast, the train through Mexico. But for Pasantes, being an immigrant and bilingual have opened many doors.

“Legal or illegal, I believe we all have a common denominator: The American Dream, which is so appealing that people continuously risk their lives and leave their children behind for a long time to achieve it,” she wrote.

Pasantes got to meet the author of the book who traveled Enrique’s treacherous route between Mexico and the U.S. twice, as well as Enrique’s mother, Lourdes Pineda, who left her family in Honduras to work in the U.S. Pasantes brought her own mother to the meeting, who instantly bonded with Pineda. Pasantes now sees her parents in a new light.

“I already knew everything that went on, but I never saw it to the extent that it happened,” said Pasantes. “This is what happened to us. I realized all the sacrifices my mother and father had made for me since I was born.”

Practicing Law

Alumna Ayomide Shittu achieved her dream by getting a job in a top Houston law firm.

After graduating from law school in May, Alumna Ayomide Shittu landed her dream job at Thompson & Knight LLC, an international law firm with 11 offices worldwide.

The firm, which was established in 1887, was named Best Law Firm of the Year in Oil & Gas Law by U.S. News and World Report – Best Lawyers in 2015 and also was among the best law firms cited in the paper’s national ranking from 2011-2013. Thompson & Knight has 330 attorneys and offices in Algiers, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Monterrey, New York and Paris. Shittu is an associate in bankruptcy and restructuring in Houston, working on creditor and debtor cases and Chapter 7 trustee proceedings.

“It has always been my dream and my goal since I was 13 years old,” said Shittu. “This is the culmination of all my dreams and goals.”

For Shittu, the journey to a top law firm in Texas started at Sam Houston State University (SHSU), where she said she “found her place in the world.” She praised the administration and faculty for the many experiences she was given and for “pouring their efforts into me,” especially Drs. Holly Miller, Mitchel Roth, and former faculty member Howard Henderson. Shittu graduated in 2011 magna cum laude.

“They really took a lot of interest in me and my success,” said Shittu.

At SHSU, Shittu was very active on campus, taking on leadership roles in many student organizations and working as a campus tour guide for the Visitors Center, which allowed her continually to meet new people and develop her communication skills. In fact, a contact from a Diversity Leadership Conference at SHSU ultimately led her to the National Black Pre-Law Conference, where she met many lawyers, including the hiring attorney at Thompson & Knight. Last year, after doing summer work at the firm, she received a full-time offer to begin this September.

While a criminal justice major at SHSU, Shittu did an internship with State Rep. Eric Johnson because she wanted to find out how laws were made in the Texas Legislature. Rep. Johnson was also an attorney from a large practice in Dallas, and he wrote a letter of recommendation for her application to The University of Texas Law School in Austin. She also had an opportunity to make friends who were working in the legislature while attending UT Law.

While at UT, Shittu took full advantage of experiences offered, including serving as a legal intern for Judge Darlene Byrne of the 126th District Court and with Travis County Civil Courthouse in Austin. Judge Byrne handled the Child Protective Services case docket amongst other cases, while other judges handled a wide variety of cases that came through the courts. One memorable case for Shittu was an appeal of an administrative hearing where an attorney lost his license for failing to pay student loans.

Shittu also was active with the Texas International Law Journal and the National Black Law Students Association and served as the Vice President of the Austin Young Lawyer’s Association – Student Chapter.

Shittu wants to tell students at Sam Houston State University that a career as a lawyer “is possible.”

“I went to law school and through a lot of hard work and networking, I succeeded,” said Shittu. “I would advise students to seek out a lot of knowledge and to take opportunities that are given to you. Take every opportunity and be open to new experiences.”

Alumnus Wayne Gonzales has spent his career in the banking and financial industries, mostly recently protecting a payment processing firm from internal and external risks.

As the Director of Risk Management & Compliance for Payment Data Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYDS), a provider of all forms of secure payment processing, Gonzales oversees fraud, risk, and compliance in the processing of over $2 billion a year in payments. Payment Data has solutions for merchants, billers, banks, service bureaus, and card issuers. The company offers specifically tailored solutions for card issuance, payment acceptance, and bill payments.

FiCentive, Inc., a division of Payment Data Systems, provides pre-paid cards to use as incentives or payment options by corporations, financial institutions, health care agencies, groups, and organizations. He manages overall risk for the company, including prepaid cards, bill pay, payment processing services, fraud investigations, and regulatory compliance.

“Consumer banking is no longer done completely at brick and mortar banks,” said Gonzales. “You can enroll online and then load the card by using ACH (Automatic Clearing House), depositing cash or having direct deposits to the card.”

FiCentive, provides pre-paid cards for corporations to deliver financial incentives to customers, vendors, or employees in the United States and offers Payroll Cards to distribute salary, commissions or incentives to company employees. Finally, it provides web-based services for web developers, bill payment system, fund disbursements, and risk and management tools. In December, the firm will be ringing the opening bell at the NASDAQ Market in Times Square, New York City.

To keep those cards safe, Gonzales monitors internal threats, such as fraud and controls in the system, and external threats, such as identity theft, money laundering, and cyber theft. He also is in charge of regulatory compliance under the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering, Office of Foreign Asset Controls, and the Customer Identification Program, to name a few.

“It can be stressful,” Gonzales said. “There are always changes in the regulations, and you have to find the right balance between complying with the rules and providing good customer service.”

Before joining Payment Data Systems. Gonzales was a Financial Crimes Analyst with USAA in San Antonio. His job included analyzing trends, patterns and external factors involving money laundering; investigating terrorism financing, and detecting customer identification risk. He also implemented strategies to mitigate fraud and money laundering.

Gonzales started his career as a Personal Banker with Bank of America in San Antonio. As a senior business banker, Gonzales received several awards and accolades including the Award of Excellence, Rookie of the Year, and UCount Employee Engagement Champion.

While at USAA, Gonzales decided to pursue an online master’s degree in Criminal Justice and chose Sam Houston State University due to its online program and outstanding reputation. Many of his classmates were top leaders in local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, and he still keeps in touch with them, offering and receiving professional input on financial cases. Gonzales said he adopted the policing model of supervision as his own management style.

“I engage in active leadership,” Gonzales said. “I believe in training and subject matter experts. We all can’t be good across the board, so everyone should have a strategic expertise. In the case of my team, we have experts in money laundering, identity theft, pre-paid credit cards and compliance.”

For criminal justice students pursuing non-traditional careers, Gonzales recommends sticking with your passion.

“It’s been a great ride, and I look forward to the next 10-15 years,” said Gonzales. “Stay focused and be organized and make sure you are open to other suggestions. In the future of criminal justice, we will always need the blue, but we will need other types of jobs to fight white collar crime. My advice is don’t let anyone else tell you what you can or cannot do with a criminal justice degree.”

Sam Houston State University (SHSU) was awarded a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to develop and test the best possible sample preparation methods for skeletal and decomposing human remains using emerging next generation DNA technology to identify missing persons or victims of mass disasters.

Dr. Sheree Hughes-Stamm of SHSU’s Department of Forensic Science and Dr. Bruce Budowle of the Institute of Applied Genetics (IAG) at the University of North Texas Health Science Center will investigate the best methods for extracting DNA from decomposed remains for next generation DNA sequencing. The new technology, called massively parallel sequencing (MPS), is the most advanced tool in the field of Forensic Biology and can provide more information from each DNA sample including identification and ancestry.

“Massively parallel sequencing provides deeper mining of DNA and may provide more information in missing persons or mass disaster cases when an identification using conventional methods fails,” said Dr. Hughes-Stamm. “The study will focus on identifying the most efficient sample preparation methods that maximize DNA quality and quantity for sequencing and developing the most effective data interpretation strategies for the vast amount of data obtaining from the MPS forensic identify panels in order to improve our ability to resolve more missing person cases.”

Currently, DNA identification of human remains is performed using reference samples from close family members or direct comparison with personal items used by the victim. However, relatives may not be found, and individual DNA samples may be unreliable.

The new MPS systems allow more, and smaller DNA markers to be analyzed in each sample from badly degraded samples, thus increasing the possibility of success in identifying the deceased. Because MPS represents a fundamental shift in chemistry when identifying human remains, new procedures may be needed to retrieve sufficiently pure DNA prior to sequencing.

The study, which will be conducted over a two-year period, will use cadavers from the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility, one of only six body farms in the country, to test the best DNA extraction methods to maximize the use of MPS technology. Currently, there are two different MPS platform marketed for forensic applications, and SHSU and UNTHSC each have at least one of the machines, allowing both to be analyzed simultaneously. In addition, the UNTHSC processes the majority of missing person identifications not only for the state of Texas but also for the entire United States.

Testing of the new technology will start by first using the current DNA testing methods with challenging biological samples to see how the results will then compare when the two MPS platforms are used, Hughes-Stamm said.
The latest NIJ grant follows on the heels of another study conducted for the agency at Sam Houston State University, which examined new techniques to preserve tissue samples and speed up the identification process following mass disasters, such as hurricanes, tsunamis, terrorist attacks, wars, or acts of genocide.

Sam Houston State University is the first institution in the country to offer an interdisciplinary doctoral degree in forensic science to meet the growing needs of public and private crime labs and to train faculty for higher education programs in the expanding field. The program offers courses in controlled substance analysis, trace evidence, pattern evidence, forensic biology, and forensic toxicology, to name a few.

A study funded by the National Science Foundation will explore if prison visitation can help reduce recidivism rates and whether there are gender, racial, and ethnic differences in these patterns.

Dr. Melinda Tasca of Sam Houston State University and colleagues from Arizona State University and Florida State University will collaborate on the study, which is based on all inmates released from the Arizona Department of Corrections between Fiscal Year 2011 and 2013 as well as interviews with a sample of offenders from all levels of custody.

“Prison visitation has emerged as a promising tool to protect against the potential criminogenic effects of imprisonment,” said Dr. Melinda Tasca, Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at SHSU. “In particular, visitation may serve to create, mend or maintain the social ties that are critical for successful offender reentry into the community.”

The study will examine levels of support received in prison and whether support varies by inmates’ gender and race/ethnicity. The study will result in recommendations for policy and practice on prison visitation.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there were 1,561,400 men and women incarcerated in federal and state prisons at the end of 2014.

Dr. Tasca serves as principal investigator for the Arizona Prison Visitation Project (APVP), a mixed-method study aimed at advancing knowledge on prison visitation and its effects on recidivism, misconduct, and self-harm. Her dissertation, funded by the National Institute of Justice, examined the emotional and behavioral responses of children who visited their parents in prison.

Dr. Tasca, who recently was elected as a member of the American Society of Criminology Division of Corrections and Sentencing Executive Board, specializes in the consequences of incarceration for prisoners, children and families, correctional policy, and the intersection of race and gender within these contexts. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals as Criminal Justice and Behavior, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Violence Against Women, and Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice.

Representatives from the Texas criminal justice system recently gathered at Sam Houston State University to brainstorm solutions for justice-involved veterans.

This group of decision makers, invited by the Texas Veterans Commission, the Meadows Mental Health Institute and Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, included representatives from state and local government, law enforcement, courts, prisons, jails, probation, parole and social service agencies. Together they worked using the Gains Center Sequential Intercept Model to create solutions to barriers veterans face in the criminal justice system.
The workshop led to a series of recommendations that will be presented to the Texas Legislature by the Texas Veterans Commission. Several agencies already offer funding to create veterans courts and to address the mental health needs of veterans.

“Close to 10 percent of those incarcerated are veterans and Texas is seeing the results of veterans returning home with invisible wound of war,” and Rebecca Bowden, a project manager at LEMIT. “It is vital that we develop these initiatives for our veterans and public safety.”
Among the recommendations were:

• Training should be available at all levels of the system to better understand veterans, their needs, and resources to assist them and their families
• Open communication is needed with the Veterans Administration to get information for and about veterans involved in the criminal justice system
• A veteran services clearinghouse should be created to identify agencies that assist veterans and their families as well as professionals in the criminal justice field
• Information about veterans should follow them throughout the criminal justice process to better identify programs and services

In the area of communication, including dispatch and law enforcement, standards should be developed on how to communicate with veterans and to deescalate volatile situations. Training is needed on how to access veteran services, the military culture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and “triggers” for veterans. Due to a lack of resources in rural areas, mobile training teams should be dispatched to remote areas to teach small municipal departments and county sheriff’s offices on site. Veteran Crisis Outreach Teams should be established to find the best resources for veterans when they are booked, sent to emergency detention, or handled through non-criminal routes. Law enforcement officers also need assistance in transporting veterans to facilities outside their communities.

All counties with populations over 100,000 should have a Veterans Court, with regional Veterans Courts available for counties with larger populations. Case workers, preferably veterans, could serve as a liaison with courts and district and defense attorneys, and counties also could train volunteer peer counselors to work with veterans in the criminal justice system. Magistrates and courts could offer personal recognition bond to release veterans to Veterans Administration facilities for assessment. The group also recommends that laws should be changed to allow the Veterans Administration to provide medications for veterans during the first 30 days of incarceration. Finally, jailers at county facilities should get training on how to identify veterans at intake as part of their license training.

As noted above, a veteran services clearinghouse should be established to expedite service by providing information not only to the criminal justice system, but to families who need to find assistance for veterans. A Texas Council of Regional Veterans Court could be established by judicial administrative district to provide information on the specific services available in each area.

To aid veterans reentering the community after incarceration, planning should begin as soon as the veteran enters the criminal justice system. Veterans should be identified at every stage of the process, so that relationships can be established, and support can be built into programs. This may include special programs for veterans in prisons and state jails; veteran-specific caseloads for probation and parole; and family training and support tools. Veterans also need access to other services, such housing, transportation, medical, and veterans’ benefits. Because of the distribution of resources in the state, a veteran hotline should be created to deal with reentry issues, and rural areas should grouped in regional hubs that provide resources and services.

“The Texas Veterans Commission, Military Veterans Peer Network found this meeting to be very informative and spoke to our justice, women’s and rural initiatives,” said Erin McCann, Justice Involved Veterans Coordinator with the Texas Veterans Commission. “We look forward to future collaborations with the attendees.”



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Campus Sexual Assault

The Crime Victims’ Institute looks at official responses to sexual assaults on college campuses.

To address concerns over sexual violence on college campuses, higher education institutions are required to appoint a Title IX Coordinator to investigate incidents, but few are trained to deal with the broad range of offenses the job entails, a study by the Crime Victims’ Institute (CVI) found.

The study by Nicole Wilkes and Dr. Leana Bouffard, Director of CVI, randomly surveyed 26 Title IX Coordinators at colleges and universities in Texas. Although 88 percent of coordinators were provided training on investigating sexual assault cases, less than half were trained on identifying, investigating or responding to cases involving stalking, intimate partner violence, drug-facilitated sexual assault, cyberstalking and harassment, or lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender cases.

“These victimizations are each unique, and training is essential to understand the dynamics of abuse, as well as the impact of these crimes on victims and reasons for recanting or non-reporting,” said Dr. Bouffard. “It is not uncommon for situations of intimate partner violence and stalking, in particular, to have a risk of lethality.”

The federal government has three mandates for colleges on the response, prevention and reporting of gender-based violence, including Title IX, the Clery Act, and the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act. Title IX prohibits gender-based discrimination in educational programming and applies to sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking, hate crime, pregnancy and other discriminatory factors among students, employees and visitors. Under Title IX, each campus must designate a coordinator and a policy that provides reasonable accommodations to the victim.

Most campuses surveyed had Title IX policies that covered sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking, with about half of the policies identifying all faculty and staff as responsible for reporting incidents. More than three-quarters of Title IX coordinators notified employees about their roles in the process and more than half provided training, with most making it mandatory.

According to “Campus Response to Sexual Assault, Intimate Partner Violence, and Stalking: A Survey of Title IX Coordinators in Texas,” more than half of the coordinators had opened one to five investigations at their campuses, with nearly 20 percent handling six to 10 incidents on campus. Most respondents reported they had initiated an investigation or opened a case involving sexual assault, whereas less than half said they were involved with dating or domestic violence, and 37.5 percent indicated having responded to stalking incidents.

The report also discussed resources provided to victims, which included information and explanation of Title IX procedures as well as referrals to law enforcement, counseling services, student health services, medical resources for sexual assault, advocacy resources, rape crisis centers or domestic violence shelters.
The report, which is shared with Texas Legislature and victim advocacy groups across the state, provides the first glance at the how the Title IX program is implemented in Texas.

“The findings from this survey are an initial step in understanding the implementation of Title IX on campuses, as well as the training and background of Title IX Coordinators,” Dr. Bouffard said. “The results presented here can be used as a point of reference on training needs of the Title IX Coordinators and responsible employees, as well as gaps in collaborative efforts and resources provided to victims.” Dr. Bouffard said.

The report is available from the Crime Victims’ Institute at www.crimevictimsinstitute.org

Project EnCriPT recently took its program on the road to Missoula, Montana to train tribal, state, and local officials on environmental and wildlife enforcement.

The two-day training, a collaborative effort among Project EnCriPT, the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), provided free training on the history of environmental enforcement, wildlife statutes, wildlife case studies, specific tribal concerns, investigative skills, hazards and safety concerns, scene documentation, sampling and evidence collection, and much more.

Participants included tribal members from the Northwest, state natural resource agents from Montana and Wisconsin, local police departments and area prosecutors. Among the tribes represented were Confederated Salish and Kootenai, Fort Peck, Tulalip, Blackfeet, Chippewa Cree, Northern Cheyenne, and Fort Belknap.

Michael Cotter, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, kicked off the session, emphasizing the importance of improving the safety and quality of life in local communities through environmental investigations, which required the involvement of many entities. He said that this training could serve as a model for other areas of the country.
The training was led by Bert Marsden, Resident in Charge of the EPA Criminal Division in Montana, and Andrea Hoke, manager of Project EnCriPT at LEMIT. Other instructors were provided by the EPA, the U.S. DOJ, and other local experts. Following hands-on demonstrations, the class was divided into two teams and provided a case study to investigate and present.

“This type of in-person instruction proved to be a very valuable, positive experience for participants,” said Hoke.

Project EnCriPT, funded through a grant from the EPA, is a free nationwide program designed to train civil and criminal enforcement officials to protect the environment and public health. It offers online courses and in-person training opportunities to present the latest information to combat environmental crimes and compliance issues. Among the online courses offered are:

• Illegal Dumping of Hazardous Waste
• Environmental Sampling Overview
• Personal Safety for Environmental Enforcement Professionals
• How to Handle the Media
• Introduction to Environmental Investigations
• Ethics of Environmental Enforcement
• Judicial Procedure

The courses, which range from one to eight hours, can be taken at any time or are offered as part of a cohort, which allows interaction among participants and in-depth investigation of the subject matter through written papers. In-person courses, which provide both instruction and hands-on application, are offered periodically and can be customized for participating agencies.

To register for programs or find out about upcoming events and trainings, visit www.encript.org

About 275 criminal justice majors graduated from Sam Houston State University on Dec. 11, including one new Ph.D. and 25 masters’ students.

Joining the ranks of doctoral graduates was Dr. Yi-Fen Lu. Her dissertation was on “The Interplay of Genes and Age-Graded Social Control in Predicting Offending Behavior: A Molecular Genetic Approach.” Her dissertation committee was chaired by Dr. Scott Menard and included members Dr. Danielle Boisvert, Dennis Longmire, and Brian Boutwell.

The College of Criminal Justice also awarded 16 Master of Science degrees in Criminal Justice Leadership and Management; five Master of Arts degrees in Criminal Justice and Criminology; two Master of Science degrees in Criminal Justice; one Master of Science degree in Homeland Security Studies; and one Master of Science certificate in Criminal Justice Leadership and Management.

About 250 bachelor’s degrees also were awarded in criminal justice and victim studies.

This group of decision makers, invited by the Texas Veterans Commission, the Meadows Mental Health Institute and Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, included representatives from state and local government, law enforcement, courts, prisons, jails, probation, parole and social service agencies. Together they worked using the Gains Center Sequential Intercept Model to create solutions to barriers veterans face in the criminal justice system.

The workshop led to a series of recommendations that will be presented to the Texas Legislature by the Texas Veterans Commission. Several agencies already offer funding to create veterans courts and to address the mental health needs of veterans.

“Close to 10 percent of those incarcerated are veterans and Texas is seeing the results of veterans returning home with invisible wound of war,” and Rebecca Bowden, a project manager at LEMIT. “It is vital that we develop these initiatives for our veterans and public safety.”

Among the recommendations were:

• Training should be available at all levels of the system to better understand veterans, their needs, and resources to assist them and their families
• Open communication is needed with the Veterans Administration to get information for and about veterans involved in the criminal justice system
• A veteran services clearinghouse should be created to identify agencies that assist veterans and their families as well as professionals in the criminal justice field
• Information about veterans should follow them throughout the criminal justice process to better identify programs and services

In the area of communication, including dispatch and law enforcement, standards should be developed on how to communicate with veterans and to deescalate volatile situations. Training is needed on how to access veteran services, the military culture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and “triggers” for veterans. Due to a lack of resources in rural areas, mobile training teams should be dispatched to remote areas to teach small municipal departments and county sheriff’s offices on site. Veteran Crisis Outreach Teams should be established to find the best resources for veterans when they are booked, sent to emergency detention, or handled through non-criminal routes. Law enforcement officers also need assistance in transporting veterans to facilities outside their communities.

All counties with populations over 100,000 should have a Veterans Court, with regional Veterans Courts available for counties with larger populations. Case workers, preferably veterans, could serve as a liaison with courts and district and defense attorneys, and counties also could train volunteer peer counselors to work with veterans in the criminal justice system. Magistrates and courts could offer personal recognition bond to release veteran to Veteran Administration facilities for assessment. The group also recommends that laws should be changed to allow the Veteran Administration to provide medications for veterans during the first 30 days on incarceration. Finally, jailers at county facilities should get training on how to identify veterans at intake as part of their license training.

As noted above, a veteran services clearinghouse should be established to expedite service by providing information not only to the criminal justice system, but to families who need to find assistance for veterans. A Texas Council of Regional Veterans Court could be established by judicial administrative district to provide information on the specific services available in each area.

To aid veterans reentering the community after incarceration, planning should begin as soon as the veteran enters the criminal justice system. Veterans should be identified at every stage of the process, so that relationships can be established, and support can be built into programs. This may include special programs for veterans in prisons and state jails; veteran-specific caseloads for probation and parole; and family training and support tools. Veterans also need access to other services, such housing, transportation, medical, and veterans’ benefits. Because of the distribution of resources in the state, a veteran hotline should be created to deal with reentry issues, and rural areas should grouped in regional hubs that provide resources and services.

“The Texas Veterans Commission, Military Veterans Peer Network found this meeting to be very informative and spoke to our justice, women’s and rural initiatives,” said Erin McCann, Justice Involved Veterans Coordinator with the Texas Veterans Commission. “We look forward to future collaborations with the attendees.”

Dr. Bitna Kim, a 2008 Ph.D. graduate, returned to Sam Houston State University this spring as the first Beto Chair Scholar in Residence in the College in about 20 years. Dr. Kim will teach graduate students, provide lectures, and update research on a collaborative program between law enforcement and community corrections.

“It is my honor to come back,” said Dr. Kim, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. “Sam Houston’s College of Criminal Justice is one of the top programs in the country. I hope to cooperate on projects and work with the faculty and graduate students.”

The Beto Chair is one of the flagship programs at the College of Criminal Justice. Begun in 1981 and named in honor of Dr. George J. Beto, one of the founders of the College, the program has attracted more than 100 thought leaders in criminal justice from throughout the world. During the 1980s and 1990s, the program hosted top scholars on campus for a semester to interact with students and collaborate with faculty. Later, the program invited several prestigious scholars annually to present a lecture on their latest research.

“The Beto Chair Scholar allows more interaction with students and provides more lectures about their specialty areas,” said Dr. Jihong Solomon Zhao, Chairman of the Beto Chair Committee.

Dr. Kim is on sabbatical from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and will spend the entire spring semester at SHSU. She will teach a graduate level course in International and Comparative Criminology, where she will share her experiences working in South Korea as well as in Asian and European communities. “There are no boundaries now; there’s globalization,” Dr. Kim. “We are looking at what is working, what is not working and what we can learn from other systems.”

Dr. Kim will revisit the Law Enforcement and Community Corrections Partnership, a 2007 grant which provided a national resource center for collaborative efforts among law enforcement, parole, and probation officers. The center offered training and technical assistance, developed through the Project Spotlight program in Texas, to aid in reducing crime, increasing public confidence in the criminal justice system and promoting public safety by increasing offender accountability in the community.

Project Spotlight created partnerships in the Texas’ seven most populous counties among law enforcement, adult supervision and juvenile probation to provide intense supervision and enhanced services to adult and juvenile offenders living in high crime area. The features of the program included reduced caseloads, intensive supervision during non-traditional work hours, high visibility, enhanced education and social services, and increased public safety through offender accountability.

Dr. Kim also will deliver lectures on her work in the criminal justice field. She has published widely in peer-reviewed, criminal justice journals on such diverse topics as intervention and treatment programs in corrections, police-community corrections partnerships, intimate partner homicides, domestic violence and gender issues. Her articles have appeared in Crime and Delinquency; Journal of Criminal Justice; Trauma, Violence & Abuse; Police Quarterly; Policing; Federal Probation; Prison Journal; Criminal Justice Policy Review; Criminal Justice and Behavior; Social Science Journal; International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology; Journal of Applied Security Research; Violence and Victims; Feminist Criminology; and Journal of Criminal Justice Education.

Dr. Kim recently was elected to a three-year term as a Trustee-at-Large for the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) and served as chair of its Affirmative Action Committee, the Publication Committee, and the Michael C. Braswell/Anderson Publishing Outstanding Student Paper Committee. She also was a recipient of the ACJS Minority Mentorship Grant Award as well as the Emerging Scholar Award from the Northeastern Association of Criminal Justice Science.

Dr. Kim serves on the membership committee of International Section of the American Society of Criminology and editorial boards for the Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice; Women and Criminal Justice; the Journal of Criminal Justice Education; Law, Justice and Health; and the International Journal of Humanity and Social Sciences. She also is a research consortium member for the Global Centre for Evidence-based Corrections and Sentencing.

Dr. Michael S. Vaughn of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, a Sam Houston State University Ph.D. Alumnus, was named a Fellow by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), a prestigious honor bestowed upon only three other faculty in the College of Criminal Justice over the 35-year history of the award.

The Academy Fellow Award is one of the top honors given by the largest criminal justice organization in the country and recognizes distinguished teaching and scholarly achievement. The award is given to an ACJS member who has taught crime and/or criminal justice for at least five years; achieved scholarly success through books, articles, reviews, technical reports, grants or papers; is active in leadership or in presenting workshops, panels or conferences for ACJS, and who had has achieved other accolades in the field.

Previous honorees from the College of Criminal Justice include Dr. Rolando del Carmen and former Deans Drs. Vincent Webb and Timothy J. Flanagan. Dr. Vaughn studied under the tutelage of Dr. del Carmen.

“Dr. Vaughn joins the ranks of top-notch, well-respected scholars who are ACJS Fellows – note how short this list truly is!,” said Dr. Gaylene Armstrong, Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. “Mike you are in amazing company – congrats!”

Dr. Vaughn joined the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University in May 2006 and serves as Co-Director of the Institute for Legal Studies in Criminal Justice. Vaughn's research interests primarily are related to legal issues in criminal justice, and his areas of expertise include constitutional law, correctional/prison law, criminal law, criminal procedure, prison health care, and state tort law.

Dr. Vaughn has served as Book Review Editor of the Journal of Criminal Justice Education (1993-1996), Editor of Police Forum (1997-2001), Editor of the Criminal Justice Review (2001-2005), and Editor of the International Criminal Justice Review (2001-2005. He has published extensively in criminal justice books, journals, and law reviews.

At SHSU, Dr. Vaughn served as Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies from 2009-2012. Before joining SHSU, Dr. Vaughn was a professor and Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice at Georgia State University. Dr. Vaughn received many honors and awards during his career, including for his mentorship of students, his scholarly pursuits and his service to the field. Among these are the Distinguished Alumni Award from Sam Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice; the Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award from Georgia State University; several Anderson Publishing Company Paper Award from ACJS; and top rankings from the Journal of Criminal Justice Education.

Real Talk w/CJ: Marty Elkins, Victim and Employee Support Services
Tues, Feb. 16
2:00 – 3:00 pm
Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom

In 2009, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) implemented an innovative training program to protect children from exploitation on the road.

The program, called Interdiction for the Protection of Children, trains patrol officers to identify children who may be abducted or endangered during traffic stops by using behavior patterns of both suspect and victims and age appropriate questioning techniques. The program has resulted in the successful rescue of hundreds of children in Texas, and countless children worldwide, through training and collaboration with other departments and agencies.

“Since 2009, the Texas Department of Public Safety has trained 5,119 law enforcement officers in Texas, 4,256 officers from other states, and 591 officers from foreign countries,” according to “Combating Child Sex Trafficking” from the FBI.

In 2015, 54 children were rescued through the program, and 177 minors and their families received help from Victim Services.

Marty Elkins is a Regional Victim Services Counselor, who works with child and adult victims of crime, including murder, sexual assault, crime crashes, and human trafficking, to name a few. She serves in Region 2, which covers Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Waller, and Horton counties and provides a helping hand to crime victims to access services and bring their cases to justice.

Adult and child victims of human trafficking come with a unique set of issues and challenges. For many, it is a revolving door of rescue and return. For domestic victims, some who are escaping sexual abuse and violence at home, the trafficker is perceived as providing love, support, structure, and money. “They have a bond with their abuser, who protects them, and they see this as their only chance to survive,” said Elkins.

For international victims, there is also the fear of deportation. “People do a lot to get into the United States,” said Elkins. “If they cooperate, they fear they will be sent back.”

There are very few programs that target these victims and many return to the streets. In Region 2, there are only two residential programs for victims of child sex trafficking – Freedom Place in Spring, a 30-bed unit run by Arrow Child and Family Ministries; and Restore Her, a program for six to eight girls from ages 7-17 that is part of the Still Creek Ranch in Bryan.

“We try and earn their trust and provide counseling,” said Elkins. “It has to be genuine and constant care. It makes a lot of time, patience and effort… It can be very frustrating. There is a lack of resources and not a lot of victim shelters. Many of the victims don’t believe that we really care about them, which we do, and they are very needy. They need so much support and care.”

Because of the immigration issues, international victims are placed by Homeland Security Investigations, but DPS assists victims through the criminal justice process. Elkins and fellow victim service counselor accompany victims to the forensic interview and an exam by the Sexual Assault Nurse and work to contact parents, Department of Family and Child Protective Services or Juvenile Services.