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The Criminology Club / KSU ACJA

About

Primary Founding Fathers

Ronnie Hernandez, Chapter President & Founding Father (2011 - 2012)
Crystian Torres, Chapter Vice President & Founding Father (2011 - 2012) 
 

KSU ACJA Story

Crystian Torres, a sophomore at Kansas State University (2011 - 2012) wanted to transfer to the University of Southern Florida (USF), only to find out that K-State was a better fit for his educational needs. While getting to know USF and its programs, Mr. Torres learned of the American Criminal Justice Association - Lambda Alpha Epsilon, a fraternity that currently has an active subordinate chapter at the university. This prestigious fraternity was founded in 1934 and has since been growing on a national level throughout the United States.

When Mr. Torres came back to K-State after taking his tour of USF, he got in contact with Ronnie Hernandez, a senior in Criminology and Pre-Law with a minor in American Ethnic Studies and Political Science. Due to Mr. Hernandez's leadership experience, Mr. Torres felt that he could at least get the group to a good start. After speaking with him, Mr. Hernandez accepted the task to serve as the Chapter President and share his experience and knowledge of how to run a student organization. Mr. Hernandez initiated the KSU ACJA website with K-State's server, wrote the KSU ACJA Constitution, and reached out to prospective members by speaking with members of the press (K-State Collegian, Wildcat 91.9, KMAN, etc) to get the word out.

Since the initiation of Kappa Sigma Upsilon, the chapter has grown in membership, has held successful fundraisers, speaker events, conferences, and the group is expected to continue to grow and improve as time progresses.
 

Co-Founders of the Kappa Sigma Upsilon Chapter

  1. Christopher McKinney, Secretary & Chief of Staff
  2. Brian Swenson, Treasurer
  3. Clint Jones, Director of Promotions
  4. Jordan Oatsvall, Director for Student Relations
  5. Daniel Flores, Director for Recruitment
     

What are the objectives of the American Criminal Justice Association - Lambda Alpha Epsilon?

  1. To improve criminal justice through educational activities.
  2. To foster professionalism in law enforcement personnel and agencies.
  3. To promote professional, academic, and public awareness of criminal justice issues.
  4. To encourage the establishment and expansion of higher education and professional training in criminal justice.
  5. To provide a unified voice for professionals in, and students of, criminal justice.
  6. To promote high standards of ethical conduct, professional training, and higher education within the criminal justice field.
     

How did the Association begin?

During the first three decades of the twentieth century, law enforcement in the western United States was simple and extremely rudimentary by comparison with today's high tech standards. The ability to do a "cop's job" relied heavily on physical brawn to maintain the peace and a degree of political connections to maintain one's job. Ethics and standards varied between states and political subdivisions if, indeed, heed was paid to these virtues.

There was little formalized training of peace officers, and only in the 1920's did any formalized U.S. governmental agencies begin to develop standards which might someday affect local police operations.

One of the most significant law enforcement officers in the early development of professional law enforcement in California was August Vollmer. Entering law enforcement by accident in Berkeley (California) in 1905 as "Marshal", Vollmer soon moved to the position of "Chief" in a rapidly growing University community. Utilizing resources of the University's technical and behavioral scientists, he studied the criminal and his modus operandi, means of identifying physical characteristics, and other information. From these studies, he developed advanced methods of detection and apprehension of criminals by scientific and deductive investigative conclusions.

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