The American Criminal Justice Association-Lambda Alpha Epsilon’s Psi Omega chapter at the University of New Haven has a longstanding history of excellence. This tradition was continued at ACJA-LAE’s Region IV conference in Danville, VA in mid-October.
Thirty-five student members of Psi Omega, as well as two foreign exchange students participating as guests and Professor Dan Maxwell of the Criminal Justice Department, made the trip to Danville on Oct. 18.
The conference began with a business meeting where elections took place; it was attended by several other chapters from the region. Region IV includes colleges and professional members from Virginia north on the East Coast.
Friday, Oct. 19, was a day of testing. Members of Psi Omega and the other chapters competed in a firearms competition and a physical agility competition. All students then participated in written tests in five different subjects: Corrections, Criminal Law, Juvenile Justice, LAE Knowledge, and Police Management.
Later in the day, several three-student teams competed in a mock crime scene investigation competition. Students entered a room where a staged crime had been committed and had to act as investigators, asking questions and taking notes on a time limit. Crime scene reports then had to be written up, with the student investigators explaining what had happened at the scene.
The following day, students attended two seminars. The first was “Gangs in Southside Virginia.” The speaker mentioned the tactics used by national gangs with local counterparts. The second seminar was “A Conversation About Hazing,” an interactive discussion on this dangerous practice on and off college campuses. Later that day was the awards banquet and ceremony.
Psi Omega won 37 trophies, in both team and individual categories. Three trophies were won in Corrections, six in Criminal Law, four in Juvenile Justice, four in LAE Knowledge and six in Police Management. Two students also won individual trophies in Physical Agility. Psi Omega brought home three Crime Scene Investigation trophies, as well as three team trophies in Firearms.
David Lavorgna, Todd DeWald and Frank Barlan won individual Firearms trophies. Todd DeWald also won the Top Gun award for being the top shooter at the entire competition, with a target score of 440/480 and 13 X’s.
Psi Omega also won the Spirit Award and the Sweepstakes Award, which is awarded to the chapter who wins the most trophies across all categories.
Psi Omega would like to thank the Bartels Family, Vice President for Enrollment Management Jim McCoy, and Dean Mario Gaboury of the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences for their generous support in making the trip to the conference possible.
