Thursday, September 10^th at 1 pm Eastern

Wednesday, September 9^th at 6:30 pm Central

In conjunction with our Community Celebration, I’ve invited St. Cloud Police Department to the St. Cloud campus.  Officer Kim Moline will be demonstrating some of the mobile crime lab capabilities from 4:00-6:00pm.  Officer Matt Gannon will be conducting a narcotics demonstration with his Partner, K-9 Chuck from 6:00-700pm.

The Community Celebration includes food, door prizes, a “Kids Zone” and lots of fun for your whole family!  Join us and brings your friends and family!

If you have any questions please let me know!

Rose

Rasmussen College School of Justice Studies

Presents a panel discussion entitled

Ethics in Criminal Justice

When: August 31, 2009 at 5:30

Where: Eden Prairie Campus

Moderator:  Jason R. Weber – Criminal Justice Instructor jason.weber@rasmussen.edu

This discussion panel will feature professionals from different areas of the justice system. They will discuss Ethics in Law Enforcement, Ethics in the courtroom, and Ethics in the Corrections Field.  Discussion panelists will include Shaun LaDue, Chief of Police for the Owatonna Police Department; Jason Hiveley, Attorney for Iverson/Reuvers Law Firm and Chris Jahnke, Agent for the Wright County Court Services.

The aim of the panel discussion will be to give students a better understanding of the justice system and the ethical dilemmas faced on a daily basis.

The Distinguished Panel includes:

Shaun LaDue: Shaun has been the Chief of Police for the Owatonna Police Department since 2004. Shaun began his career in Law Enforcement in 1989 as a Detention Deputy for the Hennepin County Sheriffs Office. In 1993, he was hired on with the Bloomington Police Department as a Police Officer. During his tenure with the Bloomington Police Department, Shaun served in various roles such as Investigator, School Resource Officer, Patrol / Traffic Unit Sergeant and Public Information Officer. Shaun finished his career with the Bloomington Police Department as the Commander of the patrol Division. In his time with the Owatonna Police Department, he has developed and initiated several hallmark programs such as National Night Out, Crime Free Multi-Housing, K-9, Evidence Technician Unit and Field Training Officer Program. Shaun holds his Bachelor’s Degree from Saint Cloud State University in Accounting and he also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Minnesota State University – Mankato.

Chris Jahnke: Chris graduated from Moorhead State University in 1995 with a degree in Criminal Justice & Sociology. He initially worked at a Group Home for Adults with Developmental Disabilities that were involved in the Criminal Justice System. Chris worked one year as a Case Manager and Field Surveillance Officer with the Safe Streets First Program, a multiple DWI offender program, based out of the First Judicial District. I have been employed as a Probation Agent in Wright County since 1997. For the past five years I have supervised an Adult caseload. Prior to this, I supervised a Juvenile caseload and Juvenile Intensive Supervision caseload. I presently serve as President for the Minnesota Community Corrections Association (MCCA) and serve on the Board of Directors for PEPSA.

Jason Hiveley: Jason Hiveley is a partner with Iverson Reuvers, LLC in Bloomington, Minnesota. Jason practices in the defense of municipal liability claims, civil rights lawsuits, commercial litigation, general litigation and appeals. Jason has handled numerous jury trials in State and Federal Court and has argued several times before the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Jason also conducts training seminars for law enforcement agencies across the state. Prior to attending law school, Jason served in the United States Navy for 4 years as an Intelligence Specialist at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska.

It’s Drugs and Crime Week at Rasmussen – St. Cloud!

On Thursday, June 4^th at noon Brigid Murphy, Stearns County Drug Court Coordinator will be on campus to discuss the local, award-winning program that targets drug offenders in the criminal justice system.

Join us in Room 107 for these fantastic presenters! 

If you have any questions please let me know!

Rose Du Houx Pogatshnik, MS

Seven essential requirements to obtain career opportunities in the field of J U S T I C E

Justice: Be law-abiding. Those who want to work in justice studies need to believe in the justice system. The best way to demonstrate your respect and dedication to the field of justice studies is to remain law-abiding, follow the laws and rules in your community!

Unpaid Assistance (i.e. volunteer): Part of working in the field of Justice Studies is helping others and your community. Whether you want to be a paralegal, a police officer, or a victim’s advocate the best way to get your foot in the door is to help out as an unpaid assistant. All it takes is a few hours a month to make an impact, so research agencies in your community that have volunteer opportunities and get involved.

Specialized: Show your difference to agencies; specialize in areas that will make you worthwhile to agencies above and beyond other applicants (certifications, licensing, etc).

Time: Whether you are requesting to do an informational interview with someone in the field, or asking for a tour, be sure you are respectful of authority and the time they are dedicating to your educational journey.

Interview: apply and interview for a variety of different jobs, many jobs are entry level with lots of opportunity for promotion, but you do not know unless you apply and interview.

Communicate: reading, writing and speaking is crucial in the justice field. Whether it is reading a clients disposition, or writing an arrest report, or speaking in court, the most important part of working in the justice field is effectively communicating.

Evidence: all systems and processes in the justice system are documented, whether you are a case manager documenting someone’s rehabilitation progress, or a probation officer filing a probation revocation, it does not happen unless the evidence can be documented. So be sure you are able to effectively write your facts and findings for evidence.

Criminal Justice Event--Guest Speaker:   U.S. Attorney Drew H. Wrigley

Rasmussen College - Fargo Campus- is honored to announce U.S. Attorney Drew H. Wrigley as the guest speaker for the quarterly Criminal Justice event. The on-campus event (Room 103/105) is scheduled for Monday, March 9, 2009, at 7:00PM. 

Attorney Wrigley is a North Dakota native and grew up in Fargo.  He has served since 2001 as North Dakota's 17th United States Attorney. 

Attorney Wrigley recently argued a death penalty case before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The defendant in the case is Alfonso Rodriguez who was convicted of kidnapping resulting in the death of Dru Sjodin. 

We are pleased to provide this unique opportunity to our students, staff, and community. 

For more information contact Patty.Laney@rasmussen.edu. 

Hello School of Justice Studies students!

Are you looking for a great opportunity to gain experience in the field while going to school?  Below is information about a great community resource that could be a good fit for you!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Community Mentors

Central MN Re-Entry Project is a referral service that assists ex-prisoners in searching for

employment, housing, clothing, family services, and more. Individuals are needed to serve as

mentors to help motivate inmates. Through mentoring, volunteers will make a difference in an

inmate’s life by assisting them in developing trust, feeling cared about, and gaining a new

perspective. By connecting inmates with mentors and services that provide resources, these

individuals will be less likely to re-offend and be better citizens with bonds to the community.

Both men and women are needed to serve as mentors for individuals in Stearns, Sherburne,

Benton, and Morrison State of Minnesota Correction Facilities and county jails. Volunteers must fill out an application and provide references.

Contact Joseph Gibbons, Central MN Re-Entry Project at (320) 761-8133

Rasmussen College - Rockford IL in Cooperation with The National Partnership for Careers in Law, Public Safety. Corrections, and Security presents

Eden Prairie Campus Criminal Justice Open House

Thursday, September 11, 2008

6:00 PM-9:00 PM.

The Eden Prairie Criminal Justice Student Activity Council is very excited about hosting a Criminal Justice Open House on Thursday 9-11 at the Eden Prairie Campus from 6-00 PM-9:00 PM. The theme of the open house will be changes in policing and corrections since 09/11/2001.

The Eden Prairie Police Department will conduct a K-9 demonstration from 6:00 PM-7:00 PM.

From 7:00-8:30 PM, panelists from the following agencies will be present to discuss the evenings topic as well as their job descriptions, qualifications, and educational backgrounds:

• Eden Prairie Police Department (Detective and S.W.A.T. member)
• Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department
• Hennepin County Explorers
• Hennepin County Water Patrol (including watercraft)
• Department of Homeland Security
• Shakopee Women’s Prison
• State Patrol
• Carver County Corrections
• Carver County Sheriff’s Department
• Winona County Corrections Officer
• Waconia Police department
• Department of Natural Resources (DNR)

This is a unique opportunity to meet and talk with professionals in your career field!

Please join us at the Eden Prairie Criminal Justice Open House and bring a friend and/or family member on Thursday 9-11.

Questions about the event may be directed to Eden Prairie Criminal Justice Student Activity Council President Crystal Marks at: crystal.marks@smail.rasmussen.edu or Law Enforcement Coordinator Mike Server at: michael.server@rasmussen.edu

An experience for paralegal students . . .

On Saturday, August 23, 2008, Amy Springer, Reference Librarian for the Eagan campus, and Liz Hurley-Felling, instructor for the Introduction to Legal Research class, gave paralegal students an opportunity to visit the law library at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN. Eight students attended from various parts of the Minneapolis-St.Paul metro area and Wisconsin. Kirk Olson, another instructor for the paralegal program who usually attends this tour with us was unable to make it this time. We missed him!

The purpose of this fieldtrip is to show the students how to manually research information, but also to minimize any fears they may have about going into a law library by themselves. It is important for students to know that these libraries are open to the public and they can utilize them anytime.

We began the tour with Librarian Amy Springer showing us where everything was located in the law library and how the materials are organized. Instructor Liz Hurley-Felling showed the students the reporters, statutes, and encyclopedias. To put into practice what students were learning and experiencing, we all performed a couple of exercises to retrieve information using the law books.

The two hour law library session was followed by lunch at Axel’s Bonfire Grill on Grand Avenue. This gave us a chance to socialize, and talk about the experience of researching at a law library. This is a great example of taking classroom learning and applying it to the real world experience.

Liz Hurley-Felling

Paralegal Studies Coordinator/Instructor

Eagan campus/online

Rose Pogatshnik, CJ instructor at the St. Cloud campus, has arranged a tour of MCF – Shakopee.  This is the only women’s facility in the state of Minnesota.  It was built in 1986 and houses all levels of female offenders who have been sentenced to prison.  

The tour is scheduled on August 14^th, 2008 at 10:00 am.  You must be a criminal justice student and have successfully completed the class Introduction to Criminal Justice to attend. 

Please send your full name, date of birth and driver’s license to Rose via email at rose.pogatshnik@rasmussen.edu by Friday, August 1^st.  Space is limited!  Transportation is the responsibility of the student. 

If you have any questions please contact Rose via email.

On Saturday, May 17,  students from the Introduction to Legal Research class attended a Rasmussen College field trip to the  William Mitchell College of Law.  The tour of the law library was to familiarize students with how to look up information in a law library as opposed to electronically using Westlaw. 

The tour began at noon.  Kirk Olson, instructor from the St. Cloud campus, and Amy Springer, reference librarian from the Eagan campus, participated in leading the students through the tour.  Amy pointed out where all the books were located.  Kirk created some short exercises that had students locating statutes, information in encyclopedias, and cases.  We worked as a group to locate the information and then discussed the outcome.  It was a great exercise. 

Afterwards, we all went to lunch at Bonfires on Grand Avenue.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch. 

Liz Hurley-Felling

To discuss the law enforcement aspects in the field of criminal justice, Sara Suerth, a Brooklyn Park Police Officer will be speaking to the Introduction to Criminal Justice class on Thursday, May 15^th from 5:30-6:00pm at the Rasmussen Brooklyn Park Campus. She will talk about the Brooklyn Park Police Department, what is involved in her day-to-day work procedures, her background and how she became a police officer, how she works with other criminal justice agencies, and if her job is what she expected it would be.  

All students are invited to attend. Please email Leslie Palmer at leslie.palmer@rasmussen.edu with any questions.

Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney was a guest speaker at Professor Patty Laney’s Policing in America class on April 24, 2008, at the Fargo campus. 

 Prior to being elected Sheriff in November 2006, Sheriff Laney was a lieutenant with the Fargo Police Department.  As a Fargo police officer, Laney worked with the gang and narcotics units and also commanded the canine and school resource programs.  Sheriff Laney visited with students about his experiences and duties as a patrol officer, district commander, and SWAT commander.    

 Sheriff Laney also presented an overview of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.  With a department of 166 people, including operation and management of the Cass County Jail, Sheriff Laney provided an excellent overview of the various opportunities for careers in the Criminal Justice Field.  

 Sheriff Laney also commented on the importance of education for those interested in Criminal Justice careers.  He stated that he and other law enforcement leaders are looking for qualified applicants from schools like Rasmussen and encouraged students to do well in their studies.   We are pleased Sheriff Laney was able to take time from his schedule to share his experience with our class. 

On Saturday, March 8, 2008, Amy Spring, Reference Librarian for the Eagan campus, and instructors for the Paralegal Studies program Liz Hurley-Felling and Kirk Olson, gave the paralegal students an opportunity to visit the law library at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN.  There were 9 students who attended from various parts of the metro area.  One student even came from as far away as Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

The day began at noon when we all met a William Mitchell.  Kirk Olson had prepared some short exercises to allow the students the opportunity to manually research various aspects of the law.  Since this program is only offered online, the students have had access to the electronic research tool Westlaw and were not exposed to how to research legal issues in a law library.   

The first 30 minutes were spent with Amy showing us where everything was located in a law library and how materials are organized.  We then were able to gather in a room where we discussed the brief exercises and what we would like the students to find.  We had students pair up and Kirk and Liz assisted the students in locating the information. 

The exercises consisted of looking up information in legal encyclopedias, finding Minnesota Statutes (and Minnesota Statutes Annotated), federal statutes in United States Codes Annotated, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision.  All students located their respective materials and we gathered again in the room where we spent the next hour discussing how the students located the material and how different it was from electronic research.   Since this process is vastly different than typing in a keyword in Westlaw, the students had to locate the materials using indexes and common name searches.   It was a great exercise to demonstrate how challenging manual research can be and also that it is more time-consuming than electronic research.  We also had an opportunity to explain in more depth the information the students were reading and answer questions that may not be brought up in class.   

The purpose of this fieldtrip was to show the students how to manually research but also to minimize any fears they may have about going into a law library by themselves.  It was important for them to know that these libraries are open to the public and they can go into them anytime.  They were encouraged to try some exercises on their own at a local law library.  We explained that academic law libraries (those at law schools) were open late hours where county law libraries are usually only open during the times the courthouse is open.    

 We followed the 2 hour session with lunch at Axel’s Bonfire Grill on Grand Avenue.  This gave us a chance to socialize a little before we ended the day at about 3:30 p.m.  It was one of the best experiences we could have provided for these students.   It is my hope that we can do this again!

On Wednesday, January 30, 2008, Linda Myhre from the Eagan Police Department spoke to the Eagan Campus juvenile justice class and other invitees. 

Linda is a 20-something year veteran of the Eagan Police Department and brought levity and experience to her presentation.  She spoke about the differences between arresting an adult offender and a juvenile offender.  One of her main points was that the time involved in a juvenile arrest was significantly more than that of an adult.  She estimated that the time difference generally was about 30 minutes for an adult and upwards of 4 hours for a juvenile.  The different  protection afforded juvenile offenders played a role in this time difference.

She further spoke of her general experience throughout her career as an officer including becoming an officer when there were not very many females in the field.  She has worked extensively in the domestic violence unit and has extensive personal knowledge of the implications of domestic violence on persons individually and on society.

Author: Liz Hurley Felling

Nearing the 25th anniversary of the famous shoot-out between Gordon Kahl and the US Marshalls, Darrell Graf, shared his experiences with the criminal justice students. Graf is the former Chief of the Medina Police Department. He was deeply involved in the events leading up to and throughout the shoot-out. 

Graf later published a true-crime book on the event, titled “It’s All About Power: A True and Accurate Eye Witness Account of the Shoot-Out Between Gordon Kahl and US Marshals at Medina, North Dakota.” Graf shared the details of the events for nearly four hours, answering questions and sharing his first-hand account of the famous shoot out.

Instructor and Program Advocate, Mark Turner, MS, coordinated the event on behalf of the students.

From co-Author:

Kimberly Long

The residential students in the Criminal Law & Procedures class on the Eagan campus are in the process of creating a simulation of an actual murder trial that took place in Dakota County in 2002.  This process is known as a mock trial.  The purpose of the mock trial is to gain real-life experience of participating at each step of a murder trial, from investigation to verdict.  It brings to light the difficulties and challenges of trying a criminal case.  It also allows students to experience the trial process from all perspectives.  We are using a murder trial but you could use any criminal trial for the purposes of creating this learning experience.  The process enhances the decision-making and critical thinking skills of the students.   It is not what you see on TV!

So far we have acquired the incident report from the investigating Lakeville, MN police department, witness statements, and court transcripts from the actual trial which took place in Dakota County, MN.  We are using some of this as the foundation for examining the statutes under which this defendant was charged.   The witness statements and court transcripts help to define the issues in the case and assist in developing the proper line of questioning for both the defense and prosecution.  We are working as a group which allows each student to understand the entire process and collaborate on how we will proceed for each step. 

However, the most exciting thing we did so far was to sit in the actual courtroom where this murder trial took place!  Our class took a field trip to the Dakota County Courthouse and met with the 2 prosecutors (District Attorney James Backstrom and Assistant District Attorney Nicole Nee) and the judge (Judge Leslie Metzen) who tried this case!  It added a human element to this process.  It also allowed the students to ask specific questions about this case to the people who were involved from the initial charges through verdict and appeal.  THAT was an experience! 

The Lakeville, MN Police Department has a very good web page with an enormous amount of information about their efforts at fighting crime and other information and publications for public viewing.  Another very informative website with very valuable information is the Dakota County District Court site. 

We are collaborating with the U.S. Government Class and the Medical Law & Ethics class in this process.  The government class is going to draw up and serve the subpoenas/summonses for both the jurors and the witnesses while the medical class is going to provide our medical experts at trial.  The students from these classes will also be the jurors.  My students will be the courtroom work group (prosecution, defense, judge, and other court personnel), the bailiff, and the witnesses.  The role of judge will be in the capable hands of Rose Pogatshnik, Criminal Justice instructor, Rasmussen College, St. Cloud campus. 

Since this is still pretty early, I will post another update of how things are developing as we move closer to the trial date.  We still have to look at the rules of evidence and procedure to gain an understanding of the requirements for trial, the admissibility/inadmissibility of evidence, develop the entire dialogue, and practice for the trial.   We will examine the appeals process after the trial.  We still have lots of work ahead of us! 

While this process is complex, reality-based learning allows the participants to experience how the entire process works.  We will be holding our trial on Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. on the Eagan campus.  Everybody is welcome.

What do you think would be the most interesting part of preparing for and presenting a mock trial—especially a murder trial? 

What do you think some of the challenges would be?

From co-Author:

Liz Hurley-Felling, Criminal Justice/Paralegal Studies Instructor
Eagan Campus

As Criminal Justice and paralegal students, you have finished your first week of education and subsequent career in the pursuit of justice.  Hopefully you have gotten off to a good start and are eagerly awaiting learning more about what you can do for tomorrows’ justice communities.

In your education and career, remember that it is important to know your factual tidbits, like the Bill of Rights and APA citation, but it is equally important to think critically about all that is happening and going on in the Justice community.  Criminal justice is a system of process founded on “innocent until proven guilty”.

In our ever increasing incarceration nation let’s not loose sight that we have to prove peoples guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  As Andy Kahn states, “Our criminal justice system should be more concerned with public safety than with numbers”.   Safety and protection for both the victim and the offenders in the criminal justice process. 

So in your classrooms this week- be critical, bring up the tough questions.  Whether it is about the Jena Six or the increased prison rate,  be sure to speak up in class and use your critical thinking skills!