News and Events in Criminal Justice

News and Events

News

Dr. April Terry, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, and Megan Shepard, FHSU senior, began board membership of Jana’s Campaign in November. Jana’s Campaign, a national education and violence prevention organization delivers educational programs that prevent domestic and dating violence, sexual violence, and stalking.

Dr. April Terry, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, was announced as the 2022 President's Distinguished Scholar. The President’s Distinguished Scholar Award was first conferred in 1989. The evaluation of each candidate for this honor is based on an analysis of their performance in research and creative activities, service, and instruction categories. Acceptable levels of performance must be demonstrated in service and instruction, with the primary focus of this award on research and creative activities.
Faculty awards presented at fall convocation - Fort Hays State University (fhsu.edu) 
August 17, 2022

FHSU's Department of Criminal Justice was recently awarded an additional $1.5 million to expand operations of the Central Region De-esclation Training Center. FHSU hosts one of several regional training centers within a national network under the direction of the National De-escalation Training Center (NDTC). The de-escalation training model used by center instructors expands the law enforcement officers’ ability to interact with the people they serve and defuse potential situations that otherwise may escalate into the use of force. 
Federal grant drives FHSU de-escalation training center expansion - Fort Hays State University
August 9, 2022

Dr. April Terry, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at FHSU, was asked to serve as a community consultant with the Kansas Department of Corrections-Juvenile Services and National Crittenton to produce a case study analysis on juvenile justice-involved girls in Kansas Kansas_Girls_Report.pdf (mcusercontent.com)
April 1, 2022

The Central Region Training Center (CRTC) of the National De-Escalation Training Center(NDTC) was awarded a $1.25 million grant for the De-Esclation Regional Traiing Centers initiative from the US Department of Justice, Community Policing Program. Dr. Tamara Lynn (Criminal Justice chair), Dr. Morgan Steele (Criminal Justice Assistant Professor), Chief Ed Howell (University Police) are representatives of the Central Region Training Center. 

Dr. April Terry, Criminal Justice Assistant Professor, has been chosen to be part of the 2021 Inaugural Advisory Board for Civic Learning
https://fhsu.edu/news/2021/03/fhsu-announces-inaugural-advisory-board-for-civic-learning-and-community-engagement?fbclid=IwAR3WZq5THwYNjvzX9gmOajSthuRKc887z4fIJb1PEvVxTQkLRGapO21NeaU 
March 5, 2021

FHSU Faculty Appointed to National Leadership Positions of Newly Established De-Escalation Training Center
The Fort Hays State University Department of Criminal Justice and University Police Department signed a final agreement on Aug. 7 to join an expanding network of regional de-escalation training centers that teach law enforcement officers techniques that can help resolve potentially dangerous confrontations.
November 18, 2020

"Two FHSU Departments to Explore Partnering with the National De-escalation Training Center"
Fort Hays State University administration recently signed a preliminary agreement for its Department of Criminal Justice and University Police Department to explore the opportunity to establish a regional training center for the National De-escalation Training Center (NDTC) on the FHSU campus. The NDTC is located at Wayne State University in Detroit and facilitates innovation, research, and development of best practices in law enforcement de-escalation training. 
July 7, 2020

The Center for Empowering Victims of Gender-Based Violence was officially established at the Department of Criminal Justice 
https://www.fhsu.edu/criminaljustice/center-for-empowering-victims-of-gender-based-violence/
March 2020

Student Research

Abigail Hayes (Criminal Justice major) and Cristina Jimenez (2021 alumna), along with former student worker Gracie Wasinger, were selected to present their research during the Kansas Virtual Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol in Topeka, KS 
http://ltblogs.fhsu.edu/urd2021/?fbclid=IwAR1JTqRGwyKmow2BIipLaoUH39zgtLREFrBbAK_r-3S1Wn0SeK9xFFAstOY 
March 2021

Viviana Lizarraga (Criminal Justice major) was selected to present research at the 18th Annual Capitol Graduate Research Summitt
https://fhsu.edu/news/2021/02/18th-annual-capitol-graduate-research-summit-set-for-feb.-18?utm_content=154445067&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-20841991562&fbclid=IwAR0jiDFMgR5QfW_MOSBgbosRwOUi0nc1kjPzA0kbC_HzFou5rfJJl1ZyjwM
February 2021

Students of Criminal Justice present their research to the key community stakeholders. On December 4th 2019, Holly Sieving (senior of Criminal Justice Major), Christian Rivas (junior of Criminal Justice major), Cadin Sanner (graduate student of MPS in Criminal Justice), and Conrad Vajnar (junior of Criminal Justice minor), students presented their research " Understanding Community Crime Patterns- An Exploratory Study of Spatial Correlation between Neighborhood Structure and Crime Prevention" to two of our community partners-Hays Police Department and the FHSU Institute of New Media Studies. 

The research project is a key component of an honors class offered in Fall 2019-CRJ 380 Community and Crime. Throughout the research project, students collect, examine, and use information from peer-reviewed and other academic resources, as well as gather their own information concerning their topics to enhance the understanding of crime patterns in Hays, KS.  Students work with the Institute of New Media Studies to present the research visually to stakeholders of the community by utilizing technologies such as 360 video, computer modeling, and geospatial analysis. The focus of this research is on the correlates and consequences of the variation of crime across communities and will provide policy recommendation to the key community stakeholders. Students and faculty advisors (Dr. Morgan Steele and Dr. Ziwei Qi) will be traveling to Phoenix, Arizona in spring 2020 and present their research at the Western Society of Criminology.

Workshops
As part of CRJ 200 "Criminology" course, a Forensic Workshop was held on the Fort Hays State University campus. Dr. Ziwei Qi, Criminology Department, and Dr. Catherine Sartin, Biology Department, received a 2019-2020 Experiential Learning Innovative Grant to facilitate the workshop. During the workshop, students were introduced to the knowledge of basic crime scene investigation and forensic biology. 

Publications

Dr. April Terry, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, published an article "A Veneer of Idyllic but [Un]safe Dirt Roads: Young Women's Pathways to Safety and Belonging behind Prison Walls"
September 19, 2022

Dr. Tamara Lynn, Chair and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, published an article "Negotiated Management as a Tool to Achieve Social Control over Political Protest and Social Movement Organizations" in the journal of Advances in Social Sciences Research
https://journals.scholarpublishing.org/index.php/ASSRJ/article/view/13091 
September 17, 2022

Dr. April Terry, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, along with Dr Morgan Steele, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, published an article "Racial Disparities at Rural and Urban Juvenile Detention Centers: Unanticipated Findings Since COVID-19's Reduction in Juvenile Assessments"
August 1, 2022 

Dr. April Terry, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice , recently published an article "Understanding Developmental Life-Course Theory for Justice-Involved Girls and Women Residing in Rural Coercive Sexual Environments" in the journal of Current Issues in Criminal Justice that examines coercive sexual environments in rural areas. 
Full article: Understanding developmental life-course theory for justice-involved girls and women residing in rural coercive sexual environments (tandfonline.com)
June 21, 2022

Dr. Ziwei Qi, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, along with Garrett McBlair, former Criminal Justice major, and Megan Shepard, current sociological major and undergraduate researcher for the Center for for Empowering Victims of Gender-based Violence, published an article in The Reproduction and Maintenance of Inequalities in Interpersonal Relationships "Sociocultural Inequalities and Economic Abuse in Intimate Partner Violence in Rural America" 
https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/sociocultural-inequalities-and-economic-abuse-in-intimate-partner-violence-in-rural-america/312301 
May 15, 2022

Dr. Ziwei Qi, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, recently published a book chapter "Going Global: The Challenges of Studying Rule Crime Worldwide" dealing with rural crime. The chapter appears in the book "Research Methods for Rural Criminologists" and focuses on how to conduct research with the most reliable and consistent cross-cultural measures.
Going Global | The Challenges of Studying Rural Crime Worldwide | Ziwe (taylorfrancis.com)
March 1, 2022

Dr. April Terry, Criminal Justice Associate Professor (Criminal Justice Associate Professor) and Viviana Lizzaraga (Criminal Justice major/GTA) published an article "Sexual Violence in RUral Places: Policy Implication for First-Responding Law Enforcement Officers" 
https://scholars.fhsu.edu/aljsr/vol5/iss1/5/

Dr. April Terry (Criminal Justice Associate Professor), Brooke Mann (Lecturer and Director of the FHSU Clinical Psychology Program), and Ashley Lockwood (2019 alumna) published an article " Juvenile Correctional Officer Beliefs About Trauma and Mental Illness: Perceptions of Training and Youth Behaviors" 
August 18, 2021

Dr. April Terry (Criminal Justice Associate Professor) and Ashley Lockwood (2019 alumna) published an article " Community Stakeholders' Perceptions of Crime and Victimization: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Collective Efficacy and Social Cohesion in the Rural Heartland" 
Summer 2021

Dr. April Terry (Criminal Justice Associate Professor), Dr. Morgan Steele (Criminal Justice Assistant Professor), Ashley Lockwood (2019 alumna), and Megan Milner (Topeka Department of Corrections) published an article " The Gendered Path for Girls in Rural Communities: The Impact of COVID-19 on Youth Presenting at Juvenile Detention Facilities" 
June 4, 2021

Dr. Morgan Steele (Criminal Justice Assistant Professor) published an article titled " Effects of Different Types of Forensic Evidence on Arrest Probability: Toward a New Typology of Evidence"
December 2020

Dr. April Terry (Criminal Justice Assistant Professor) along with Ms. Ashley Lockwood (2019 alumna) published an article titled "Exposure to Urbanized Poverty and Attitude Change: A Longitudinal Case Study on Service-Learning with Rural Undergraduate Criminal Justice Students". Dr. Terry took her students on a living and learning community trip to Skid Row in 2016. 
May 2020

Dr. April Terry (Criminal Justice Assistant Professor) recently published a manuscript in the  Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma titled "On the Outside Looking In: Rural Girls, Trauma, and Involvement in the Criminal Justice System"   
August 14, 2019 

Awards

Dr. Ziwei Qi (Criminal Justice Assistant Professor) whose application  *Understanding Community Crime Patterns- An Exploratory Study of Spatial Correlation between Neighborhood structure and Crime Prevention" has been selected as one of the awardees for the Fiscal Year 2020 Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) grant. There were 19 applications. 

Dr. April Terry (Criminal Justice Assistant Professor) application "Literacy with Incarcerated (Grand)mothers and their (Grand)children: Reconnecting parents with Children through Reading Engagement" has been selected as one of the awardees for the Fiscal Year 2020 Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) grant. There were 19 applications. 

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