The UW-Platteville Criminal Justice Bachelor of Science Degree program recently forged two articulation agreements with Northcentral Technical College in Wausau and Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire.

Amy Nemmetz, instructor and program coordinator for the BSCJ program says, “We want to make a bridge between every possible technical and community college and UW-Platteville, so that these students know right away what courses transfer and what they need to take when starting their academic journey with UW-Platteville.”

Nemmetz attempts to complete three to four of these agreements with technical and community college programs annually, and always welcomes the opportunity to form articulation agreements with schools around the nation.

To read more, check out the full press release. For more information about UW-Platteville articulation agreements, check out the BSCJ articulation agreements page.

By Christine Hawkinson

A new agreement between Southwest Wisconsin Technical College and University of Wisconsin-Platteville (UWP) allows course-to-course transfer for criminal justice students who complete Southwest Tech courses and want to continue their education at UWP.

A previous agreement allowed for the transfer of some general education coursework, but due to differing course requirements, criminal justice courses were rarely accepted. The new provision allows up to five Southwest Tech criminal justice courses to transfer for students who complete the courses within 15 years of their application to UWP.

According to Amy Nemmetz, program coordinator for the online undergraduate criminal justice program at UWP, “We are excited to work more closely with Southwest Wisconsin Technical College criminal justice graduates. The strong foundation and skills these graduates bring to the UW-Platteville Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice program will lead to additional opportunities. UW-Platteville criminal justice graduates have obtained positions with the FBI, DCI (Department of Criminal Investigations), Probation and Parole, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and several other fascinating agencies.”

For more information, contact the Distance Learning Center at 800.362.5460.

By Amy Nemmetz, Coordinator, Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Program

Despite your spell checker not recognizing revictimization as an official word, it is an important concept. Although this may be a hard situation to consider, please read the following fictitious scenario:

You're walking in your neighborhood when you see a little girl crying. You approach the little girl and learn that the little girl’s name is Sasha and she is 7-years old. Sasha immediately asks if you can help her. Before you can answer, Sasha pushes aside several tears and proceeds to tell you that she was just sexually assaulted by a friend of the family.

Although, you may initially be thinking, "Why is this girl telling a complete stranger about this horrific incident?" hopefully you're also thinking WHAT should/can you do to get this little girl the help she needs? Your next step would entail a phone call to the police.

Here are some questions that may not come to mind after reading the scenario:

1. How many times will Sasha be asked to share the details of the event?
   
2. How many different people will question/interview Sasha about the sexual assault?
   
3. Will Sasha’s caretaker(s) believe her?
   
4. Will Sasha feel guilty, embarrassed, or ashamed about the incident?
   
5. Will Sasha be able to see a mental health professional in a timely fashion to work through any flashbacks, nightmares, or other trauma she may experience as a result of this incident?
   
6. Will Sasha be forced to sit across from the defendant to provide testimony?

In the criminal justice system, there are steps we can take to make the "process" more comfortable for Sasha to reduce "secondary" system revictimization. More specifically, it would be in Sasha’s best interest if the criminal justice professionals:

1. Limit the number of times Sara is interviewed.
   
2. Utilize a multi-disciplinary team approach (get the appropriate criminal justice professionals together from the beginning of the investigation to offer input).
   
3. Enlist the help of a Child Advocacy Center.

If we pick up on Sasha's scenario above, the following steps would reduce system revictimization:

1. Conduct a detailed interview at a Child Advocacy Center. These centers allow a multi-disciplinary team (i.e. the District Attorney, Victim Witness worker, Human Service Social Workers, Detectives) to gather to discuss the case and proceed with a video-taped interview.
   
2. Have ONE interviewer meet with Sasha to conduct the interview while other multi-disciplinary team members watch from an observation room (Child Advocacy Centers are typically set up to accommodate this).
   
3. Use a non-leading child friendly interview protocol such as the forensic Cognitive Graphic Interview or Stepwise (several protocols have been supported by research).
   
4. Use an interviewer who has been TRAINED to conduct a research-based interview protocol.
   
5. In compliance with state statute, use the video tape at the preliminary hearing in lieu of having Sasha appear to provide face-to-face testimony.

By Amy Nemmetz, Online Undergraduate Program Coordinator
UW-Platteville Criminal Justice Department

What is that line that my mom used to throw my way? Oh yes, here's what it was: "Amy, you never cease to amaze me!" It's not that I was a horrible child, but occasionally, we all did something that our caretaker(s) failed to find "acceptable," right? As a matter of fact, "Making Poor Choices" could be a chapter in every child development textbook!

Now let me put a little criminal justice twist on the line, "You never cease to amaze me." Because many offenders plan their crimes, it should come to no surprise that we often find ourselves thinking, "They never cease to amaze me." Unfortunately in the criminal justice system, the word amaze commonly becomes synonymous with words like disgust, disappoint, scare, and other negatively applied words.

Where am I going with this? Well, I had a client on my bail monitoring supervision case load last year who attempted to break into homes in broad daylight in a prominent neighborhood to obtain prescription pain pills. What's even more disturbing is the client was a physical therapist at a respected health club. This last year, I also remember watching a news clip warning the public about opening the door to strangers. Apparently a young female had been ringing strangers' doorbells under false pretenses and once inside the residence, she asked to use the restroom. If/when the female accessed the restroom, she then combed through the cupboards and cabinets for prescription pills. You may be wondering if these two cases were isolated incidents of pure craziness in the Madison area. Although I hate to be the bearer of bad news, those addicted to prescription painkillers take drastic measures just like any other addict. As a matter of fact, in one of Frank Schmalleger's criminology textbooks, he included an article about prescription crime and actually mentioned a case from Madison, Wisconsin.

Schmalleger noted that a man dressed as a police officer, conducting a fictitious narcotics investigation, attempted to steal painkillers from a local woman's medicine cabinet. Thankfully, the man was apprehended, convicted, and placed on supervision. Just as with any other "group of offenders," these offenders keep topping the creativity scale--from posing as potential home buyers to steal prescriptions out of sellers' homes to burglarizing pharmacies. The possibilities are endless!

Perhaps the bigger problem may be what do we do about the offenders who are also out to make a quick buck before the next big score? Unfortunately, they could be selling these pills to vulnerable teens and young adults.

Although, we would like to think that we would never be the target of a prescription thief, it never hurts to be cautious of those entering our homes nor does it hurt to spread the word about these creative offenders.

by Amy Nemmetz, Criminal Justice Department

OK, let me go ahead and tell you that I work in the Criminal Justice System. I'll admit that I'm likely more skeptical of people because of my chosen profession. But isn't it also true that we were all trained to be cautious in life? From the time we were walking, our caretakers were reminding us to "slow down...make sure to look both ways before crossing the street...and follow your gut feeling!"

I should also just go ahead and admit that after becoming a parent, my 'caution sensor' seems to be working on overload all the time! That's correct...I worry about anyone who remotely looks 'peculiar!' Oh, I know that you cannot judge a book by it's cover, but wouldn't it be nice if we had magic wands to pick out the 'bad eggs' living in our communities?!? Well thankfully, today's public record laws can really come in helpful when you have an inkling that someone may not be on the 'up and up.'

Although, I can not speak for all states, I can tell you that Wisconsin makes it a little easier to figure out the criminal record of those living near you, those you may be interviewing to watch your child, and those that you are inviting into your home for dinner parties!

The Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry holds a wealth of information at no cost to the browser. Their web cite provides information on victim services, offender information, non-complaint sex offender registrants (identified as Wisconsin's Most Wanted), pictures of sex offenders, and the opportunity to type in your Wisconsin zip code in order to see and read about any registered sex offenders living in your area. To learn more about service, check out The Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry online at: http://offender.doc.state.wi.us/public/home.jsp.

Many people have also discovered that the State of Wisconsin also publishes Circuit Court records on the Internet. By punching in a person's name, you can uncover dismissed cases, convictions, and pending cases. You can also gather additional court details once you've selected a specific case (i.e. the person's attorney, the alleged offense date, court dates, etc). So, if you're still wondering how your neighbor discovered that you received a speeding ticket last year or you're not getting a good feeling about your child's new friend, you may want to take a peak at the Wisconsin Circuit Court web site located at:
http://wcca.wicourts.gov/simpleCaseSearch.xsl;jsessionid=77BA02C5829C6C972E719B5890F926E7.render2?

These are just two very useful sites on the Internet which help keep me 'in the know.' Unfortunately, all this information can actually make you even more uneasy, but at the same time it's nice to know there is a location to do a quick search for those of us residing in Wisconsin. Now, if we could only figure out a way to pinpoint those serious offenders who have managed to evade the criminal justice system and subsequent publication...

If your answer is yes, then you are ready to make a jumpstart on your career and educational goals. UW Platteville is hosting its annual Criminal Justice Career Day in the Williams Fieldhouse on March 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and you are invited. It is an opportunity for you to speak with recruiters from various organizations as well as to obtain information for future educational goals through the online BSCJ and MSCJ degree programs. The benefits you reap by attending events such as Criminal Justice Career Day are the networking opportunities that it provides for you. It will give you the opportunity to meet representatives that will share information about specific careers, career-related questions, and immediate and future employment opportunities with their company. You also have the chance to meet distance learning staff who can answer questions about being admitted and getting registered in online courses that might better suit your future educational needs.

Now that you are aware of the advantages that await you, the next question to ask yourself is how to prepare for the employment opportunities inherent in this event. In order to best prepare, ask yourself "How can I market myself?" Remember that first impressions are very important!! With this in mind, here are 8 tips to keep in mind as you prepare for this event:

1. Familiarize yourself with the employers who will be attending.

2. Do some research to see the hiring needs of particular companies of interest.

3. Develop well thought out career-related questions to ask recruiters.

4. Prepare yourself for any immediate interviews that could occur.

5. Remember you're there to market yourself, so don't dress casually.

6. Bring many copies of your resume with you to give and pass out to recruiters.

7. Approach the recruiters with a smile, and demonstrate confidence, enthusiasm, and maturity.

8. If you want to be ahead of the game come EARLY before the peak time so that you can have more opportunities open to you.