Criminal Justice Office of International Programs Highlights 2018 Accomplishments

We are celebrating our 10th year of student exchanges with Zhejiang Police College. What began as a study abroad to Sam Houston State University in 2008 grew into a yearlong exchange program in Fall 2009 and our first dual degree cohort arrived in Fall 2011. We have since hosted well over 200 students through the program, allowing students the opportunity to earn a degree from ZPC and SHSU over the four-year program.

The Professional Police Exchange Program with Poland has been allowing law enforcement officials to from Texas and countries like China and Poland to compare criminal justice systems with partner countries. The program has facilitated joint research projects, expanded understanding of best practices and networking among professionals. The program has facilitated annual professional development exchanges since 2004. In 2018 the program allowed a delegation of officials from Texas to travel to Poland for 10 days in April. In June a delegation from the Polish National Police visited major cities in Texas.

Together with CMIT, the CJ Center was awarded a grant through The United States State Department to develop a list of correctional experts that will serve as a resource to them when they are looking for folks to assist them with short term training, consulting, mentoring with the different correctional systems they work with around the world. 

Dr. Magdalena Denham led 12 undergraduate students on a 2-week study abroad program to Poland. The Comparative Homeland Security class provided the opportunity for students to learn about insurgency, security and civil liberties and the European Border Agency Frontex. They attended presentations and lectures over topics such as border security, mass events security, and emergency operations. In addition, the students were allowed to explore Polish history and culture by visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau, The Warsaw Uprising Museum and the Polish National Police Headquarters. Dr. Denham will lead another study abroad program to Poland in Summer 2019. 

Dr. Jurg Gerber represented the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology in September 2018 at the 2018 International Forum on Police Cooperation: Combating Transnational Telecommunications Fraud in Taipei, Taiwan. This event was hosted by several ministries of the government of Taiwan. He served as a panelist and was able to network with some of the members of the informal “Friends and Alumni Association” of the Central Police University of Taiwan. As of now, there are 14 former and current faculty members of CPU who have extensive ties with SHSU (i.e., they have earned their Ph.D. degrees at SHSU or have served as visiting scholars). SHSU has had, and continuous to have, a considerable impact on policing in Taiwan!

Led by Doug Dretke, Director of the Correctional Management Institute of Texas, led a delegation to the Czech Republic. The delegation was hosted by the Prison Service of the Czech Republic and visited several prisons, courts, and probation offices. Delegation members included Brian Hawthorne, Sheriff, Chambers County; Jarvis Anderson, Director, Community Services and Corrections Department, Bexar County; Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Manufacturing, Agribusiness, and Logistics Division, Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Jason Clark, Chief of Staff for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; and Jurg Gerber, Professor and Director of International Initiatives, College of Criminal Justice.