In an effort to increase applied learning technologies into our academic programs, the Department has developed several lab components that we have included into a number of our course offerings.

Among them, is Crime Zone/Crash Zone, a CAD program which will allow students to sketch crime scenes and partake in motor vehicle accident scene reconstruction.  Our “Resistance to the Use of Force Simulator” labs will give students the opportunity to actually participate in, and then critique scenarios where the police used forced of one kind or another, including less than lethal force. FACES Software that enables students to sketch descriptions of suspects by utilizing sketch software.  We have already incorporated the Mock Criminal Court lab into our Criminal Law Course (CRJ 211). In this lab, students are required to apply learned court room procedures that have been taught through several in class lectures and readings. These sessions have been filmed and a link can be accessed to view the performance of our students. (http://streaming.sunyorange.edu/watch/q6GJr32X)

These innovations are consistent with the College’s strategic plan for 2015-20, specifically awareness and access, student support, collaboration and communication. The Strategic Plan goals will be at the fore, as we introduce and advertise the Department’s assortment of practical experiential learning labs to be introduced over the next 5 years. We have already conducted several sessions utilizing the Crime Zone software and lap tops with our Middletown and Newburgh Criminalistics course as well as our summer camp for elementary school students. The increased demand for this software will require more lap tops and software purchases in the future. 

In order to enhance the marketability of these program enhancements (mock court, use of force simulator, crime zone/crash zone) and to create a more realistic classroom environment for these labs, we require the following support.

• Lab Coordinator- In order for these efforts to be managed properly, we would need a part-time lab coordinator to develop lesson plans for our labs and to assist with instructor requests for lab sessions.  The lab coordinator would also oversee the safe usage and maintenance of the equipment and act as the liaison to our local law enforcement partners when they seek to utilize this equipment.  The lab coordinator should be a full time faculty member who is trained and skilled in the utilization of the aforementioned technologies.  A three credit load abatement per semester should be just compensation this request was submitted in the last two year’s budget and no action was taken so we will resubmit for the 2020-21 fiscal year. The result of not funding this initiative is that the Resistance to the Use of Force Simulator will be under utilized and the full potential of this technology (Use by Local PD's, Sheriffs Dept., Some community groups) will not be realized. The Governor's Executive Order #203 will require revised training by all Orange County police department's and It is anticipated that there could be an increase by local law enforcement to access this technology for their respective training programs. There have already been two requests as to the availablilty of the Simulator and we expect more to come. Therefore funding for this initiative has taken on a greater importance. Presently the college is closed due to Covid-19 and access to the simulator is limited, however; simulator demands are expected to increase in the fall.
• Additional Hardware/Software – In order to efficiently incorporate these new additions to our offerings, the Department would need additional lap top computers (to be utilized on both Newburgh and Middletown campuses) that will maximize our student’s access to the Crime Zone and Crime Scene software (that was purchased last year with a CTEA Grant).  In all likelihood, we will need more software licenses and lap tops and we will be seeking funding to purchase them in this budget cycle. This also was submitted in last years budget request and is resubmitted for this year.
• We will also need to purchase a maintenance contract with the company to insure continued improvement and function of the resistance force simulator.
• The benefits of these programs are many and worth the investment. Two priorities and objectives of the SUNY Orange Strategic Plan 2015-20 will be met by these initiatives. By creating these labs we will increase the applied learning opportunities for our students and by conducting them in state of the art facilities (BT 117) we will create a marketing avenue that will be visually pleasing to our potential patrons. Such technology has been displayed and demonstrated at our Open Houses as well as other college/community gatherings. We recently demonstrated the Resistance to Force Simulator at our Alumni Reception in September 2018 and for the Orange County Executive in the previous year. We have received a request from the FBI's Explorers Program that we were unable to meet due to the lack of personnel resources (lab coordinator). We will try to accomodate the request in the Spring 2020 semester but without a lab coordinator this accommodation will stretch our personnel resources to the max.
•  Biotech 117 has been dedicated for the Resistance to the use of force simulator and we have conducted several lab sessions with the equipment.  I have included the costs for the maintenance of the system and improvements in the 2018-19 Criminal Justice Budget. I have resubmitted  these costs in the 2019-20 and the 20-21 budget as well and I am resubmitting again. Thus far we have been able to maintain the system without any repairs needed but sooner or later there can be problems and we will not be prepared to address emergency repairs should they become necessary. It is conceivable that some of the costs could be funded through a CTEA Grant and/or a grant from the Orange County Foundation.
• In addition to our simulator and crime scene initiatives, we are also working with the English Department and the Library towards improving the writing skills of our Criminal Justice students. Writing is a skill that is important in all areas of the criminal justice system (case investigation, legal briefs, probation reports etc.) Recently local police chiefs, who are members of our Advisory Board, have spoken to me about the poor writing ability of many of their police officer candidates. I believe their comments underscore the importance of increasing our efforts to improve our students writing abilities, as many of them will be prominent in the local law enforcement hiring pool. Anne Sandor (English Writing Lab) and Andrew Heinz (Library) have been working with some of the CRJ 101 students and we have had some promising results over the last year with several students turning in papers that may be entered into the SOARS Conference. Anne Sandor had also been working with Ron Jurain on several critical thinking writing labs that are also yielding positive feedback. Of course all of these initiatives have been interrupted by the Covid-19.  In order to continue this initiative we may need additional funding (English Department/Library) should we extend the program to all CRJ 101 class.
• We recently completed our external review and we will be studying and discussing some of the recommendations over the next few years in preparation for our next review in 5 years. the reviewer recommended that we be funded for an assistant to the criminal justice chair. The assistant should be given a 3 credit abatement each semester
• We have completed our external review and we are currently reviewing the recommendations prior to including them in next years budget.
• We are having discussions with the Orange County Chiefs Association regarding the feasibility of developing a partnership in offering Pre-Employment Training.