National Criminal Justice Month - March 2025

In 2009, Congress designated March as National Criminal Justice Month (NCJM) to raise awareness about the criminal justice system and its impacts on individuals and communities, and to inspire new and innovative strategies for crime prevention. This year, the Criminal Justice Department in partnership with the Criminal Justice organizations Lambda Alpha Epsilon (LAE) and Alpha Phi Sigma (APS) held numerous events over the course of the month to celebrate NCJM.

This years theme was “Cops, Courts, and Community” and consisted of three weeks of events within their respective categories. In our “Cops” week, University of Louisville Police Department visited to educate students about the “Card Armor” app, which offers a variety of safety features to students on campus. The star of this visit, though, was Lily, ULPD’s new comfort dog in training. Also during our first week, we had a visit from Secret Service agents. Students were able to learn about the federal agency, as well as what life might look like for agents in different levels of their service. Finally, our Criminal Justice Department teamed up with Louisville Metro Police Department’s Forensic Investigation Unit to provide 30 students with a tour of their crime lab. Students were able to learn about the career of a crime scene technician as well as the process of collecting, preserving, and processing evidence.

For our “Courts” week, we had Elizabeth Nichols from Kentucky’s Probation and Parole Officers to talk to students about using Drug Courts as a diversion from jail in our communities. Professor Joe Guttman, J.D. also presented on a “Day in the Life of a Lawyer”. He talked to attendees about how to become a lawyer, what the Bar Exam is like, and how being a lawyer can change your life.

Finally, for our community week, we wanted to focus on how our Criminal Justice students can give back to the communities in which they live, work, and play. Our first event of our final week was presented in partnership with the BRICC Coalition, and focused on Narcan training. Students learned about Kentucky’s Good Samaritan laws, Narcan, and were instructed on the signs and symptoms of opioid overdose and now Narcan can reverse the fatal effects of opioids. We finished off NCJM with a presentation from Dr. Joe Grant that focused on being the soul of the place you stand. Dr. Grant spoke with students about how they are a part of their community and what their roles and responsibilities are, especially with regards to Criminal Justice.