Northwest student Christopher Tucker attends statewide 13th Annual Criminal Justice Conference

2012 Apr 25

Christopher Tucker of Senatobia was among six Northwest Mississippi Community College students, accompanied by criminal justice instructors Robert Cox and Willie Sumner, who attended the 13th Annual Criminal Justice Conference at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College March 30-31. This conference is supported by the Gulf Coast area police departments, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations.

We all had a blast attending the different workshops that were presented by experts in the field of criminal justice," said criminal justice major Beverly Shelton of Senatobia. Methamphetamines in Mississippi, fingerprinting techniques, Gulfport SWAT, Gulfport K-9 Unit and a job fair that consisted of different criminal justice agencies and universities with hiring information and requirements were among the sessions offered at the conference.

During the conference, Northwest criminal justice student Debra Brockington of Senatobia volunteered during the K-9 Unit workshop, by putting on the dog bite suit to demonstrate what getting attacked by a K-9 Unit dog looks like, and the Gulfport SWAT team showed the participants different high-tech special weapons, tactics and their SWAT vehicle.

According to Brockington, the students were presented a detailed program about methamphetamines and methamphetamine labs, since drug activity of this nature is such a huge problem in the state. "The ingredients are just unbelievable and the reaction by the drug users is usually an immediate addiction to the drug. We were shown how to locate the meth labs and how to handle the background investigation to determine who could be potentially involved with meth labs," said Brockington. Brockington also enjoyed the session on fingerprinting that emphasized how useful they are to law enforcement as evidence in court when fingerprints can prove an identity beyond a reasonable doubt. "This was more than just showing us how to put someone's fingers in some ink and press it on a pad; we were shown the details about fingerprints and why they are unique to each individual," said Brockington.

Participants all received certificates of completion from the Criminal Justice Conference and were able to visit and network with law enforcement representatives from all over the state. "I cannot express enough how important it is to have instructors like Mr. Sumner and Mr. Cox to encourage their students to attend activities like this conference," said Brockington.

Pictured: (Back row, l-r) Northwest Mississippi Community College criminal justice students Jason Crawford of Olive Branch, Chris Tucker of Senatobia, criminal justice instructor Robert Cox, Beverly Shelton and Debra Brockington, both of Senatobia, criminal justice instructor Willie Sumner, (front row, l-r) Mathew Young of Indianola, James Phillips of Water Valley and friend attended the 13th annual Criminal Justice Conference at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College March 30-31. (Photo Submitted)