MLK High School launches criminal justice program
24th January 2022 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
In an effort to break down barriers between law enforcement and the community, and encourage local students to pursue careers in criminal justice and forensic science, Martin Luther King Jr. Charter High School is launching an instructional pilot program in cooperation with the Lower 9th Ward Economic Development District and Southern University at New Orleans.
The program will also help prepare high-school students for the Civil Service exam, which is crucial for young men and women to enter careers at the local, state and federal levels.
Dr. Lindsey Moore, principal of the Martin Luther King Jr. Charter High School, said a primary goal of the new Criminal Justice Academy is bringing together law enforcement, educational faculty and members of the community in a way that helps everyone involved.
“Research has shown that the community, the schools and the government working together is helpful to the entire community,” Moore said. “If the community, and schools and government work together, good things happen, and it’s a win-win-win for everybody.”
The Criminal Justice Community will be administered through a $55,000 grant from the Lower 9th Ward Economic Development District. The Rev. Willie Calhoun, a board member for the EDD and a busy community activist in the 9th Ward, set the gears in motion when the EDD secured state funding for the new academy with the assistance of State Sen. Joseph Bouie and State Rep. Candace Newell.
Calhoun said much interest in the program, from both community residents and King students, has already been received by the leaders involved.
“The interest this community is showing is phenomenal,” he said. “The cooperation that we’re receiving from the different entities [is substantial]. Everybody is really excited about coming together.”
Moore said the academy is scheduled to begin Feb. 1, adding that the school has already signed up 60 students for the program. He said that as long as students are passionate about careers in law enforcement or forensics, “we’ll find a slot for them.”
The academy will include hands-on instruction in criminal justice and all facets of forensic science, and it will prepare students for taking the vital Civil Service exam, passing of which is required for many jobs in government, through an eight-week instructional course.
The academy will feature dual enrollment courses that apply at King and at SUNO, and the curriculum will be approved by JUMP Start, a state-wide career and technical education organization.
Moore said that like many courses at King, the criminal justice academy will bring high school instruction into the 21st century by providing students with hands-on, immersive classes and lab sessions. He said that unlike earlier generations of teens, modern students need and want more than just sitting at a desk and memorizing facts for a test.
“These children are different,” Moore said. “They can be hands-on and involved [which] is going to work very well.”
He added that when it comes to high-school education, today’s students “need to touch things and be involved in it and be a part of it.”
Calhoun added, “It’s a real view of the criminal justice system and all the careers involved in it.”
To that end, a science classroom at Martin Luther King will be transformed into a forensic laboratory, and Calhoun said that he hopes a complete, detailed mock courtroom can also be created at the school.
SUNO will play a vital role in the new program, something that will be revolutionary and trailblazing for HBCUs, say those involved.
Dr. Paris Jackson, director of forensic science at SUNO, said her department is excited to be involved with the academy. She said the courses taught in the pilot program will mirror what current SUNO forensic-science students experience on the college level. In addition to potential uses for the criminal justice system, such as crime scene investigation, forensic science includes applications in a variety of other fields, such as psychology, nursing, engineering and STEM education.
“It’s a gem, because it’s very interdisciplinary,” she said.
She added that for the time being, academy instruction in forensic science will take place virtually, but eventually those involved hope to move into in-person classes.
Jackson expressed pride in the new academy and the university’s key role in the effort, because when the forensic science program was launched at SUNO, it became the first HBCU in the country to have a five-star forensic program. The department is also singular with all institutions of higher learning in the state of Louisiana.
“That’s another reason why this program is so unique,” she said. “It’s the best forensic science program in the state, and it’s housed at an HBCU. That’s why it’s such a gem.”
She said her department can now also guide minority high school students, in addition to college students, into fields in which only 10 percent of participants are people of color.
Other local governmental agencies that have contributed time and know-how to the academy include the New Orleans Police Department, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Department, City Council member Oliver Thomas, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams and State Supreme Court Justice Piper Griffin.
Having such an array of local leaders involved in setting up and conducting instruction in the program will hopefully work to tear down barriers between the local criminal justice system and the community, the proponents said. At a time when the crime rate in the city is rising and distrust and rancor between police and citizens continues to plague the city, the leaders of the new Criminal Justice Academy have lofty goals for the program.
Calhoun hopes that the academy will become a model for other start-up high school criminal justice programs, not just locally but also state-wide and nationally. And although the new effort is focused on the 9th Ward, leaders say it could be brought to other city neighborhoods.
He added that the academy can also brighten the futures of the students who take part in it.
This article originally published in the January 24, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
