Criminal Justice students will review, digitize and analyze
the files of one cold case each semester, providing a summary and
identifying any potential gaps that cold-case investigators can
follow up on.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., May 8, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Central New Mexico
Community College (CNM) is launching its first Cold Case
Collaborative course for Criminal Justice students, developed in
partnership with the New Mexico
State Police Department (NMSP) to provide real-world experience to
students as they assist in revisiting, digitizing and analyzing
cold case files.
"We've been developing this class over the last two years and
we're so glad to have our first cohort start this Summer Term,"
says John Solomon, CNM Criminal
Justice Program Director and Instructor. "This is a very unique
opportunity for our students to live out the ideal of relentlessly
seeking truth and justice."
Solomon started developing this class back in 2021 when he
became the Criminal Justice Program Director. As the new program
director, he was asked to find innovative ways to advance
CNM's Criminal Justice program and found inspiration from
a four-year institution in Michigan that had developed and launched a
successful cold case class.
Solomon got to work on developing a similar class for CNM and
contacted the New Mexico State
Police Department to gauge their interest.
"The state police were very excited to partner with CNM, which
was critical to this course getting off the ground," Solomon says.
"They have numerous cold cases and a limited amount of staff to
work on them, so it's a win-win for everyone."
During the 14-week course, a selected cohort of Criminal Justice
students will review and digitize the files of one cold case. Along
with scanning all of the files associated with the case, which can
include everything from official police reports to receipts, the
students will write an abstract of each file so it is easily
searchable.
Once the files are digitized, the students will analyze the
files and identify any gaps the cold case investigators may want to
follow up on.
"The final project for this class is an analysis of the files
that will include suggestions investigators can act on, like
following up with an eye witness or sending a piece of evidence for
testing," Solomon says. "The students won't be testifying in court
or chasing down leads themselves, but they are playing a critical
role in helping ensure every detail of a case is accessible and
usable, which could ultimately help the State Police make a
connection they hadn't been able to before."
Solomon recently welcomed the first cold case cohort on
April 29, and he couldn't be more
excited to see this course come to life.
"This course has been two years in the making, and I'm just
really looking forward to seeing it get off the ground," he says.
"With cold cases you can't find a solution until you find the
beginning, and I'm really proud and grateful to help the State
Police and the community uncover those beginnings while also
serving our students."
Selected students for the cohort are required to submit to a
thorough NMSP background check and sign confidentiality agreements
with both CNM and NMSP.
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SOURCE Central New Mexico
Community College (CNM)