STAY NEAR AND GO FAR… Criminal Justice Division of Business and Applied Technology
By Floyd Kezele, Associate Professor The above motto for UNM-Gallup is alive and well in the criminal justice department (CRJS). Since its inception in the fall of 1977, CRJS has graduated hundreds of students and police officers through its Academy. Many of those graduates are in second or third careers as they have already completed a career in governmental service and retired at a young age. Current CRJS graduates of UNM-Gallup hold positions such as: police officers, detectives, acting and deputy police chiefs, deputy sheriffs, state police officers, tribal officers, judges, advocates, probation officers, medical examiners, public administrators, security 32
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supervisors, owners of security services, substance abuse counselors, and correctional officers. Graduates actively employed with the City of Gallup, McKinley County, and the Navajo Tribe, generate over two million dollars a year in salaries for the local economy. Our graduates are, or have been, employed throughout New Mexico, as well as Arizona, Washington, Texas, Hawaii, and several Native American Tribes. So, having stayed near, how do they go far? Our graduates go far physically, as you can see, but they also go far in their education. After receiving their criminal justice certificate (in past years) or their AA or AS degree in criminal justice, many of our students have matriculated to other
universities with great success. Our students have used their foundational degree from UNM-G to obtain higher degrees from: UNM, NMSU, WNMU, ENMU, Arizona State, Penn State, NAU, and Trinity Washington University. In terms of availability and convenience, WNMU may be the most attractive program. UNM-Gallup’s criminal justice director engaged in conversation with Curtis Hayes (formerly of WNMU and now Gallup’s city attorney) which progressed to the level of full matriculation of courses from UNMGallup with the BS in criminal justice from WNMU. In the past, our students were able to pursue their BS in Gallup in a mutually beneficial relationship that was totally
