The History of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS): Celebrating 50 Years, 1963-2013
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1963 - 2013 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences P.O. Box 960/Greenbelt, MD 20768-0960 P: (301) 446-6300/TF: (800) 757-ACJS (2257)/F: (301) 446-2819 Web: www.acjs.org 97456 ACJS Cover.indd 1 1/31/2013 12:57:00 PM The History of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS): Celebrating 50 years, 1963-2013 By Willard M. Oliver Sam Houston State University & ACJS Historian Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1 A Brief History of American Higher Education 3 Chapter 2 August Vollmer & the Origins of Criminal Justice Education 7 Chapter 3 The National Association of College Police Training Officials (American Society of Criminology) 11 Chapter 4 International Association of Police Professionals (IAPP) (Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences) 15 Chapter 5 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) and the 1970s 19 Chapter 6 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in the 1980s 25 Chapter 7 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in the 1990s 29 Chapter 8 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in the 21st Century 33 Conclusion ACJS 50th Anniversary, 1963 - 2013 37 Further Reading 39 ACJS History Appendix 41 Past Presidents of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, 1963 - 2013 55 Acknowledgments 106 About the Author 106 “Regardless of the opinion of the many police executives today, the college level police training is on its way and nothing that they or any other group might do can stop it from rolling along. Give this no thought but continue to peddle your wares and some day you will wake to find that college trained police officials will be the rule rather than the exception.” — August Vollmer to V.A. Leonard, February 21, 1943 Celebrating 50 Years, 1963 - 2013 Introduction In 2009, I joined the Executive Board of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) as Trustee for Region IV (Southwestern). While I am not a historian by trade, I have a strong interest in history, and I noted to the board that the 50th anniversary of ACJS would take place at the annual meeting in Dallas, Texas, in 2013. At the time, Janice Joseph (2009-2010) was President of ACJS, and she had been contacted by past President Robert G. Culbertson (1981-1982) to develop some kind of history of the Academy. He had noted to her that a history of ACJS was lacking on the website. During her tenure in office, President Joseph initiated a project to contact all of the past presidents to have them share their accomplishments during their tenure as ACJS President with the ACJS membership. Those responses were published in the 2010 annual meeting program.1 Midway through President Joseph’s presidency, a discussion of writing a history of ACJS was raised and by way of a recommendation from Culbertson and Joseph, I was asked to author that history. Specifically, the goal was to have a brief history of the development of ACJS, one that could be placed on the ACJS website both in html and as a PDF document for those wishing to either read the brief history on the website or to download the article. A comprehensive history, with brevity being the goal, was, in a sense, my charge. As I began my research in the archives at the Greenbelt office, I was struck by two observations. The first was that the national office had very little in the way of historical preservation of Academy artifacts; there were no signs, pictures, or plaques on the wall, almost nothing to convey our institutional memory. The second discovery I made was that in the past, there had been an ACJS Historian. The first (and only) ACJS Historian was Ed Farris of New Mexico State University who apparently served in this role at least in the early 1970s. He preserved some of the early history, and it was that motivation, at least, that sparked others to take a vested interest in the history of the Academy. The one person who began to collect oral histories and information regarding the founding of ACJS was Frank Morn. More than any other, he collected and disseminated the information in a number of formats under the ACJS History Project, commencing in the 1970s.2 The last of these publications was his 1995 Greenwood Press publication, Academic Politics and the History of Criminal Justice Education.3 While the publication was considered “controversial” by some, it did more than any other to preserve the unique history of ACJS. Although not officially titled such, Morn had become the second ACJS historian. I discovered that over the following decades, others had taken the initiative to preserve the history of ACJS. Starting in the mid-1970s and lasting until 1986, there was an ACJS standing committee called History of the Field, and its function was to preserve the history of the field of criminal justice, which included not only the history of ACJS, but our shared history with the American Society of Criminology (ASC). This element of joint cooperation for preserving the history of both organizations was once again taken up with the Oral History Project, begun in 1996, with Jay Albanese (ACJS President 1995-1996) representing ACJS and Freda Adler representing ASC. If it were not for the work of these scholars, there would be little preserved, and I stand on their shoulders in the writing of this particular history of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. I hope to serve them and the Academy well. There is, however, much more to be done in order to preserve our institutional memory, which is why I was very pleased to be appointed as the ACJS Historian in the newly resurrected position within the Academy. 1 The History of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) I hope this history provides a brief, but detailed history of ACJS by showing how one progressive-minded police chief in Berkeley, California, named August Vollmer, set a course for the development of what would become the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Willard M. Oliver ACJS Historian Endnotes 1 Joseph, J. (2011). Accomplishments of Past Presidents. 2010 Annual Meeting Program. Retrieved from http://www. acjs.org/pubs/uploads/2010AnnualMeetingProgramforWeb3-24-10.pdf 2 See for instance: Morn, F. T. (1980). Academic Disciplines and Debates: An Essay on Criminal Justice and Criminology as Professions in Higher Education. Chicago: Joint Commission on Criminology and Criminal Justice Education and Standards. 3 Morn, F. (1995). Academic Politics and the History of Criminal Justice Education.Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. 2 Celebrating 50 Years, 1963 - 2013 Chapter 1 A Brief History of American Higher Education I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. — Thomas Jefferson1 merican higher education commenced in the Colonial period and followed the 17th century tradition of being founded as religious institutions.2 Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, three of the eight Ivy League Auniversities, are all early examples; they were founded in 1636, 1701, and 1746 respectively. When America declared itself independent of England, however, the focus of American colleges and universities began to subtly change from religion and toward the liberal arts, with an emphasis on grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, and astronomy.3 This expansion of higher education in America included the establishment of public institutions (the state universities), normal schools (focused on teacher education), women’s colleges, and the historically Black colleges and universities. With the passage of the Morrill Act in 1862, the land grant colleges were established.4 One other aspect of American higher education that developed in the 19th century was the creation of professional education.5 Those preparing for careers in law, medicine, or the military typically apprenticed in the early years. This is exemplified by Thomas Jefferson’s apprenticeship to George Wythe in law or Benjamin Rush’s apprenticeship to Dr. John Redman in medicine.6 As colleges and universities continued to grow during the 1800s, they assumed the duty of training those in the professions, and these forms of professional schools began to flourish. The Military Academy at West Point was established in 1802 to train future military officers and colleges such as Harvard (in 1817) established law schools; in the post-Civil War era, numerous law schools were established across the country.7 The same pattern occurred in the training of future medical professionals, first in the pre-existing colleges and universities, and eventually by the close of the 19th century, numerous medical schools were established.8 In addition, it should be noted that many of the colleges and universities established as religious institutions developed divinity schools, professional education for leaders of organized religion. As the number of colleges and universities increased, and those already in existence expanded their offerings, there was another fundamental change in American higher education by the late 1800s and early 1900s, the movement toward specialization. Beginning with the development of the humanities, including art, history, literature, and philosophy, colleges and universities began developing these areas of studies as independent 3 The History of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) disciplines, isolated from the more general liberal arts education which had prevailed throughout the 19th century.9 As an independent discipline, the most successful of these humanities was in fact history. Frederick Jackson Turner’s seminal research on the American Frontier not only established a way of thinking about America, but by developing a method of historical research, he established history as its own discipline.10 A number of other disciplines began to follow suit during the Progressive Era of American history.