Correction: An initial version of this story incorrectly attributed a quote to Mike Pearlman instead of Richter Clough who actually gave the quote. It has been corrected.
LBCC Criminal Justice Association Chapter Sigma Pi was recognized by the American Criminal Justice Association as the top academic competition team for 2023 at the Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday at the LBCC Liberal Arts Campus.
The ACJA holds two separate academic competition conferences each year, one in the fall semester and one in the spring semester.
During the fall conference competitions that took place in October, Chapter Sigma Pi won a total of 15 trophies, and a few of these trophies are some of the hardest to get in these competitions.
“Among these awards, the team swept the criminal law academic competition, first, second, third place, and was the first place team in an interactive crime scene investigation competition. The hard work of this team has helped bring the Administration of Justice Program at Long Beach City College into the national spotlight,” newly-elected Board President Vivian Malauulu stated.
Both competitions took place at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas.
The chapter was represented by LBCC criminal justice professors Michael Biggs, Richter Clough and Mike Pearlman.
When Clough came up and spoke, he gave lots of credit to his students putting in hours upon hours of work to get to where they are now.
“What’s not seen is the amount of time that they put on campus. These students stayed late on campus many times until midnight. They worked all of August, all of September, and the third week of October is when we took the trip and traveled,” Clough said.
Pearlman presented that LBCC averages about five to six trophies per competition, admitting the team had the confidence that they would win about six or seven during the competition.
Once the team regrouped outside after they were recognized by the board, LBCC American Criminal Justice Association President Sigma Pi Chapter Mathew Stone reflected on the team’s performance and what future impacts he thinks this organization will make for LBCC.
“I think this club is going to be a big part of Long Beach City College’s future in law enforcement and criminal justice in general. For someone who wants to be a part of forensics, you still have to process everything and still deal with a lot of that. So it’s a great resource to anybody interested in criminal justice,” Stone said.
The Chapter will look to build off a strong 2023 as 2024 is right around the corner.