LEA Department at WIU Offers
Service Programs to Region

By DOUG JONES, Student Writer

Macomb, IL — Many programs, such as the recently established Macomb Crime Stoppers, were assisted through services offered by the law enforcement administration (LEA) department at Western Illinois University.

The WIU department helps area law enforcement agencies through consultations, operating regional training units, directing vocational and juvenile delinquency programs and conducting research, said Robert Fischer, chairman of the LEA department at WIU.

Macomb's Crime Stoppers program was instituted after Macomb Police Chief Richard dark asked Stan Cunningham, assistant professor in the LEA department at WIU, for advice.

"I teach the crime prevention courses in the department, and have attended several seminars on the subject," said Cunningham, who is now chairman of the board for the Macomb Crime Stoppers. "To get Crime Stoppers started, we had to apply for incorporation and for the tax breaks concerning tax-free donations to the program. There was a lot of paperwork, but it finally came together."

LEA faculty members often advise businesses on handling situations such as increasing employee productivity through employee screening, drug testing, and business security, Fischer said. Communities also get professors involved with projects such as crime prevention and retail theft.

Fischer is also assistant director of the Western Illinois Police Training Unit. "The training unit addresses specific types of law enforcement training in criminal justice related topics, such as human relations or juvenile gangs," he said. "By involving WIU, the Unit has access to computers, means for a training needs assessment and a training site."

Several LEA faculty members have received grants to fund programs for juvenile delinquent programs. Dennis Bliss, LEA assistant professor, has received a grant from the Department of Children and Family Services for the last eight years, Fischer said.

Tom Tomlinson and Mike Hazlett, assistant professors in the LEA department, have received a grant from the Illinois Department of Vocational Education to develop educational programs for delinquent teens.

"Studies have shown that, to break the pattern of delinquency, it is necessary to find an interest for those juveniles," Fischer said.

The department has also established a research division to provide information, such as community surveys, to law enforcement agencies, he said.

"At some point every week at least one of our faculty members is providing a service to the community," Fischer said. •

Page 12 / Illinois Municipal Review / January 1989