Countywide : Conference Tests Crime Foes’ Skills

To supportive cheers from rivals, Shawn Shirley raced against time Tuesday as she did sit-ups, dragged a 165-pound dummy several feet, then crawled under low bars in an obstacle course.

Resting after the ordeal at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Range in Orange, the 28-year-old woman from Oklahoma quipped, “They forgot to have an ambulance ready for me.”

Shirley was one of about 300 people competing in shooting and agility tests as part of a weeklong conference of American Criminal Justice Assn.-Lambda Alpha Epsilon. About 75% of the association’s members are college students and the rest are professionals in the criminal justice field, including law enforcement officers and attorneys.

Most came with teammates, but Shirley was the only representative from Northern Oklahoma College. However, she was not alone in spirit.

While she was struggling through the obstacle course, members of other teams egged her on by yelling, “Keep it going!” and “Move it! Move it!”

“It’s kind of like they took me in, you know,” Shirley said.

She wanted to come to this year’s conference, hosted by the local chapter at Irvine Valley College, to network with others studying criminal justice and to learn through competition, she said.

Participants had taken written tests about criminal justice Monday and will attend seminars on gangs today and Thursday, said Doug Haynes, president of the regional chapter that includes California. On Friday, organizers will announce the winners of Tuesday’s competitions and hand out trophies.

Candy Camel, 22, of Winona State University in Minnesota, said she has been going to the annual national conference for four years.

“We left with snow on the ground, so we’re very glad to be out here,” she said, standing in the sunshine under blue skies.

Camel keeps coming back to compete, she said, because “it’s fun to meet new friends who are in your field and who know what you’re going through.”

But most feel that the yearly gathering is more fun for the college teams, which treat each other with friendly rivalry and have been known to have squirt-gun wars.

“You’re younger then, and there’s a lot of unity and spirit as a college team,” said Jeff Walker, 23, who was graduated from Rio Hondo College in Whittier and is a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

George Mendez, who attended Rio Hondo and is an officer in the Downey Police Department, agreed.

“Now we just consider it a break,” said Mendez, also 23. “It’s good training for us and keeps our proficiency up.”

The two said the conference also offers a chance to see old friends.

Shirley has the same reason for wanting to attend next year.

“Everybody has been really nice,” she said. “No matter if you don’t know them really well, you’ve still got friends.”