Legal and law enforcement professionals from throughout the Pacific region will soon enjoy additional training and support thanks to one of Hawai‘i’s senators in Washington.
Chaminade University’s Criminology and Criminal Justice program, part of the School of Education & Behavioral Sciences, is receiving a $1 million federal education grant. The money will be used to establish a new institute for training criminal justice professionals from the Pacific Islands, especially South Pacific island nations and territories.
The new institute will be housed at Chaminade.
Kelly Treece, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and director of the program, said the name of this new institute hasn’t been decided yet. Whatever it’s called, the new institute will serve as “a hub for training and development for every aspect of the justice system,” Treece said.
“There’s nothing like it in the whole state and of course nothing like it in all the South Pacific.” Treece said the funds will be used to offset costs for professionals to travel to Hawai‘i to receive specialized training “so it makes it much more affordable.”
Chaminade University is home to the state’s oldest and largest criminal justice education program. The program already hosts students from Guam, Saipan, and other Pacific islands.
The grant was secured as an earmark to a spending bill thanks to the legislative work of U.S. Senator Brian Schatz. Schatz has been serving in the Senate as Hawai‘i’s senator since 2012.
The $1 million grant is part of a larger appropriations package that Senator Schatz negotiated for the state as whole.
“Despite some challenges in Washington, we secured nearly $34 million in new earmark funding for Hawai‘i and expect more to come,” Schatz said in a statement. “These earmarks will give local non-profits and infrastructure projects more resources to serve communities across Hawai‘i.”
His office said additional earmarked funds for the state could be announced within weeks.