The History of the American Criminal Justice Association

The formative idea for an organization such as Lambda Alpha Epsilon originated at San Jose State College, San Jose, California, during the summer of 1937. That summer, the first California Technical Institute for Pease Officer Training was being held in San Jose. The men attended the Institute, sharing a common interest in law enforcement training and eager to upgrade their profession, were quick to realize the extent to which these interests could be carried by such an organization.

This idea, once formed, was immediately set in motion. Plans were laid and a constitution was drafted which was adopted at a meeting held on December 18, 1937, at the City Hall in Hayward, California, and the first chapter, Alpha, came into being.

With the transfer of the Institute from San Jose to the Los Angeles and Berkley campuses of the University of California, came plans for another chapter which was installed on April 25, 1941, at Los Angeles. This made the fraternity a two-chapter organization; Alpha in the north and Beta in the south. This also brought certain problems.

The original plan had been for a one-chapter organization that would function as both the first chapter, Alpha, and as Grand Chapter. While there had been only Alpha was entitled to a vote, but Beta was limited to only certain members voting at the annual meetings. Another problem being encountered by Alpha was that the original constitution limited membership to graduates of the Institute and the members felt that this was too restrictive as there were graduates of other schools, equally as good as the Institute, whose applications had to be turned down.

Due to these problems and recognizing a need for an organizational adjustment, a special committee was appointed in 1945 to study the existing constitution and recommended changes to make it more functional for a multi-chapter organization. As a result of this committee's report, a revised constitution was adopted at the annual meeting held in July of 1946, that, with certain exceptions, opened membership to law enforcement people in general. The aims and purposes of Lambda Alpha Epsilon were as follows:

To promote a greater fraternal relationship among graduates of techincal and professional police schools.
To promote higher standards of educational attainments among peace officers.
To promote the institution of courses of police science by recognized colleges and universities.
To promote a research projects in the field of police science.
To promote a better understanding by the public of the aims and ideals of peace officer organizations.
To promote the selection of properly trained personnel for law enforcement positions.
To promote standard modern methods in the field of law enforcement
To promote unity of action among law enforcement agencies

In 1950, a petition was received from a group of pre-service students of the School of Criminology at the University of Berkeley. Prior to this, Lambda Alpha Epsilon had been strictly a professional organization, with only in-service law enforcement people. However, the possibility of collegiate chapters of non-service people was overlooked into and found to have merit. Epsilon was granted its charter and became the first collegiate chapter.

The petition from Epsilon raised another question. One of the petitioners was a woman, Barbara Feister. After some controversy, "Brother Barbara" was admitted as a charter member of Epsilon and as the first woman member of Lambda Alpha Epsilon. After "Brother Barbara" had opened the door, the rest of the girls were quick to follow and the first all female chapter, Theta, in Sacramento, California was granted its charter on February 19, 1954. On August 31, 1954, Lambda Alpha Epsilon was incorparated under the laws of the State of California as a non-profit society.

In 1964, Lambda Alpha Epsilon introduced the first of its annual police competitions including: Criminal Law and Procedure; Criminal Investigation; Accident Investigation; Physical Agility; Camp Perry Pistol Course; Combat Pistol Course; and a Postal Pistol Match. There were three levels of competition in each of these areas: collegiate-lower division; collegiate-upper division; and professional division.

With the advent of new chapters outside the State of California, decentralization became a necessity. In May of 1969, the Nation was divided into five regions, with a separate vice-president in charge of each. The vice-presidents administered the activities of the regions in accordance with the goals of the Association as a whole. Reorganization brought about restructuring our thinking and new Bylaws were adopted in September, 1970. Since the organization covers all the facets of the field of criminal justice from law enforcement to the judiciary to corrections, the name was changed to Lambda Alpha Epsilon--American Criminal Justice Association. In 1976, the name was reversed to read American Criminal Association--Lambda Alpha Epsilon.

Lambda Alpha Epsilon has continued to grow since our "nationalization" to the point where was now have six regions and instead of Regional Vice-Presidents, we now have Regional Presidents. We have active chapters in almost 75% of our states. We hold a National Conference every year with excellent workshops and speakers; competitions including corrections, criminal law, juvenile law, physical agility, and crime scene investigation; and a National Pistol Match. Rules and regulation of the National Rifle Association for Police Combat Matches are used. We also award scholarships each year to our members who wish to apply for them. The association will continue to grow in size and stature in the years to come and members will be more and more aware of the membership in the Association in achieving their academic and professional goals.

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