Vietnamese officials visit Waynesburg U. to train for emergencies
WAYNESBURG – Vietnamese government officials are visiting Waynesburg University today to learn tips on criminal justice and forensic science procedures.
Teaching professionals and leadership of multiple police and fire organizations, who are part of Vietnam’s People’s Police Academy and the Political General Department are in Western Pennsylvania for a four-day conference on public security and leadership in the United States.
James Tanda, an instructor of criminal justice at Waynesburg, said the university was chosen as a host school for the conference because of its “well-known, high-ranking” criminal justice program.
“Why travel halfway around the world for Waynesburg? It’s because we do a lot of things right,” Tanda said. “Our criminal justice department for decades has been doing very well to put graduates in positions in law enforcement at the local, state and federal level.”
The Vietnamese officials will be visiting Pittsburgh Technical College and Waynesburg University to study criminal justice education and training, security operations, emergency prevention and response, terrorism, human trafficking, and firearms and explosives. The delegation members asked they not be photographed or interviewed during their trip here.
Tanda said the school has been preparing since May, when the American Scholar Group was able to link the Vietnamese delegation to the Pittsburgh area. Tanda said the Scholar Group brings international groups to the United States for many different educational conferences. This one happened to be for criminal justice purposes.
“This is an important group of people coming here,” he said. “These are accomplished, ranked officials. When they wanted to come to a university with a criminal justice program, ours is very well-known. In fact, it’s very respected in the region.”
PTC and Waynesburg University faculty prepared several training sessions requested by the delegation in criminal procedures in the United States from traffic stops to terrorism prevention. Tanda said Waynesburg’s training sessions will capitalize on criminal investigations, crime scene analysis and forensic laboratory examination.
Tanda, who is a retired federal agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the Vietnamese group wanted to come to America to learn how criminal investigations and policies are handled.
“It’s an interchange of information of two nations and we’re here to teach them in areas they’re looking to improve on,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for them to learn high-level instruction in criminal justice.”
The Vietnamese officials will also train with Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 911 Emergency Operations Center in Allegheny County, Mobile Command Center, Mobile Crime Lab, Heinz Field Terrorism Team, Pennsylvania State Police Airborne Law Enforcement, National Response Team and Pittsburgh police Chief Cameron McLay.
“That Pittsburgh Technical College and our School of Criminal Justice have been selected to provide training for our contemporaries in public safety and education is an incredible honor for us,” said PTC President Greg DeFeo, in a news release. “Everyone at PTC – students, faculty and our administrative team alike – are eager to host a memorable visit.”
Details, logistics and translation for the visit have been coordinated by Susan Amorose, president at the American English Institute and chief global officer for the American Scholar Group.