CPaCE News

PHOTO (L-R): Jim Grottkau, Assistant Executive Director, POST; Hillary Edwards, Administrative Manager, CJ Center; Ron Mark, Director, CJ Center; Geoff Long, Commissioner and Chair, POST Commission; Manuel Alvarez Jr., Executive Director, POST.

CSULB’s Center for Criminal Justice Research and Training (CJ Center) has won the Excellence in Training Award for Organizational Achievement from California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). The award honors programs that provide innovative services resulting in substantial contributions to public law enforcement.

The CJ Center—part of the School of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Emergency Management in the College of Health and Human Services—provides training to more than 2,000 law enforcement and corrections personnel annually. Their programs at CSULB include certificates for Crime and Intelligence Analysis, Excel for Crime Analysts, and Crime Scene Investigator. 

CJ Center Director Ron Mark and Administrative Manager Hilary Edwards attended the POST Commission Meeting in June 2025 to accept their award on behalf of the center, which was recognized for work over the previous year. Among their many achievements, the CJ Center addressed a critical need by developing the first POST-certified mental health response course for police officers in the field. Their Use of Force curriculum also earned distinction as the first of its kind to grant upper-division and graduate-level academic credit for those completing POST courses.

“It's an honor to represent our organization,” said Ron, a retired police manager with over 30 years of law enforcement experience. “Hillary Edwards is really the heartbeat of our organization. I want to thank our entire staff—all our instructors, our office staff, our coordinators—they're the ones that really make all of this happen. They do all the hard work!”

“I also want to thank the entire POST staff for the years that we've worked with them,” he continued. “They're truly partners with us and it's a pleasure working with them. Special thanks to our regional training groups—both LA and Orange County—who nominated us for this award. We enjoy working with them, and we enjoy training within the state.”

Originally founded as the Institute of Police Studies in 1967, the non-profit CJ Center has been creating specialized law enforcement and corrections programs for more than five decades. Attorneys, police officers, forensic experts, and crime analysts serve as instructors who provide standards-compliant training to officers at the municipal, county, state, and federal levels.

Learn more about the Crime and Intelligence Analysis program at CSULB.