By CHANEL HAND

Special to The Hays Daily News

Several Fort Hays State University students from the Social Work and the Law class traveled to Wichita recently where they witnessed a gang fight, saw an officer assaulted and attended two criminal court trials.

Their instructor, Judith Caprez, director of social work at FHSU, said, "The point is to give them first-hand experience in seeing as much as they can of different problems."

The students rode with the Wichita Police Department on patrol for two evenings and attended criminal trials in U.S. District Court and Sedgwick County District Court, Caprez said. She takes students to Wichita twice a year.

In the fall, she takes the Social Work and the Law students. During the trip, Caprez said the emphasis is on law enforcement and criminal justice, as the class usually includes students from social work, law and criminal justice.

In the spring, she takes students in social work junior practice classes. They typically visit Wichita Children's Home, the Boys and Girls Club, a homeless shelter, Lord's Diner and the public defenders office.

Caprez said they were fortunate on the recent trip that there was more action to experience than usual. The class spent two full days in court and observed two important cases. The first case involved racketeering charges brought against gang members.

"It was a landmark case that's never been done before," Caprez said.

It was the first time the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act was used in Kansas against gang members. Three men were convicted.

The second was a recently publicized case in which 22-year-old Elgin Ray Robinson was charged with planning and arranging the murder of nine-months pregnant Chelsea Brooks, 14.

He was convicted of capital murder, but the jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision on the death penalty. He will be sentenced to life in prison with no parole.

Caprez said the same issues dealt with on the streets also are what social workers commonly see in court: domestic violence, child abuse, drugs and addiction.

"Going to court and riding with a first responder give them a different perspective than working with these people as a social worker, once removed," Caprez said.

"You got to experience the family and what the variations were on both sides," said Vanessa Roybal, Montezuma senior majoring in social work at FHSU. "Many things we learned about in class, we also saw in court."

Roybal and the other participants each rode in separate vehicles with police officers from 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. the first two days of the trip.

Jade Muntz, Haviland senior majoring in social work at FHSU, rode with an officer on the north side of Wichita, where she said there is usually more activity.

"One of my officers was assaulted while I was with him," Muntz said. She said the conflict resulted in the officer using his stun gun on the suspect.

Muntz also experienced the role of community officers whom she said "work a lot with getting the homeless people and prostitutes off the streets and form a lot of relationships with them."

Muntz said she found it interesting that when she asked the officer why he did not ticket these individuals, he responded "because they are homeless and won't pay anyway."

Among other activity that occurred during her ride-along was the confiscation of marijuana and a gang fight where shots were fired.

"I really noticed that things that would be a big deal in Hays were not in Wichita," Roybal said. "The officers just called parents and told the perpetrators that they could not drive since they would be driving under the influence," referring to underage drinkers.

While in Wichita, the class also was contacted by a hospital about a child-abuse case.

"We ended up taking three children away from their parents," Muntz said. "I actually spoke with the father. It was very hard."

"There is no substitute to a true experience," Caprez said. "I am a firm believer of that."

Chanel Hand, Tuscon, Ariz., is a senior at Fort Hays State University who is majoring in communication studies with an emphasis in public relations and a certificate in journalism.