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Southwestern Michigan College’s Criminal Justice Program won two more gold medals at this spring’s Skills USA-MI Skills and Leadership Conference in Grand Rapids.

Addy Wetzel, a 2025 Michigan Lutheran High School graduate, claimed SMC’s 10^th consecutive gold medal in criminal justice.

“This is our sixth gold medal in Crime Scene Investigation (CSI),” a team competition, Professor of Criminal Justice Dr. Donald Ricker said.

The winning Roadrunner CSI team consisted of Gabriella Alfaro from Niles, Nola Strausberg from Lawton and Audrey Wolf, a cross country/track athlete from Berrien Springs.

Wetzel, a criminal justice major, hopes to go into law enforcement after earning her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

“After SMC, I hope to continue my education through SMC’s CJ program with Ferris State University,” Wetzel said. “I would be able to attend classes as a criminal justice major and minor in psychology at the same time without having to travel to Ferris State’s campus. With a bachelor’s degree, I hope to become an officer and eventually try to go into the FBI.”

“The fact that SMC is a community college made me want to apply and attend SMC,” Wetzel said. “I knew that I would be saving money if I went to a community college, especially one close to my community.

“It is a bit of a drive from where I live, but I would rather be working in my community to make money to pay for tuition than live in the dorms for the college experience,” Wetzel said.

This summer, she plans to work at a day care summer camp that will have kids ranging from ages 6 to 13.

“ I loved working in the preschool room during the college semesters,” she said, “so I thought I would enjoy this over” working in a big-box store.

“I also am trying my best to put myself out there in my community with things I enjoy doing, including running, working out, volleyball and church activities.”

Wetzel said, “I was drawn to CJ because I watched cop shows while I was growing up. As I watched these shows, I grew to love the concept of solving crimes/problems by looking at the evidence and helping others through this way.

“I have currently loved the concept of profiling people through their behavior, guessing their next actions through it.”

As to why all of this year’s SMC medalists happen to be female, she said, “I think other women are being drawn to CJ and the police force because of the empathy they can have towards others and the situations they are going through.

“I also think it’s a way they can prove they are capable of doing hard things while helping those in need. “Furthermore,” Wetzel said, “the law enforcement departments are willing to raise pay as an incentive for other people, both men and women, to join the force.”

The SkillsUSA competition for the criminal justice part was determined through a written test and five different skills/scenarios.

The written test was based on things students most likely learned in a college-level criminal justice/corrections class.

The skills included a traffic stop, an arrest, a witness/victim interview after a crime was committed, a 911 hang-up call and a job interview that required a resume and a cover letter. Within all these skills, the judges desired the competitors to complete certain things.

“For example,” Wetzel said, “the interviews needed you to ask specific information, like names, locations and contact information. For the arrest, we had to successfully put handcuffs on a person and search for all the objects on the person.

“To prepare for the competition, I went to the SMC CJ club every Tuesday with Dr. Don to work with a deputy sheriff from the area. He walked us, the crime scene crew and others interested in the CJ part, through the proper techniques to arrest and search and other things we should know. I also studied for the written test, using my notes from classes.”

During one of the skills scenarios she had a chance to talk to South Haven’s Ryan Peterson, a previous SMC medalist.