Criminal Justice students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle will take on local law enforcement officials during the 7th Annual CJ Students vs. Law Enforcement Basketball Game, to be held for the first time during Homecoming weekend.

Homecoming 2011 takes place from Sept. 23 to 25, and the competition will be held the first night of Homecoming – on Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. in Wieden Gymnasium. This year’s fundraising event for the University’s CJ Club will pit several criminal justice students against local law enforcement officials to determine who will pull off the win.

While current CJ majors will make up the student team, the players for the Law Enforcement team will include officials representing the Presque Isle Police Department, Maine State Police, U.S. Border Patrol and Maine Warden Service.

Criminal Justice Professor Lisa Leduc explained that not only is the event a good time for both teams, it also raises money for an important educational experience for students. The Criminal Justice Club plans one big trip each year. This year’s event is a fundraiser for the club’s upcoming trip in March 2012 to San Francisco, where club members will go on ride-alongs with the Oakland and San Francisco police departments and tour Alcatraz and Folsom prisons.

In previous years, students have travelled to Philadelphia to tour the Eastern State Penitentiary, America’s first penitentiary which is now a historical landmark, and to Washington, D.C. to participate in a specialized Law Enforcement training at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Admission to the basketball game is free for children and UMPI students, $4 for all others. There is still room for players on the law enforcement team. For more information or to find out about joining the law enforcement team, contact Leduc at 768-9436 or e-mail her at lisa.leduc@maine.edu.