CUNE to Hold Mock Search Warrant Operation at Crime Scene House

By Anna Herl

A mock search warrant operation will take place at Concordia’s crime scene house at 332 E. Moffit Street at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday as an educational exercise for a social sciences course.

The exercise will be an illegal drug distribution investigation using a no-knock search warrant, which means law enforcement will not be required to knock on the door before entering the house.

This exercise was organized by Daniel Zieg, an adjunct professor at Concordia who is also chief deputy county attorney for the Civil Division in Lancaster County.

Zieg said he believes the exercise will give students valuable experience.

“I firmly believe in the value of students getting real world experiences,” Zieg said. “I believe seeing how concepts play out in reality is something that is often overlooked.”

Zieg said he hopes students taking his Special Topics in Criminal Justice course, Drugs, Society, and the Criminal Justice System, will see how what they are learning fits into the real world.

“I think seeing this will help students to connect a lot of dots about what they have been learning for years,” Zieg said.

The exercise will feature the process of using a search warrant along with arrest. The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, the Seward County Sheriff’s Office, and the City of Seward Police Department will all be involved as well as a few student actors who will be acting as the residents.

Dr. Edward Hoffman, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Concordia, said that mock raids give students real life experience.

“This event gives students real life experiences within a controlled setting,” Dr. Hoffman said.