Are you concerned about the future of policing?
Forty leading police researchers and police executives reflect on police reform.
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Meet the Contributors

Scott Decker is Emeritus Foundation Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. His primary areas of research include gangs, criminal justice policy and police accountability.

Charles Katz is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and is Watts Family Director of the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety at Arizona State University. His research primarily involves collaborating with agencies to increase their organizational capacity to identify and strategically respond to crime and violence affecting local communities.

Edward Maguire is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University, where he also serves as an Associate Director of the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. His research focuses primarily on policing and violence.

Michael D. Reisig is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. His research focuses on the nature of social control (formal and informal), the neighborhood context of policing, and the measurement of criminological concepts.

Michael Scott is a clinical professor at Arizona State University’s School of Criminology & Criminal Justice and the director of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, a research center that produces and disseminates information about how police can effectively and fairly address specific public-safety problems. Scott holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Cassia Spohn is Foundation Professor and Director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Her research interests include prosecutorial and judicial decision making, the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, crime and justice, and sexual assault case processing decisions.

Cody Telep is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal justice at Arizona State University. His research interests include synthesizing research to assess what works in policing, examining the impact of police practices on crime and citizen perceptions of legitimacy, and examining and increasing receptivity to research and evidence-based practice in policing.

William Terrill is Interim Associate Dean in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, and Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. His primary research interests center on police use of force, police culture, and organizational policy.

Rick Trinkner is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Broadly speaking, his research seeks to understand why people follow rules and defer to authority and how regulatory agencies can best foster support from those they serve.

Danielle Wallace is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Her research involves understanding disparities in policing and creating practitioner-friendly methods of identifying whether bias is occurring within law enforcement agencies.

Vincent Webb recently retired as a Professor of Practice in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety at Arizona State University. His research relies on collaborations with criminal justice agencies and communities to generate empirical evidence that can be used to inform the development of effective policies and practices to improve community safety.

Michael D. White is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University and Associate Director of ASU’s Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. His primary research interests involve the police, including use of force, technology, and misconduct.

A. Johannes Bottema is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. His primary research interests are evidence-based policing and the utilization of intelligence within law enforcement

Michaela Flippin is a doctoral student and research assistant at Arizona State University in the school of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Her research interests primarily focus on procedural justice.

Janne E. Gaub is an Assistant Professor of criminal justice at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research focuses on police technology, use of force, misconduct, and the intersection of gender and policing.

Jessica Huff is a doctoral candidate in Criminology and Criminal Justice and a Research Assistant in the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety at Arizona State University. Her research interests revolve around policing, race/ethnicity, neighborhoods, and research methods and design.

Natasha Khade is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders, desistance from crime, disengagement from gangs, and cross-cultural applications of criminological theory.

Brooks Louton is a Police Planning & Research Supervisor with the Tempe Police Department, as well as an adjunct faculty member at Arizona State University. She received her PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Arizona State University in 2016. Her current research interests include policing and police technology.

Victor Mora is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. His primary areas of research include policing, with a focus on training, gangs, and group processes.

Carlena Orosco is an Analyst in the Strategic Planning, Analysis and Research Center (SPARC) at Tempe Police Department, as well as a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Her research interests include discretion and decision-making in policing, the role of police dispatchers, gangs, and the neighborhood and spatial dynamics of crime.

Kathleen Padilla is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Her primary research interests involve policing, including officer stress and stress interventions, mental health and wellness, public perceptions of law enforcement, particularly among youth, and the application of criminological theory to police work.

John Shjarback is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law and Justice Studies at Rowan University. His research interests center on policing, specifically environmental and organizational influence on discretionary officer behavior and current issues and trends.

Logan Somers is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. His primary research interests are police experience, use of force, and culture.

Suzanne St. George is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Her research focuses broadly on sexual violence, particularly how incidents of rape and sexual assault are perceived, and to what extent these perceptions affect decision making. She is also interested in neighborhood dynamics especially ways to promote informal social control and collective efficacy among disadvantaged communities.

Natalie Todak is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She studies policing, corrections, race and gender in criminal justice, and qualitative and mixed research methods.

David H. Tyler is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. His research explores organizational change within police departments, crowd dynamics and protest policing, and quantitative methods.

Art Acevedo is Chief of Police for the Houston Police Department’s 5,200 sworn officers and 1,000 civilian personnel. He previously served as chief of the California Highway Patrol and Austin (TX) Police Department. Acevedo is a proponent of “relational policing” and emphasizes that every interaction is an opportunity to develop or strengthen a relationship of trust. He is currently president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and has also held leadership roles with International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Charlie Beck was appointed Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department in November 2009, a position he held until his retirement in 2018. During his time with the LAPD, Chief Beck led the third largest police department in the United States, managing 10,000 sworn officers and 3,000 civilian employees. Chief Beck is renowned for his ability to forge traditional policing methods, community outreach programs, tempered with the input of diverse stakeholders to form enduring crime abatement programs.

Theron Bowman has over 35 years of public service as a police and city executive. He is President and CEO of The Bowman Group, an expert police practices consulting firm. He holds multiple federal court appointments overseeing Consent orders, teaches and trains across the United States, is a published author and an inductee into the George Mason University Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame. He holds a doctorate degree in Urban and Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Mike Brown has served in the Salt Lake City Police Department since 1991. He was appointed Chief of Police on May 3, 2016. Chief Brown’s experience has been focused on a number of specialty functions to address community needs, participation and management of special events and demonstrations, serious collision investigations, and coordination with federal and municipal agencies. As the Special Operations Bureau commander, he oversaw SWAT, Safe Streets Gang FBI Task Force, DEA Metropolitan Narcotic Task Force, Organized Crime Unit, Hazardous Device Unit, Motorcycle Squad, Public Order Unit and Accident Investigation.

Michael “Mike” L. Brown (Alexandria, VA) has 43 years of public service and nearly four decades of experience in law enforcement, safety oversight, and public policy. He was appointed as the Chief of Police for the Alexandria (VA) Police Department in January 2017. From 2010 until his appointment as Chief in Alexandria, Brown served as Director of the Office of Impaired Driving and Occupant Protection at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). He also devoted 31 years of service to the California Highway Patrol, culminating in his appointment as Commissioner from 2004 to 2008.

Jim Bueermann was Chief of Police in the Redlands, CA Police Department until his retirement in June 2011. He had worked for the Redlands Police Department since 1978, serving in every unit within the department. He was appointed Police Chief and Director of Housing, Recreation and Senior Services in May 1998. Most recently, he served as President of the Police Foundation in Washington, D.C. He holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University at San Bernardino and a master’s degree from the University of Redlands.

Edward A. Flynn led the Milwaukee Police Department for ten years, preceded by service as Police Commissioner in Springfield, MA; as Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety and as Police Chief in Arlington, VA. His early career was spent in the Jersey City Police Department. George Mason University inducted him into its Evidence Based Policing Hall of Fame and he now consults for the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Margo L. Frasier is nationally known as an expert in law enforcement and corrections having served as a subject matter expert for the U. S. Department of Justice, Special Litigation Section. She also serves as a court appointed monitor over the reform provisions contained in the consent judgments regarding Orleans Parish, Louisiana and Bernalillo County, New Mexico jail system. She previously served as the Police Monitor for the City of Austin, where she successfully advocated for the expansion of the powers of the Office of Police Monitor to provide greater accountability and transparency. She also served as the elected sheriff of Travis County (TX), as a civil rights attorney and as President of the Major County Sheriffs of America. She received her undergraduate degree from Sam Houston State University and her JD from Florida State University.

Eric Jones is police chief of the Stockton Police Department. He developed and led “Principled Policing” with the California State Department of Justice for statewide training. He led Stockton to be one of only six sites for the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. His work was profiled in the New York Times in July 2016, and in USA Today in June 2017.

David W. McGill is a recently retired law enforcement executive. He has worked in three police departments in two states, including the Los Angeles Police Department, working a variety of assignments for 25 years in patrol, investigations, specialized divisions, and as an adjutant for two deputy chiefs. He also held appointments with the Newport Beach (CA) Police Department as the first Assistant Police Chief and served as Chief of Police in Sedona, Arizona. McGill earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology/pre-medicine at the University of California at Irvine and holds a master’s degree in public administration from California State University at Long Beach.

Steve Pitts has 40 years of policing experience with the Reno Police Department and advising U.S. programs overseas. This experience includes over 30 years of training and program development, 25 years of tactical operations, and 15 years of executive level experience. Steve has been nationally recognized as an innovator, educator and practitioner in Intelligence Led Policing, Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving, and many other nationally recognized policing initiatives. He is adjunct faculty at the University of Nevada-Reno teaching Leadership, Multi-Culturism, Community Policing and Problem Solving, Homeland Security and Terrorism.

Ivonne Roman is a police executive with 25 years of experience, serving in every rank from police officer to police chief. She is an executive board member of the National Police Foundation and the American Society for Evidence-Based Policing and earned fellowships with the National Institute of Justice LEADS program and Ted Talks. She is a PhD student at Rutgers-Camden studying women in policing and organizational legitimacy.

Owen West is born and bred in Yorkshire and hails from a policing family. His father, brother, and wife are retired West Yorkshire officers. Owen joined the force in 1989 and recently retired in 2019. Since 2000 Owen has held a range of specialist portfolios in public order policing. Owen served as an Advanced Silver commander for WYP, leading large scale events and acting as operational commander during events such as national English Defence League demonstrations and counter demonstrations. He also served as Director of Corporate Services. Owen holds a master’s degree with Distinction from Cambridge University in Applied Criminology and Police Management, and is a Research Fellow at Keele University.

Calvin Williams is the City of Cleveland’s 40th Chief of Police. Chief Williams was appointed to the Division of Police on February 24, 1986. In 1989, he was assigned to the SWAT Unit and then promoted to Sergeant in July 1997, becoming the SWAT Unit Supervisor. Chief Williams has also served as the supervisor of both the Vice Unit in the Fourth District and the Fugitive Unit. In 2005, Chief Williams became the Cleveland Police Liaison to the US Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force and was promoted to Commander of the Third District in March of 2006. In September of 2011, he was promoted to Deputy Chief of Field Operations. Most recently, Chief Williams completed his Bachelor’s degree in Public Safety Management at Cleveland State University.