School of Criminal Justice News

Fall 2012

SCJ Fall Tailgate: Mike Cassidy, Jason Rydberg, Sara Fitzgerald, Jaemia Pratt, Kim Bender, Julie Yingling, Lev Fejes, Nathan Elmore, Alexis Norris, Ashley Mottar

Greetings!

mcgarrell 1 One of the privileges of serving in the Director role at the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University is that you are able to see the many ways that our faculty, staff, students and alumni impact the world. During the first few months of the fall semester this has been evident in a variety of ways. The annual Wall of Fame event recognized five outstanding graduates who have made important contributions to the field of practice and in academia. Our graduate students were actively involved in the Midwestern Criminal Justice Association meetings with one, Vaughn Crichlow, being recognized for the outstanding student paper. The graduate students reflect their mentors and this year has seen our faculty consistently appear in the leading academic journals.

One of the ways we have this impact is through establishing partnerships. Our outreach unit has partnered with the Michigan State Police and law enforcement executives throughout the state to develop an innovative problem-based first line supervision course. Recently, a new group of Spartan police leaders successfully completed the course. Our faculty and staff involved in the Drug Market Intervention program, through a partnership with communities across the nation and supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, recently returned from Roanoke, Virginia. It was very gratifying to hear from local residents about the enhanced safety and quality of life in their neighborhood. Indeed, one resident noted how he had purchased Halloween candy as he anticipates having Trick-or-Treaters knocking on his door for the first time in years.

As you will read in the following articles, the School continues to impact lives in every aspect of its mission!

Patricia Nowak Named Chief of Police at IU Northwest

Patricia Nowak, BS '80, MS '94 is the first woman to be named Chief of Police at Indiana University Northwest. As Chief at IU Northwest she will oversee all campus enforcement functions, serve on university, local and state law enforcement committees and act as a liaison between the department and other criminal justice entities. Patricia has over 30 years of law enforcement experience serving most of those years with the East Lansing Police Department. Since 2008 she has also participated in the Michigan State University Staff and Command School.

Celebrating Our Distinguished Alumni

We were honored to have five of our most distinguished alumni return to campus for the 2012 Wall of Fame Awards. This year the School of Criminal Justice honored Sameer Hinduja, Michael Morrissey, Robert Parsons, Mahendra Singh and Fred Vanosdall. The School of Criminal Justice Wall of Fame honors alumni and faculty who have achieved the highest level of professional accomplishment. and nominations for the 2013 Wall of Fame are being accepted now. Deadline is June 30th, 2013 for submission. Visit our Wall of Fame to view past and present honorees who are truly the "best of the best".

Robin Haarr Receives Division on Women & Crime's Saltzman Award

Dr. Robin Haarr will receive the Division on Women and Crime's Saltzman award for contributions to Practice. She will receive her award at the annual American Society of Criminology (ASC) conference in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Robin Haarr received her Ph.D. from the School of Criminal Justice and is a 2007 Wall of Fame Honoree. She is a Professor at Eastern Kentucky University with her research and publications focusing on international issues of violence against women and children, human trafficking and exploitation, victim support services and child protection systems, access to justice and justice system responses, and child and women's human rights.

Jessica Root: Crime Scene Investigator & Field Training Officer

Jessica Root, BA, '05, MSW, '12 is working for the Michigan State University Police Department as a member of the Crime Scene Investigation Unit and as a Field Training Officer.

Special Agent Gary Ross Authors "Who Watches the Watchmen?"

Ross, BA '90, is a Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security. In addition to his Bachelors from Michigan State University, Gary has earned a Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University. During his 20-year career in federal law enforcement, Mr. Ross conducted investigations and operations with the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Department of Labor. Gary has recently published Who Watches the Watchmen? that explores the conflict between national security interests and the freedom of the press .

James Frank Receives the Thomas Castellano Commitment Award

Dr. James Frank will be presented with the Thomas Castellano Commitment Award in appreciation for his contributions to the Midwestern Criminal Justice Association at the annual American Society of Criminology (ASC) conference in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Frank received his Ph.D from the School of Criminal Justice and is a 2011 Wall of Fame Honoree. He is a Professor at the University of Cincinnati and has been the principal investigator for a number of policing-related research projects that primarily focus on understanding police behavior at the street-level and the use of technology by the police.

Forensic Science Students Awarded Research Grants

Lisa Hebda and Michelle Metchikian, both forensic biology students, have been awarded research grants from the prestigious American Academy of Forensic Sciences Foundation/National Institute of Justice. Lisa received $6000 to support her research on "Increasing the Success of DNA Analysis from Skeletal Remains: Comparing Standard Methods to Methods Designed to Remove PCR Inhibitors". Michelle will use her $6000 award to research "Mitochondrial DNA Recovery and Analysis from Spent Cartridge Casings".

Masters Student Becomes a Member of the Singapore Parliament

Sylvia Lim is pursuing her Masters degree in Criminal Justice at Michigan State University while serving as a member of the Singapore Parliament. Her specialty is in law, serving as a police officer for three years and becoming a member of the Singapore Bar in 1991. Sylvia became involved in opposition politics rising to party chairwomen and now serves as a member of the Singapore Parliament.

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Johnson & Johnson Awards College of Social Science & School of Criminal Justice

David Howard, Global Director Brand Protection for Johnson & Johnson and A-CAPPP partner presented Dean Baba, Director McGarrell & Dr. Chris Maxwell with an Achievement Award for Sponsorship. He also presented Dr's Jeremy Wilson and John Spink with an Achievement Award for Leadership. The awards honored the commitment of Michigan State University to the A-CAPPP initiative and for blazing a trail at lightning speed, faster than industry moves - a rare occurrence for a university.

Project Safe Neighborhood Grant to Reduce Crime in Puerto Rico

The School of Criminal Justice was awarded a Department of Justice Project Safe Neighborhood grant to aid in the creation and implementation of a violence reduction initiative in Puerto Rico. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has experienced an increasing amount of violence in the past decade. The goal of the initiative is to reduce violence and homicide in San Juan's public housing locations, which have been identified as one of the primary sources of violence in the municipality by law enforcement, by helping them implement a research-based problem solving approach. Dr. Pizarro, Lead Investigator along with her colleagues Dr's Terrill and McGarrell are very excited about this initiative since it will not only help communities in need, but also furthers MSU's land grant mission.

PoPCaSS Launched

The Program on Police Consolidation and Shared Services (PoPCaSS) has been launched. Jeremy Wilson, through the School of Criminal Justice will be leading the project, which is supported by the Office of Community Policing Services (COPS). Jeremy will be collaborating with Alex Weiss, Justin Heinonen, and Steve Chermak from the School of Criminal Justice; Mike Polzin from MSU Human Resources Labor Relations; and Bill King from Sam Houston State University. The recent recession has challenged locales to maintain even basic levels of public safety services, particularly community policing. Officials have sought solutions: consolidations/ mergers, contracting, sharing services, regionalizing, and civilianizing. Police executives have little access to evidence-based resources that offer context for decision making. PoPCaSS will create, assemble, and provide resources on structural options for police services.

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COPS Releases Two Articles on Police Staffing Allocation

"A Performance-Based Approach to Staffing and Allocation" and Essentials for Leaders: A Performance-Based Approach to Staffing and Allocation" summarizes the research conducted

by the Michigan State University team. It highlights the current staffing allocation landscape for law enforcement agencies and provides a practical step-by-step approach for any agency to assess its own patrol staffing needs based upon its workload and performance objectives.

"A Performance-Based Approach to Staffing and Allocation" is useful for police practitioners and planners conducting an assessment of their agency's staffing need, and for researchers interested in police staffing experiences and assessment methods. The second guidebook, "Essentials for Leaders: A Performance Based Approach to Staffing and Allocation" identifies some ways beyond the use of sworn staff that workload demand can be managed, and discusses how an agency's approach to community policing implementation can affect staffing allocation and deployment.