Thu, Apr 17, 2014
10:00am - 11:00am
CJ Courtroom

Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Garmon was recently featured on Marshal Law: Texas on TNT. Photo by David HollowayFor the last year, Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Garmon (’05) has been part of a task force that hunts down and arrests some of the most dangerous fugitives in the Houston area.

Take the case of Joshua World. He ambushed his ex-girlfriend and shot her in the head while she was moving into a new apartment. After firing at police during a high speed chase, World got away. Twenty-four hours later, the suspect was tracked down to a vacant home in southeast Harris County. Before Garmon and task force members could arrest him, World shot himself in the head and died at the scene.

Photo from "Marshal Law: Texas"The Gulf Coast Violent Offender Task Force is a multi-agency law enforcement group that apprehends fugitives from state felony cases, such as capital murder, aggravated assault and sexual assault, as well offenders with federal warrants. The Task Force includes the U.S. Marshals Service, the Houston Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Attorney General’s Office, Harris County Constable “Precinct 4, ” and Sheriff Offices in Harris Galveston, Montgomery and Fort Bend counties. The group operates in Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties and was recently featured on the TNT Series “Marshal Law: Texas.”“The reason the task force is so successful in what we do is because we work with the strengths of all agencies to get the job done,” said Garmon. “It’s pretty exciting to see what we do on TV. It’s a learning tool for others, and I think it was good. You get a glimpse of what we do on a daily basis.”

In addition to chasing the bad guys, the series showed the game plans needed to coordinate movements by all parties involved. But what it doesn’t portray is the hours of work it takes to bring a fugitive to justice, which includes surveillance, research, intelligence, and interviews to pinpoint where a suspect is hiding.

ome of the gear worn by U.S. Marshals.Nor does it show Garmon’s other duties as a Deputy U.S. Marshal. When he is not working with the Task Force, he is involved in civil processing of seized assets and transporting federal prisoners across the country and world.

“Just because I’m on the Task Force, doesn’t mean that I can’t participate in other duties at the U.S. Marshals Service,” he said

The U.S. Marshals Service is also responsible for protecting the federal judiciary and operating the federal Witness Protection Program.

Garmon joined the U.S. Marshals Service in 2009 after serving as a probation officer in Montgomery County for three years. He began his Marshals’ career in McAllen, Texas, where he handled a variety of duties, including fugitive warrants and civil process.

“Fugitives are an anytime type of work,” said Garmon. “You could be up at 3 a.m. in the morning or not get home until after midnight. It involves a lot of research and patience. Fugitives don’t stay put when they know someone is looking for them. They don’t want to go back to jail.”

Garmon frequently returns to SHSU for presentations. Garmon also is assigned to civil process in which he served subpoenas, summons, and writs of execution to seize property based on court orders. In this capacity, he helped confiscate motorcycles from defendants who no longer met their financial responsibilities.

After transferring to the Houston office, Garmon was initially involved transporting prisoners to court for trial, sentencing and motions, including several high profile cases, including kidnapping and gang trials.

Garmon, who graduated from Sam Houston with a degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Biology, credits the College with teaching him many of the skills he needs for his job. As a Bearkat football player, he learned professionalism and time management. He also met “genuinely good people,” including fellow students and faculty.

Garmon teaches high school students at CJ Summer Camp. Garmon frequently comes back to the College to help the next generation of criminal justice professionals. Garmon warns students that decision they make in high school and college can impact their careers later, citing the extensive background check done by his agency. It took him two years to get through the process.

“Hard work pays off,” Garmon said.

By Trey Cawley

A study from Sam Houston State University examines a new economic perspective on the politically charged issue of physician-assisted suicide legislation.

The article looks for links between physician-assisted suicide legislation, also known as “right-to-die” laws and economic and social factors within industrialized countries. It also examined the factors that can lead to the national adoption of physician-assisted suicide legislation as a policy solution to problems such as rising healthcare costs.

The countries examined included the 19 industrial democracies of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, The United Kingdom and The United States. Among the economic and social factors that were included in the study were:

• Money spent on healthcare
• Percentage of people 65 in the population
• Religious diversity
• Homicide rates
• Suicide rates

Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands, Switzerland, and The United States are six countries that have or had laws that allow physician assisted suicide. The policy debate about right-to-die legislation has increased as populations begin to age rapidly due to better, and more expensive, health care service and a shrinking birth-rate. Legal physician-assisted suicide is already on the books in the European countries of Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg as well as Australia for a limited time in 1996. It is estimated that three percent of all deaths in The Netherlands involve physician-assisted suicide.

Although more limited in scope, physician-assisted suicide legislation in the United States has a sizable history with the practice legal in the states of Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Meanwhile, countries such as Germany and France have had heated political debates about this issue throughout their societies.

“From a policy stand point, it has everything to do with what individuals themselves, at the end of what they imagine to be the end of their life wish,” said Dr. Titterington. “Do they or don’t they have the right to ask for that assistance. Cases where they’re incapacitated and families make their decisions have the same issue; do families have the right to request that or not? It’s a big policy issue for the medical community as well because the Hippocratic Oath suggests ‘do no harm,’ with physician assisted suicide considered antithetical to their own professional standards.”

The study found that there is an association among the factors examined and right-to-die legislation. Four of the six countries with physician-assisted suicide ranked in the top half of the factors examined as well as France and Germany, which are discussing adopting similar legislation.

By examining these economic and social factors, Dr. Titterington and colleagues seek to understand the extent to which societies will resolve to lengthen human life. The study is meant to help further the debate about right-to-death legislation and foster growth into more research on the issue. Regardless, this a debate that will become more and more important globally as time moves forward.

“The whole world is aging and all developed countries are getting older,” Dr. Titterington said. “Japan is a good example of that as the proportion of people over the age of 60 is growing almost exponentially. So we do expect this to be a topic that will gain increasing public focus.”

The study by Dr. Titterington with her colleagues, Ph.D. graduate Pierre Rivolta and Dr. Scott Schraufnagel of North Illinois University, can be found in the July issue of Sociological Spectrum found here

The Woodlands Center Career Workshop
Featuring
Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Garmon (’05)

Thu, April 17, 2014
11:00 am
The Woodlands Center, Room 110

Join us for a Criminal Justice Career Workshop at The Woodlands Center, featuring resumes and interviewing skills, criminal justice internships and a presentation by Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Garmon on federal jobs.

“With the growing number of criminal justice students at The Woodlands Center, we want to ensure that they receive the same career development opportunities offered on the main campus,” said Dr. Janet Mullings, Executive Director of The Woodlands Center. “This event will help our students identify their career goals and sharpen their skills to make them more competitive in the marketplace.”

CJ Career Counselor Vanessa RichardVanessa Richard, the CJ Career Counselor, will present a resume and interviewing skills workshop. In addition to providing tips for the job hunt, the session will present the diverse array of services at Career Services, including career assessments, mock interviews, cover letter and resume assistance, JOBS for KATS job listings, career library/computers, company information, presentations and workshops, career counseling and on-campus interviews.

Dr. Jim Dozier, Internship Coordinator for the College of Criminal Justice, will discuss the hundreds of internships offered in law enforcement, corrections, victim services, forensic science and private companies. The full-time internships, available in the senior year, include nine credit hours and are an opportunity to link to future employment.

br />Internship Coordinator Dr. Jim Dozier“What sets our program apart from others is that the student will spend the entire semester or summer in an internship reporting to potential employers, rather than a part-time internship,” said Dr. Dozier. “The internship program is an important component for criminal justice students as it expands the number of contacts you can make which in turn will create more opportunities for careers.”

The key presentation will be given by Alumnus Robert Garmon (’05), a Deputy U.S. Marshal in Houston.

Garmon has been part of a task force that hunts down and arrests some of the most dangerous fugitives in the Houston area.

As a member of the Gulf Coast Violent Offender Task Force, a multi-agency law enforcement, Garmon apprehends fugitives from state felony cases, such as capital murder, aggravated assault and sexual assault, as well offenders with federal warrants. The Task Force includes the U.S. Marshals Service, the Houston Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Attorney General’s Office, Harris County Constable “Precinct 4,” and Sheriff Offices in Harris Galveston, Montgomery and Fort Bend counties. The group operates in Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties and was recently featured on the TNT Series “Marshal Law: Texas.”

Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Garmon was recently featured on Marshal Law: Texas on TNT. Photo by David Holloway“The reason the task force is so successful in what we do is because we work with the strengths of all agencies to get the job done,” said Garmon. “It’s pretty exciting to see what we do on TV. It’s a learning tool for others, and I think it was good. You get a glimpse of what we do on a daily basis.”

As a Deputy U.S. Marshal, Garmon also is involved in civil processing of seized assets and transporting federal prisoners across the country and world. The U.S. Marshals Service is also responsible for protecting the federal judiciary and operating the federal Witness Protection Program.

Garmon joined the U.S. Marshals Service in 2009 after serving as a probation officer in Montgomery County for three years. He began his Marshals’ career in McAllen, Texas, where he handled a variety of duties, including fugitive warrants and civil process.

Garmon, who graduated from Sam Houston with a degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Biology, credits the College with teaching him many of the skills he needs for his job. As a Bearkat football player, he learned professionalism and time management. He also met “genuinely good people,” including fellow students and faculty.

Garmon frequently comes back to the College to help the next generation of criminal justice professionals. Garmon warns students that decision they make in high school and college can impact their careers later, citing the extensive background check done by his agency. It took him two years to get through the process.

“Hard work pays off,” Garmon said.

LCRA intern Carly Tipton

One of Carly Tipton’s first experiences working in her criminal justice internship involved evicting a squatter and his goats from a Texas island.

“The Lower Colorado River Authority’s western district Rangers were advised that an individual had been squatting on an island on Lake LBJ,” Tipton said. “This individual had transported several goats out to this island with the intention of claiming imminent domain. I went with two Rangers to take a boat out to the island, and we docked and began searching the area for the individual and his goats. We found a campsite in the center of the island and two of the goats. We documented the incident and referred it to LCRA’s legal department.”

Tipton accepted an internship this spring with the LCRA’s Public Safety Department to add experience to her criminal justice education.

The Lower Colorado River Authority was created by the state of Texas in 1934 to tame the Colorado River and bring electrical power to rural Texas. The maintenance of six hydro-electric dams and three power plants fulfills this purpose to areas such as Travis County and its surrounding communities. The agency also maintains parks, electrical substations, radio towers and telecommunication sites, and offers waste water services and recreational activities, such as fishing, camping and swimming.

Her duties included protecting LCRA assets, like bridges.The Public Safety Department protects these holdings. As a part of her internship, Tipton worked with the Public Safety Department’s dispatch office helping stranded boaters, and she frequently traveled with the LCRA Rangers on patrol to land on or near the lakes and rivers within the agency’s jurisdiction.

“Making contact with boaters out on lakes within LCRA’s jurisdiction was really cool,” Tipton said. “I realized almost immediately how difficult it is to make contact out on the water with another vessel, due to the wake caused by other boaters, windy weather conditions, and the caution a law enforcement officer must exercise in order to not damage their own police boat or a subject’s vessel. Sgt. Snyder of the Western District Rangers taught me how to make contact with other boats successfully and had me practice out on the water.”

Protecting the LCRA’s resources is serious business. After 9/11, there exist broad threats to the welfare of the electrical grid and infrastructure inside the United States, adding a homeland security aspect to Tipton’s internship. In addition to this, Tipton had the opportunity to see what running directed patrol on various LCRA power and environmental assets looked like for a utility public safety department.

“Learning about the importance of protecting LCRA infrastructure was extremely valuable,” Tipton said. “I rode out with several LCRA Rangers on directed patrol of substations and radio towers, looking for any evidence of copper theft and reporting any discrepancies we found.”

Tipton on directed patrol with two LCRA Rangers.With these experiences, Tipton’s view of the power of internships has only increased.

“I came into college knowing that I would pursue an internship in criminal justice my senior year,” she said. “An internship gives one an opportunity to apply criminological theory in practice with a law enforcement agency. Acquiring knowledge in the classroom is vital, but real world experience before graduation is just as significant to a student’s future.”

“An internship can give a student a much more realistic perspective on what career path they should pursue,” she added. “Sam Houston’s CJ Internship program should be utilized by every student who plans to pursue a career in criminal justice.”

Tipton’s long term plan is to enter environmental law enforcement by becoming a Game Warden with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. She will take the skills developed from the internship program to accomplish this goal.

“My internship with the LCRA Public Safety department has been one of the most fulfilling experiences I have had as a college student,” Tipton said. “The rangers, dispatchers, executive officers and personnel, and investigators that work within the public safety department have taught me what it means to be an exceptional public servant, a hardworking peace officer, and an efficient guardian of environmental assets.”

Dr. Muftic and her husband in Sarajevo.

As a junior in college, Dr. Lisa Muftic was introduced to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) through an older gentlemen who had recently resettled in the U.S. from the war-torn country. That meeting would have a profound effect on her personal life and professional career.

The man’s roommate, also a war refugee who served as her interpreter, eventually became her husband and father of their three children. Her passion about the country, ignited by that chance encounter, led to research opportunities abroad and a Fulbright Scholarship with the University of Sarajevo. As a scholar, she studied criminal justice issues, including intimate partner violence, human trafficking, and police training and attitudes in BiH.

Dr. Muftic with her children along the Buna River.“I fell in love with that part of the world,” said Dr. Muftic, who has visited the country almost every year since 1997. “It’s my other home. I love the people, the rich culture and history, and the country’s incredible beauty. The first time I went there, there was still so much destruction from the war, but there was also profound natural beauty.”

Muftic’s interest in BiH started at North Dakota State University while a serving an internship as a volunteer with the Refugee Resettlement Program. The program served many displaced by the war, which erupted among ethnic groups following the country’s independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. When she asked her future husband or others about the causes of the war, they were unable – or unwilling – to speak about it. Led by a professor who had visited the area in the 1970s, she began an independent study on the causes of the war which eventually led into her work as a master’s student.

A group of criminal justice students in BiH
"With interest in intimate partner violence, human trafficking, and international criminal justice issues, she began doing research in the country, often comparing the trends between BiH and the United States. She published many studies on these issues in American and European academic journals and has others in the pipeline.

While a doctoral student, Dr. Muftic compared intimate partner violence experienced by Bosnian women who relocated to the U.S., comparing them to those who remained in their native country. While the study showed no differences in victimization and perpetration among the two groups of women, in the U.S., the Bosnian women tended to be more conservative on the issue and conformed more to traditional gender roles.

Dr. Muftic studied the underground human trafficking sex trade in BiH.“It could be that (Bosnian) women (in the U.S.) were clinging more to tradition, and displacement was a major stressor,” said Dr. Muftic.

While in the field collecting data for a second research project related to domestic violence in the country, Dr. Muftic visited one of two domestic violence shelters. Rather than finding victims of intimate partner violence, she found the shelter was full of human trafficking victims. This finding led to her current research which focuses on criminal justice responses to the offense since the end of the war.

After the war, many international forces were in the country to help it rebuild and foreign women were smuggled in from Europe and Asia to serve those populations. While foreigners only accounted for 30 percent of the customer base, they represented 70 percent of profits. After the country stabilized and prostitution crackdowns began, the industry changed and the practice was driven underground. Today Bosnian women and girls represent the majority of trafficking victims and locals comprise the majority of traffickers, pimps, and clientele.

Dr. Muftic and University of Sarajevo students.“There are less women being rescued now and less receiving services,” Dr. Muftic said. “This doesn’t mean, however, that trafficking isn’t taking place. It has just become harder to detect.”

After the war, there was a movement in BiH to professionalize the police. Interested in the impact training had on police response to gender based violence, Dr. Muftic measured police officers’ responses and attitudes toward domestic violence and human trafficking. She found that training resulted in less negative attitudes to reports of intimate partner violence and a greater likelihood of intervention. Because the police are first line responders in such cases, these findings have important policy implications as to the importance of training and education for law enforcement.

Dr. Muftic compares victim and policing issues in the U.S. and BiH.During the 2012-2013 academic year, Muftic was a Fulbright Scholar and visiting faculty member at the University of Sarajevo. While continuing her research, she also mentored several undergraduate students with an interest in advancing their knowledge about criminal justice issues. Working with these students – along with other colleagues in the criminal justice field – she expanded her research to include electronic monitoring, the death penalty, and the use of criminological theory to predict delinquency in the country. She also has introduced graduate students at Sam Houston State University to her research efforts.

“I think because of the situation in Bosnia, many of the students see education as a way to be successful,” said Dr. Muftic. “Many were looking to advanced degrees. It was a small group but it was fun to have a group of students who were really proactive about their education. I am really proud of the relationship that we have forged. I learned as much from them as they did from me; maybe more!”

Mon, Apr 14, 2014
5:00 PM
Chemistry and Forensic Science Building
Room 103

The guest speaker will be Dr. Joan Bytheway, Forensic Anthrologist. Pizza and drinks will be served.

Thu, Apr 17, 2014
3:00 - 5:00 P.M.
Flag Room, Criminal Justice Center

Come celebrate the end of the year with the CJ GSO. Ice cream and cake will be served. Open to all faculty, staff and graduate students.

Wed Apr 22, 2014
4:00pm - 7:00pm
Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom

The conference, "Breaking Out of Your Shell," is open to all interested students and will include Vanessa Richard, CJ Career Counselor; Dr. Howard Henderson, Associate Professor at the College of Criminal Justice; Derek Henderson, Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Center; Ben Adams of the federal Bureau of Prison and Terri McGee, Harris County Juvenile Probation Department and secretary of national NABCJ Board of Directors. A reception will follow the presentation in the CJ Flag Room.

“Let’s Get Rid of the TSA”
with Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow Cato Institute
Fri, April 25, 2014
11:00am – 12:30pm
Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom

The Department of Security Studies will host a presentation on a controversial issue in the security field, namely, abolishing the Transportation Security Administration with Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute.

“The session is designed to promote exciting conversation and spirited debate about security issues in the U.S.,” said Dr. John Payne, Assistant Professor in the Department of Security Studies. “The speaker will explore ideas for improving security without a cost to liberty. We hope our students and faculty come with lots of comments and questions.”

Doug BandowThe presentation, entitled “Let’s Get Rid of the TSA,” will be presented by Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a public policy research organization and think tank dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace. Bandow served as a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan and was editor of the political magazine Inquiry. He writes regularly for leading publications such as Fortune magazine, National Interest, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Times. He also is a regular commentator on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. He holds a J.D. from Stanford University.

Bandow is an advocate for the privatization of airport security.
“Any American who travels deals with the Transportation Safety Administration,” said Bandow in a recent column for the Cato Institute.

The TSA, created in 2001, spent $7.9 billion last year and employed 62,000 employees to protect more than 450 commercial airports, with two-thirds of the budget dedicated to airport screening, Bandow said. He said the agency is more “bureaucracy than safety,” and often makes the news for its poor performance and abuse of civil liberties of airline passengers.

Bandow suggests that individual airports should be responsible for airport security so they can adapt to local circumstances, similar to operations in Canada and most European airports. Privatizing airports would allow flexibility and would create security competition, he said.

Researchers have found evidence of an interaction between prenatal smoking and genetic risk factors that increase aggressive behavior in children, especially in girls.

“The interesting issue is that not all children exposed to prenatal smoking will have behavioral problems. Some might, but others will not,” said Dr. Brian Boutwell, Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice and senior author on the study. “One possible explanation for this is that the effect of prenatal smoke exposure depends on the presence of ‘triggering influence;’ in this case, we investigated whether genetic risk factors might act as just such a trigger.”

Melissa PetkovsekThe study, “Prenatal Smoking and Genetic Risk: Examining the Childhood Origins of Externalizing Behavioral Problems,” was led by Melissa Petkovsek, a doctoral student at Sam Houston State, and was based on a nationally representative sample of 1,600 twins, including identical and fraternal pairs, collected during early childhood. The study found that children exposed to prenatal smoking, and who also had an increased genetic propensity for antisocial behavior, exhibited the most pronounced conduct problems during childhood. Interestingly, this gene-environment interaction was most pronounced in females.

The study demonstrates that prenatal environmental experiences may influence future behavioral problems in children, especially in combination with the presence of genetic risk factors. Ultimately, the study presented four key findings:

• Genetic risk factors increase behavioral problems in children
• Prenatal maternal smoking, when taken in isolation, did not appear to directly result in behavioral problems
• The influence of genetic risk factors on behavior problems were most pronounced for children exposed to prenatal smoking

Dr. Brian BoutwellThe current research underscores the link between genetic factors and antisocial behaviors. Boutwell said that while most research focuses on environmental factors, such as the family and neighborhoods, it is important to explore alternative environments, such as prenatal experiences, to gain a better understanding of the origins of problem behaviors.

“Social scientists have spent decades looking at what happens with parents and the family to try and determine why some children develop behavioral problems and others don’t,” said Dr. Boutwell. “While we are not saying that family environments are completely unimportant, environmental experiences encompass far more than just parenting. It is possible, in fact, than other environmental experiences may matter just as much, and perhaps more in some cases, for development than simply what happens inside the home between parents and children.”

The study was coauthored by Dr. Kevin M. Beaver of Florida State University and Dr. J.C. Barnes from the University of Texas at Dallas. The study was published in Social Science and Medicine and is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795361400197.

Gen. Miroslaw Schossler, Deputy Director of the Polish National Police (PNP), was introduced by former SHSU Graduate Student Refal Wasiak, Adjutant for the PNP.

The Deputy Commander of the Polish National Police provided a guest lecture to a security studies class at the College of Criminal Justice about the challenges of combating human trafficking in his country.

Gen. Miroslaw Schossler, who serves as the Deputy Commander in charge of Criminal Services for the national police force, said there are four types of human trafficking cases in his country, including prostitution; forced labor; petty crimes and begging; and bank credit and social benefits. While prostitution represents the greatest number of cases, the newest issue is those who use victims to apply for bank credit or social services.

Gen. Schossler“It’s a brand new category of human trafficking,” said Schossler through an interpreter. “This consists, in a nutshell, of organized crime looking for poor people without a job with a large number of children. They go to Germany or Great Britain to the work force commission and ask for financial assistance. They register for unemployment and say they are needing social and financial support. They apply for credit. The victims get very little and organized crime takes most of the money.”

Poland is a destination and transient country for human trafficking victims in the sex trade, lured by promises of jobs in hotels and restaurants, but instead forced into prostitution. Many of the victims come from Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Vietnam, Romania and Russia. They are stripped of their passports and identification, raped, forced into drug addiction and work as roadside prostitutes. Some stay in Poland, while others pass through the country on the way to other European nations.

Gen. Schossler (r) discussed human trafficking in Dr. Magdalena Denham's (l)class.Some Polish women also are baited with fake job opportunities in other countries and are forced into the sex trade. “They take their passport and limit their movements and opportunities,” Schossler said.

“The victims of human trafficking are not only the victims of crime, but they are deprived of their dignity,” said Schossler. “The trauma and psychological impact may last their entire lives. There is a saying in Poland: ‘Human trafficking is slavery of the 21st Century.’”

The human trafficking problem has increased in Poland since 1989, when the country became a democratic regime. Since then, the country joined the European Union, an economic and political union of 28 states in Europe region, in 2004 and the Schengen Area, which abolish border control among 26 European county, in 2007. As a result, there has been an increase in unemployment, changes to economic status levels and an influx of people into the country.

“It is important for our students to understand that global issues are part of the Homeland Security Enterprise; human trafficking whether in Poland or in the United States represents a threat to safety and security that transcends borders,” said Dr. Magdalena Denham, Assistant Professor in the Department of Security Studies. “Consequently, learning about strategies Poland uses to counter that threat and to assist the victims of human trafficking crimes contributes to enhanced critical thinking about strategies used domestically.”

The Polish National Police are set up in 16 states and a metro area.In addition to discussing human trafficking, Schossler gave students an overview of the Polish National Police, which has nearly 100,000 commissioned officers and 25,000 civilian staff. The paramilitary organization operates in 16 districts and the Metro Police. They have five police academies, including one higher education institute, and four general police academies to train regular and “prevention” police.

The “prevention” division, which consists of uniformed police officers, is responsible for anti-riot efforts, special event security, traffic, tactical operations and anti-terrorism activities. There is also a logistics division, which handles the business end of policing, including communications, information technology, finances and logistics for police. Finally, Internal Affairs, crimes by police, media relations and internal audits are handled directly by the Commander’s Office.

About one million crime reports are filed annually with the Polish National Police, resulting in 941,000 cases because some people are charged with more than one crime. The clearance rate for crimes is about 67 percent, Schossler.
Schossler oversees criminal services for the national police. Among his duties are:

• The Central Bureau of Investigations (comparable to the FBI)
• Investigation, recognition and surveillance of terrorism activities
• Bureau of Central Services, which includes detectives, investigators and undercover agents
• International Police Cooperative, which coordinates policing efforts with surrounding countries
• Central Crime Lab, which includes fingerprints, chemical testing, trace, forensics and psychology.

Poland is part of an international exchange program with the Criminal Justice Center, which provides professional exchange opportunities with the Law Enforcement Management Institute and the Correctional Management Institute of Texas on a biennial basis. In addition, Schossler was investigating research opportunities with the College of Criminal Justice and touring local agencies as part of his visit.

Security Studies students fight a fire as part of a CERT exercise.

Six Security Studies students took their crisis management class to the field so they can assist the community in times of natural or manmade disasters or major events.

The six graduate students, including Scott Vautrain, Lise Fischer, Juan Nunez, Jace Reeves, David Russo, and Charlotte Sanders, earned certificates from the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) for Walker County, part of a Department of Homeland Security initiative to build a corps of citizen volunteers that can aid in times of emergency. The students learned basic disaster preparedness skills in fire safety, search and rescue, team organization and medical operations. They will be available to serve in the Huntsville area for community events or during such incidents as tornados, floods, wildfire, hurricanes or a terroristic attack.

Practicing first aid was part of the drill. The eight-week training sessions, taken as part of their crisis management class at Sam Houston State University, culminated with a live drill at the Walker County Service Center, which simulated the after effects of high winds in a wooded neighborhood. While awaiting the assistance of police and fire, who were delayed by fallen trees in the road, the students had to access the scene, search for and rescue victims, tend to the injured, battle fires, turn off electricity and gas, and identify hazards.

To tackle the scene, the students formed teams, bolstered by veteran CERT volunteers, which included Incident Command, Operations, Safety, Public Information, Logistics and Supplies, and Planning. Utilizing handheld radios for communication, the teams were dispatched to different assignments, such as putting out fires, checking utilities and rescuing victims.

To protect people and property, all utilities are shut off.The group found six victims – two of them fatalities -- including several trapped in a trailer, a man on the ground, and a murder victim. They tended to victims, using basic first aid skills to address their injuries. The teams also identified a potentially hazardous tank at the scene and unblocked doorways jammed by debris. When a murder victim was found in the woods, they secured the scene until police arrived.

“I had my adrenaline going as soon as I heard voices and screams from the trailer,” said Russo, the first on the “scene.”

Students and volunteers prepare for their mission in remote neighborhood hit with high winds. Students donned real life equipment, including hard hats, eye protection, medical masks, CERT vest, and gloves and had access to a trailer full of supplies during the exercise. They put fire out with fire extinguishers, used bandages and gauze to treat injuries, and wielded pliers to turn off utilities. “It was really cool to see it all out here, rather than in the classroom,” said Fischer, who took the lead in attending to victims in the trailer.

The CERT certification was part of an Academic Community Engagement class, which combines community service and academic instruction. It requires students to participate in outside activities in the community as part of the class.

Students worked with CERT volunteers to rescue "victims."“I think ACE courses are really important,” said Dr. Magdalena Denham, a professor at the College of Criminal Justice. “When you are getting into the security field, practical experience is very important. This allows the student to look at theory and then apply it. You learn what the community looks like and how police and emergency medical services operate. You learn how they talk and how they address one another in the field.”

Denham has used ACE elements in other classes to give her students a leg up in the job market. Another class was required to get certification in emergency management and the National Incident Management System, two model program in crisis management offered by the Department of Homeland Security. Another class developed a risk assessment plan for a faith-based, non-profit school in Conroe, making security recommendation based on budgetary concerns.

Students discover a "body" in the woods during the exercise.Vautrain believes the experience will come in handy on his resume and in his future career as an intelligence analyst.

“The Department of Homeland Security enterprise includes federal, state and local agencies and private companies working together,” said Vautrain. “You get to be a part of that homeland security enterprise.”

SHSU students joined the Walker County CERT Team following the drill.The Walker County CERT program, conceived by Emergency Management Coordinator Butch Davis, was launched in 2008. It has grown significantly over the last six years and now includes 129 members, including adult, teen and intercollegiate teams as well as representatives from the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, with six members and two signers.

Among the key leaders of CERT are Joe Connell, Walker County CERT Coordinator; Paramedic Supervisor D.J. Casburn and Medical Paramedic Chase Fryar for medical operations; Paul Alexander of the Disaster Mortuary Operation Response Team for disaster psychology training; and Lt. Charlie Perkins of the Walker County Sheriff’s Office on threat and safety issues involving terrorism and narcotic activities.

Davis has been successful in getting grants to expand logistics in the program, including well-equipped tool kits and simulation equipment (including realistic wound makeup for “victims”), mobile units with a variety of resources, tools for field operations and training.

The incident commanders who oversee the entire scene.Walker County CERT is part of a broader partnership, which includes the local fire and police departments, Citizens on Patrol, and faith groups. Its members have or will be used to support shelter operations; to assist with the setup of points of distribution for medication in large scale medical emergency; to implement identification systems during hurricane; to support the activation of the Emergency Operation Center or to help with special occasions and community events, such as Raven Bike Ride or the Fair on the Square.

As part of its continuing training, Walker County CERT recently observed an exercise by the East Texas Mounted Search and Rescue Team and will participate in a drill at Gibbs Ranch in May on higher level applications of the Incident Command Center.

Lt. Col. Rafal Wasiak

by Trey Cawley

Lt. Col. Rafal Wasiak, Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief, Polish National Police - a Sam Houston State University graduate, travels the world to enhance international dialog on policing procedures.

After 18 years of service, including his current position as Adjutant to the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish National Police, it’s hard to imagine that he did not originally start out with the goal of joining the national law enforcement agency.

“My basic education, it may sound funny, was to be a teacher of the Polish language,” said Wasiak. “I got my first Master’s degree at the University of Warsaw, in the second part of the 80s, and then I became a journalist. I worked in a few adverting agencies and then I got an offer to become a police officer to initially work in the press office.”

Despite being hired to work in their press offices, Lt. Col. Wasiak went through the same steps as any new cadet in the Polish National Police. Poland’s police force has a centralized, paramilitary structure where all training is standardized.

“I had to go through the same professional path like any other police cadet,” said Lt. Col. Wasiak. “Basic training was six months of the “ABCs” of how to be a police officer. (It was) a lot of theory; a lot of physical exercises; how to handle a police baton; how to handle a pistol; first steps in police activities; how to handle a domestic violence situation; how to handle a situation on the streets, etc.”

Wasiak (l) delivering a press conference. As a part of the press office, Lt. Col. Wasiak’s responsibilities included dispersing information to the general public. It was a task that was far from simple in many cases, such as when a farmer’s union strike almost brought traffic to a standstill in many parts of Poland.

“They were pushing for some change, and they decided to block our major highways,” said Lt. Col. Wasiak. “They took equipment like all these trucks, these tractors, and they started to block our traffic system. The traffic had been diverted (detours), but the strike lasted for a few weeks, because it was a long term operation organized by farmers’ unions.”

As the national police dealt with directing traffic around these obstacles, the press office fielded questions from around the country. Lt. Col. Wasiak helped to establish press offices in each of the country’s 16 state police HQs to help funnel information locally.

“It was quite a stressful situation with hundreds of questions from journalists,” Lt. Col. Wasiak said. “So, we were always on alert, days and nights during this period. Hundreds of questions, hundreds of interviews. We did not sleep much.”

Lt. Col. Wasiak’s ability to speak both English and Russian, along with his native Polish, would later propel him to his next assignment in the Bureau of International Police Cooperation. This new position took advantage of his translating abilities and allowed him travel the world and discuss new ways of managing crime.

Poland is a part of the European Union and the Schengen Area, which allows free movement of goods and people between partner nations. Because of the lack of borders between countries in much of Europe, Poland must deal with many varieties of trans-national crimes. Lt. Col. Wasiak was in charge of cooperative partnerships with other nations to bring criminals to justice.

“We have cooperatives to prevent and fight international crime,” said Wasiak. “We do training exchanges, conferences, and exchange police information and data through Interpol and Europol. We find the best methods to fight such issues as trafficking of human beings, narcotics, white collar crime and cybercrime.”

Wasiak (l) next to Polish Police Gen. Miroslaw Schossler.

In his current position as Adjutant, Lt. Col. Wasiak serves as the right-hand assistant to the Com- mander-in-Chief, General Marek Działoszyński, the head of the Polish National Police. In addition to keeping his calendar and setting up meetings Lt. Col. Wasiak also briefs the Commander on key issues, both domestically and internationally. He frequently travels the world at his side and acts as an official interpreter.

To help keep abreast of the latest information on research and practices in the criminal justice field, Poland has developed professional exchange programs, including one with Sam Houston State University. For many years, law enforcement and correctional professionals from the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas and the Correctional Management Institute of Texas have visited Poland. Meanwhile officials from the Polish National Police and the Polish Prison Service have come to the U.S. These delegations aim to learn more about the latest criminal justice developments in each country.

The College of Criminal Justice’s program with the Polish National Police has only strengthened over the years. In fact, Lt. Col. Wasiak earned another Master’s degree, this time in Criminal Justice and Criminology, from the College of Criminal Justice.

Wasiak meeting with Japanese delegates“Without international co-operation, I do not see a future for the police force,” Lt. Col. Wasiak said. “Criminal organizations are not working locally. They are not even working nationally. They are acting, many of them, internationally.”

As a message to the current students of SHSU, Lt. Col. Wasiak had a few passing words of advice for those who wish to make it in the field of criminal justice.

“My message is to travel as much as possible, visit other countries if there is an opportunity, and observe other people,” he said. “Then you will become more experienced. You will become more tolerant and it will help your career.”

The Mexican delegation included judges and restorative justice professionals.

The Correctional Management Institute of Texas recently hosted a delegation of judges and restorative justice professionals from Mexico on a mission to learn more about various aspects of the Texas criminal justice system.

The five-member delegation, which represented three states in Mexico, was provided overviews of specialty courts, reentry and integration programs, and restorative justice efforts in Texas during the three day visit. They also toured several programs in the Wynne and Hamilton Units at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, including manufacturing industries, a substance abuse treatment program, and rehabilitation efforts, and met with the Brazos County Community Supervision and Corrections Department.

“This was an exciting opportunity to host a delegation of criminal justice professionals from our neighboring country of Mexico,” said Doug Dretke, Executive Director of the Correctional Management Institute. “Not only did this provide us an opportunity to share some of the important initiatives that have been developed within our criminal justice system, it also provide us a unique opportunity to learn about some of their efforts, especially with alternative dispute resolution, mediation, and restorative justice practices, within their system.”

The delegation learns about educational opportunities at the College of Criminal Justice.The Mexican states represented included Mexico, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. Among the delegates were Martha Laura Garza Estrada, State Director of the Center for Alternative Mechanisms for the Solution of Conflicts of the Judicial Branch of the State of Nuevo León; Roberto Montoya, State Director of the Center for Alternative Mechanisms for the Solution of Conflicts of the Judicial Branch of the State of Tamaulipas, Mexico; Martha Camargo, Judge Director of the Center for Mediation, Conciliation and Restorative Justice of the Judiciary of the State of Mexico; Georgina Pesqueira, Specialist in Restorative Justice and Mediation by the Mediation Institute of Mexico, SC; and Edgar Ulises López Balderas, Mediator of the Center for Alternative Mechanisms for Conflict Resolution of the Judicial Branch of the State of Tamaulipas.

In 2008, changes to the Mexican Constitution mandated a reform of the country’s judicial system. Mexico has until 2016 to change its system from closed door sessions often done in writing to adversarial public trials in open court. As a result of the changes, judicial systems are adopting alternative dispute resolution programs.

The group met with many correctional agencies in Texas.“They were impressed with drugs court and the penitentiary system, especially the programs offered inside prison and efforts at preparing offenders for reentry to the community,” said Eddie Mendoza of the Orange County Community Supervision and Corrections Department

Judge Camargo said she was impressed with many programs in the prison system, including substance abuse treatment and resources for special populations with mental health issues. She said one of the biggest challenges is getting judges onboard with innovating the system.

“Our challenge is getting judges on our side,” said Judge Camargo. “We have to coordinate with the judges to show them this is a real alternative and different way to get justice. Another challenge we face is how to apply these good practices in a different social setting.”

The use of restorative justice is growing in Mexico, with many states having their own alternative dispute centers for mediations between victims and offenders. In poorer rural state, such as Tamaulipas, they have developed mobile mediation units or offer mediation online.

Martha Laura Garza Estrada said Nuevo Leon has had great openness on the part of judges to refer cases to alternative justice in criminal matters.

Mexican officials discuss restorative justice in Texas. During their three day visit, the delegation received briefings from a wide variety of programs and initiatives. The National Center for State Courts provided an overview of high performing specialty courts, such as drug courts. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice provided sessions on reentry and integration programs and initiatives as well as tours of the vocational, treatment and rehabilitation programs at the Wynne and Hamilton Units.

John McGuire, Probation Director of the Brazos County Community Supervision and Correction Department, presented information on probation programs in their county, and Tarrant County gave an update on the Cornerstone Assistance Network, a faith based program which provides comprehensive services to ex-offenders reentering the community. In addition, the group received an update on restorative justice efforts in Texas from the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and Lubbock County offered information on its District Resolution Center.

Finally, at the Correctional Management Institute of Texas, the delegation had the opportunity to meet with the Executive Forum for Criminal Justice Planners, which include managers from counties across Texas who are charged with overseeing the criminal justice system in their jurisdictions as well as the Texas Association of Drug Court Professionals, a professional organization for drugs courts in the state.

The Mexican delegation said they were grateful for the support they have received from programs in Texas.

Tue, May 6, 2014
3:30 P.M.
Texas Room, Criminal Justice Center

Help plan activities or join a committee for the 2014-15 academic year!

Students live and learn together

By: Trey Cawley

This fall, the College of Criminal Justice will open a new dorm for criminal justice majors only, where freshman can live and study together as part of a Freshman Learning Community.

Freshman Learning Communities are designed to help students successfully transition into their first year at college, not only helping them stay in school but giving them a foundation for their remaining college years.

“Students in the living-learning communities will live on campus in a dorm all together,” said Criminal Justice Advisor Fabia Mendez. “We will be utilizing one of the small houses where it will be all criminal justice majors with a resident advisor who is also a criminal justice major.”

Freshman learning communities were created by the Office for First-Year Experience with the mission of bringing students together based on common academic or general interests. Students in the program enroll in the same core courses with the idea that they will support each other socially as well as academically.

Students in the program will build strong relationships. The learning communities will help freshmen create bonds with peers, establish study groups, and increase early successes. In this way, they help students build a strong academic and social support network to help them succeed.

“The way the communities will work is that they will all take three of the same classes together in the fall and spring of their freshman year,” said Mendez.

For the upcoming fall and spring semesters, criminal justice freshman in the program can take:

• Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
• United States History to 1876
• Introduction to Collegiate Studies
• Criminology
• United States History Since 1876
• History of Rock, Jazz, and Popular Music

The new CJ only dorm, Houston House. Sam Houston State University also offers other Freshman Learning Communities for students with broader interests that are not required to live together. The two models of learning communities exist as a way to meet the various living situations of students who are enrolled in the program.

“The students that I’ve spoken to about the Freshman Learning Communities appreciate a structure that provides academic support and social support through the living component,” said Candice Wilson, the Program Coordinator for First-Year Experience. “Of course, there are also students who have other living circumstances or preferences that are not what we offer in our living-learning communities and some students who see living and taking classes with the same students as too much contact with the same group. So far in the recruiting process, I’ve found that with our criminal justice students, the two options appeal to students who just have different ideas of how they want to be supported in their first year. Regardless of whether or not the communities live together, previous learning communities have demonstrated an ability to create bonds between students that stand for years.”

Many former students in the program still study together. Mendez, who has taught several learning community classes, can attest to the bonds that are created.

“I have had some students come back and say that it helped them as far as study groups and having people they can catch up with,” Mendez explained. “The first community that I taught had a student who is now a CJ Ambassador, who told me that she still keeps in touch with her community, and they still take classes and have study groups together.”

That former student is Erin-Audrey Allen, who has had great success in the criminal justice program, making straight A’s her freshman year as well as making the Dean’s List. She would later become a CJ Ambassador, a high honor bestowed on only a select number of students to represent the criminal justice program at various events. She attributes this success, in part, to her participation in the Freshmen Learning Community program.

“It was effective,” said Allen. “I feel as if I had the opportunity to continue the program throughout the rest of my college career, I would have.”

Bonds created in the program lead to success. Her performance is not outside the norm, as many students who go through the program become prepared to succeed and graduate with their bachelor’s degree. The bonds created during the program between students may contribute to the high retention rate, or number of students who stay in college, among those who are enrolled in the learning communities program compared the general student population.

“Even if they did not make straight A’s, they are still all here,” said Allen. “I noticed that a lot of the students that I started off with in college are not here. The people in my group came from a smorgasbord of backgrounds. We had cowboys, cheerleaders, baseball players, everything, and they are all still students at Sam Houston State University.”

More information, and to apply, please visit http://www.shsu.edu/dept/fye/FLC/flc-programs/criminal-justice.html

Gang members are twice as likely to become both a victim and an offender of a crime than non-gang members, as single acts of violence often lead to retribution between gangs as a whole, according to a new study.

Dr. David Pyrooz“In other words, gang members are not distinctly offenders or victims; instead, gang membership is a common source of both forms of violence,” said Dr. David Pyrooz, an Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice and principal author of the study. “Today’s criminal offender is tomorrow’s victim, and today’s victim is quite likely to be tomorrow’s criminal offender.”

The study, co-authored by Drs. Richard K. Moule Jr. and Scott H. Decker of Arizona State University, found that gang membership is a large risk factor for becoming both a victim and an offender. Gangs widen the pool for its members to be involved in both sides of crime through a shared history of collective identity; unconventional ways to earn status in a gang; involvement in criminal activity and norms of retaliation; and shared liability for being affiliated with a gang.

“Violence begets violence,” said Dr. Pyrooz. “The motto, ‘we are all in this together,’ extends to offending and victimization."

The study was based on interviews with 621 youth and young adults from five cities, including Cleveland, OH; Fresno, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Phoenix, AZ; and St. Louis, MO. It was funded in part by Google Ideas, a think/do tank that explores the role that technology can play in tackling human challenges, such as violent extremism, illicit networks and fragile states.

While criminology research has found a common overlap between victims and offenders involved with crime, gang members do not fit traditional theories. One generally accepted theory focuses on the characteristics of the individual, including such biological or psychological factors as impulsivity, intelligence or risk-seeking, which continually put people in bad situations, leading to crimes or victimization. The second theory emphasizes a “contagion” between offending and victimization -- that is, engaging in criminal behavior puts someone at risk for victimization, while victimization puts someone at risk for committing a crime.

In contrast, it is the group process that puts gang members at the cross hairs of offending and victimization. At any given time, 2 percent of youth and young adults in the U.S. are in gangs. In major cities, homicide rates for gang members are 100 times higher than that of the general public.

“It is not that gangs aren’t comprised of impulsive youth who live high-risk lifestyles, but that gangs are equipped with a collection of group processes and ‘manpower’ that better facilitate trading places as victim and offender,” Dr Pyrooz said.

To address this issue, Dr. Pyrooz and his colleagues suggest several strategies that focus on both victims and offenders. For example, in Ceasefire Chicago, the program uses former gang members as “violence interrupters” to identify and intervene in gang-related conflicts to prevent retaliatory shootings. Law enforcement strategies that target all members of the gang, instead of an individual’s behavior, also have proven effective. Interventions should not just target the triggerman and his accomplices, but also the victim and his accomplices.

The full study, entitled “The Contribution of Gang Membership to the Victim-Offender Overlap” can be found in the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency at http://jrc.sagepub.com/content/51/3/315.full.pdf+html

Law enforcement officers learn how to process shallow graves at STAFS.

Law enforcement officers from throughout Texas got first-hand experience investigating clandestine burials at the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility at Sam Houston State University.

Small bones are retrieved from the burial site.“The Search and Recovery of Clandestine Burials” was a four-day course which provided the background and training needed for police officers to properly process scenes involving human remains buried in shallow graves. The course included representatives from police departments in College Station, Missouri City, and Willis; sheriff offices in Polk and Williamson counties; and a Texas Tech University campus police officer.

“To ensure complete recovery of human skeletal remains and any associated physical evidence from clandestine burials, archaeological methods must be employed,” said Dr. Joan Bytheway, Director of STAFS. “Participants learned and employed these methods and were successful at locating and recovering their skeletons.”

The officers were provided classroom instruction and practical exercises about the human skeleton including sex, age, and stature. They also learned key characteristics in identifying shallow burials and also learned how to differentiate between human and animal bone as well as contemporary skeletal material versus prehistoric or historic remains.

Officers learned to distinguish bones in the human skeleton.To prepare officers for work at a potential clandestine burial scene, the course discussed the effects of taphonomy. Taphonomy is defined as the processes that occur within and to the body after death until the body is recovered, and how those processes can differ from state to state and geographic area to geographic area.

They also worked with the tools of the trade, including ground penetrating radar and metal detectors, which are used to identify possible grave sites or potential evidence in the case. They learned how to properly diagram the scene, using datum points and baselines, and sift through materials at the site for possible evidence or small bones. A lesson in soil geology helped officers understand changes in the site that might indicate the presence of human remains.

A body is discovered using ground penetrating radar.The highlight of the program included the actual recovery of human remains from shallow graves at the STAFS facility. Officers spent a day and a half at the site, utilizing all the skills they learned to develop their case. The event culminated with analysis of the remains and associated evidence and then each group presented their case.

The officers that participated in the program were given Texas Commission on Law Enforcement credits for the training.

Officers gently remove dirt around the body.


STAFS is one of only six willed body donation facilities in the country dedicated to the study of forensic anthropology. In addition to providing research in the field, the program offers training to law enforcement officers and high school teachers on various aspects of crime scene investigation.

This summer, STAFS will offer short course for educators, alumni and students on:

• Advanced Crime Scene Investigation, June 16-20
• Entomology/Digital Forensics, June 16-20
• Criminal Investigations/Courtroom, July 28-31

Skeletal remains provide important clues about the identity of the victim.For more information on upcoming trainings, contact the STAFS facility at (936) 294-4310 or visit the STAFS website at www.cjcenter.org/stafs.

Dr. Solomon Zhao holds his Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington State University.

Twenty-four years after being named an Outstanding Graduate Student at Washington State University (WSU), Jihong Solomon Zhao returned to his alma mater to accept the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.

“It felt very good after 24 years,” said Dr. Zhao. “It’s a recognition of my academic achievements.”

Dr. Solomon ZhaoDr. Zhao did his graduate work at WSU, earning a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice in 1990 and a Ph.D. in Political Science in 1994. While at WSU, he earned that Best Graduate Student Award from the Department of Political Science and was part of the Fulbright Program at the Center for American Studies at Shanghai International Studies University.

After graduation, Dr. Zhao served as Senior Research Analyst for the Bureau of Research at the Ohio Department of Corrections and was a professor at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He joined the faculty of Sam Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice in 2007. Dr. Zhao has authored, co-authored, or edited three books on community policing and contemporary policing issues and published dozens of articles in such refereed journals as Justice Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice, Police Quarterly, and Crime and Delinquency.
Dr. Zhao’s research interests focus on police organization with particular emphasis on organizational change, culture, individual behavior and values, and community policing implementation.

During his award presentation at Washington State University, Dr. Zhao shared his research with students. His guest lecture was entitled “Public Attitudes toward the Police: An Enduring Theme with New Frontiers.”

Over the last 40 years, the issue of public attitudes toward police have been heavily researched. Traditionally, studies have taken three forms: demographic models, police contact/accountability models, and the neighborhood/contextual models. Demographic models examine variables, such as race/ethnicity, age, gender, income, and type of residence, with race consistently being found as the most significant predictor of public attitudes.

In police contact and accountability, studies measure victimization, police contacts experience, fear of crime, and perceptions of disorder and levels of crime in neighborhoods. In neighborhood/contextual models, the studies examine collective efficacy, social integration and the disadvantage index and found that efficacy – that is helping neighbors and the willingness to intervene – is a strong predictor of public attitudes.

Dr. Zhao suggests these studies can be expanded to provide a clearer picture of public attitudes toward police by adding new dimensions, including geo-mapping and culture.

In one study with the Houston Police Department, Dr. Zhao used GPS models to compare public perceptions about police based on crime, census and patrol car tracking data. In another study, Dr. Zhao studies the impact of attitudes toward the criminal justice system by studying confidence in police\e and the courts in different cultures.

The study compared public attitudes in the U.S. (Judaism-Christianity), Turkey (Muslim), and Taiwan (Confucianism). He is also using culture and attachment to predict public attitudes toward police in juveniles in the U.S. and China.

“After 40 years of research, research into public attitudes toward police has made great leaps in the quality of the data collected and the research methods,” said Dr. Zhao. “The new areas that can be studied include dimensionality and the use of geo code data. We also found, with changing technology, studies should include both landline and wireless samples and focus on longitudinal data.”