Dr. Nicholas Corsaro is the Director of Research with the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy. He is also an Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. His research focuses on the role of the police in crime prevention with a particular emphasis on the use of strategies, tactics, and organizational policies.  He has served as a principal investigator for a number of projects across various urban police agencies, and has worked to develop rigorous evidence regarding the most viable, effective, and efficient practices that police have used to address serious crime problems. His research has been published in Crime and Delinquency, Criminology and Public Policy, Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Experimental Criminology, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Justice Quarterly, as well as evaluation and public health journal outlets. He received his doctorate from the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University.

Dr. Robin S. Engel is Vice President for Safety and Reform, and Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati (UC). She also serves as Director of the IACP / UC Center for Police Research and Policy. In addition to her administrative duties at UC, where she oversees the daily operations and reform efforts of the Department of Public Safety, including the University of Cincinnati Police Division (UCPD), Dr. Engel engages in research and evaluation in the field of criminal justice. Her work includes establishing academic-practitioner partnerships and promoting best practices in policing, with expertise in empirical assessments of police behavior, police-minority relations, police supervision and management, criminal justice policies, criminal gangs, and crime reduction strategies. She has served as the Principal Investigator for over 70 research contracts and grants, and has provided statistical and policy consulting for international, state, and municipal law enforcement agencies. For the last several years, she has been ranked among the top academics, and the number one female academic in the field of criminal justice/criminology. Her work on violence reduction in the City of Cincinnati resulted in several prestigious team awards including the 2008 IACP / Motorola Webber Seavey Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement, the 2009 IACP/ West Award for Excellence in Criminal Investigations, and the 2008 National Criminal Justice Association’s Outstanding Criminal Justice Program Award. In spring 2017, she was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

As Director of the Center, Dr. Engel engages a team of nationally renowned policing scholars, former police executives, and dedicated police researchers working together to conduct cutting-edge research and share findings with law enforcement leaders around the world. Her team translates science into everyday practice and provides a path for law enforcement and researchers to work together on evidence-based research studies that will drive future practices and policies that are effective, efficient, and equitable.

Erin Vermilye is the Director of the Member Engagement & Leadership Services team at the IACP. Ms. Vermilye has a broad wealth of association experience working on law enforcement issues. Her responsibilities include oversight of the Law Enforcement Policy Center, which identifies leading practices and provides sound guidance to law enforcement agencies in an effort to assist them in the development of their own policies; the Member Engagement team, which works directly with the various divisions, committees, and sections to develop the policy priorities of the Association; Professional Services including Management Studies, Executive Searches, Assessment Centers and Testing; Training programs including Leadership in Police Organizations, Women’s Leadership Institute, First-Line Leadership, and topically driven international training programs; IACP Net, which helps law enforcement leaders make informed, data-driven decisions through intuitive online resources, tools, and e-libraries; and, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)/University of Cincinnati (UC) Center for Police Research and Policy, which engages in rigorous research that has practical implications for the field.

Dr. John Eck earned his Ph.D. in criminology from the University of Maryland in 1994. Prior to that, he had worked on police reform for 17 years as Research Director of the Police Executive Research Forum. He is known for his work on investigations management, problem-oriented policing, and preventing crime at high crime places. Dr. Eck focuses on developing practical solutions to crime problems based on sound research and rigorous theory. In addition to publishing many academic papers, he has created numerous guides for police and others interested in preventing crime.  In 2001 he assisted the Federal Court in negotiating a suit alleging racial discrimination in police enforcement practices. The result was the Cincinnati Collaborative Agreement. In 2016, Dr. Eck was presented with the Collaborative Agreement Award for helping negotiate that agreement and his subsequent work to sustain it. Dr. Eck was a member of the National Academy of Sciences panel on police research and policy. He teaches courses on police effectiveness and preventing crime at places. He is the recipient of the 2016 Ronald V. Clarke Award presented by the Environmental Criminology and Crime Analysis network.

Dr. Jessica Huff is a Research Associate for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy. Her research interests revolve around evaluating police programs and policies in order to improve police effectiveness and the equitable administration of justice. She graduated with her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Arizona State University in 2020. In her dissertation, she examined the impact of body-worn cameras on police use of discretion in different types of neighborhoods. She has worked on several research projects with police agencies in Arizona and Northern Nevada, including randomized-controlled trials of body-worn cameras and an intelligence approach to gun violence.

Gabrielle T. Isaza is a Research Associate for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy as well as a doctoral candidate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She graduated from the University of San Diego in 2011 with a double major in Psychology and Sociology and earned her M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati in 2012. Her areas of research include police effectiveness; survey design; and evaluations of police training programs, including de-escalation and implicit bias. More generally, Gabrielle is interested in fostering the practice of police-academic partnerships.

Hannah D. McManus is a Research Associate for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy and a doctoral candidate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She graduated from the University of Alabama with a B.A in Criminal Justice and Spanish in 2009 and earned an M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati in 2014. Currently, Hannah participates in research and evaluation in the criminal justice field, with a specific focus on police practice. Her recent work has focused on the examination of police-community relations and the implementation and evaluation of training for police officers, including de-escalation, crisis response, and officer wellness programs.

Ryan T. Motz is a Research Associate for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy and a doctoral candidate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. He graduated from Boise State University with a B.S. in Criminal Justice in 2014 and earned an M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati in 2015. Ryan’s research tends to focus on exploring the causes and consequences of antisocial behavior and involvement with the justice system and has been published in outlets such as Criminology, Developmental Psychology, Criminal Justice and Behavior, and Journal of Crime and Justice. With the Center, Ryan is currently interested in police use of force and violence reduction strategies.

Dr. Murat Ozer is the Research Director of the University of Cincinnati’s Institute of Crime Science (ICS). He received his Ph.D. from School of Criminal Justice at University of Cincinnati in 2010. Dr. Ozer has extensive experience in working with criminal justice data. Throughout his career, he has managed big data sources from law enforcement agencies to generate predictive data analytics for various public health problems such as gun violence, gang related crimes, and street violence. Dr. Ozer has extensive experience in social network analysis, database management, statistical analyses, machine learning, and advance computer programming with various languages. Dr. Ozer’s current research interests include using data analytics and visualizations to prevent gun violence and opioid overdoses.

Ashley Sandburg is a Program Director for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy. Previously, she worked for the University of Cincinnati Institute of Crime Science.  She graduated in 2009 from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in Art History and in 2018, she earned her M.A. in Professional Writing.

Amanda M. Shoulberg is a Graduate Research Assistant for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy. She graduated in 2012 from Truman State University with a double major in justice systems and psychology and graduated from Xavier University in 2015 with a M.A. in psychology. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in criminal justice with a concentration in policing at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include police effectiveness, police use of force, and police engagement with individuals with behavioral health issues.

Megan Stoltz is the Program Manager for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy. Her role includes coordination of the Research Center as well as management of the IACP Law Enforcement Policy Center, which aims to provide evidence-based policy guidelines to law enforcement agencies worldwide. She is also a doctoral candidate; her dissertation focuses on the decisions officers make during their interactions with individuals with mental health disorders. 

Dr. John Paul Wright is a researcher with IACP/UC Center for Police and Policy. He is also Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati where he has spent the last 20 years studying criminal behavior. His work has focused on the development of criminal conduct over the life-course, trajectories of criminal offending, and more recently, on policies and practices to effectively control, deter, or incapacitate criminal offenders. Dr. Wright has published hundreds of scientific articles across a range of academic disciplines, several books, and has given hundreds of presentations. Dr. Wright is a Fellow at the Pegasus Institute where he conducts research on effective policy for the state of Kentucky, is a member of the European Research Council, and he holds a Research Professorship at King Abdullaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where he conducted the first delinquency survey in the Kingdom.

Murat Yildirim is a Research Associate for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy and a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. He graduated from National Police Academy of Turkey in 1997 with a B.A. and earned his Master of Science in Forensic Science from University of Ankara, Ankara - Turkey in 2002. He worked as senior police officer and taught classes and courses at National Police Academy of Turkey between 1997 and 2011. He also worked for United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) between 2002 and 2003. His research interests include border security and management, immigration, crime concentration (hotspots), and evaluating crime prevention efforts in policing agencies. His work includes crime mapping, analyzing, and the visualization of crime data.

Dr. Jennifer Calnon Cherkauskas is a Research Consultant for the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy and the University of Cincinnati Department of Public Safety. She has collaborated with Dr. Robin Engel on a number of traffic stop data analysis projects for agencies including the Pennsylvania State Police, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Nebraska State Patrol, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety, serving as the project manager for the projects in Pennsylvania and Arizona. She currently works as the project manager of the University of Cincinnati Police Division’s voluntary reform agenda and external monitorship. Her research interests include the examination of patrol officers’ behavior and racial/ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system. She has published articles in Justice Quarterly, Journal of Crime and Justice, Police Quarterly, and Policing. She received her doctorate in Crime, Law, and Justice from the Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. John MacDonald is Professor of Criminology and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is also a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. His scholarly research focuses on studying race and ethnic disparities in criminal justice, police use of force, and the effect of public policy responses on crime. In 2012 he received the David N. Kershaw Award from the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. The award honors scholars who under the age of 40 have made a distinguished contribution to the field of public policy analysis and management. He is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Experimental Criminology. He has published more than 70 peer reviewed journal articles on topics ranging from police use of force, racial profiling among police officers, to racial disparities in sentencing. Dr. MacDonald is an expert on empirical methods for policy analysis. He has served as a consultant to numerous law enforcement agencies on issues related to racial profiling, minority trust in the police, and police use of force. He has consulted on these issues with Los Angeles County, CA; Miami Dade County, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dr. Tamara D. Madensen-Herold is Graduate Director and Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her research interests include crime opportunity structures, place management, and crowd dynamics and violence. Her publications propose, extend, or test crime science theoretical models. They also help translate research findings into practice and policy. Her work has appeared in various outlets, including Criminology and Justice Quarterly. She has published numerous practitioner-focused research papers, including two Problem-Oriented Policing Guides funded by the COPS Office and a research monograph selected as a Herman Goldstein Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing Award finalist. Her book, Preventing Crowd Violence, has been translated into two foreign languages. She provides consultation services to police, private security agencies, and national training organizations. Dr. Madensen-Herold also serves as a lead reviewer for the Assistant Attorney General’s Office: Evidence Assessment of Justice Programs/Practices, Silver State Law Enforcement Academy instructor, and International Association of Crime Analysts subject-matter expert. At UNLV, Dr. Madensen has received the CSUN Faculty Excellence Award, and College of Urban Affairs and University Spanos Distinguished Teaching Awards.

Dr. Sarah J. McLean is the Associate Director and the Director of Research and Technical Assistance at the John Finn Institute. She holds a Ph.D. in criminal justice from the University at Albany, with a specialization in policy and process. At the Institute she designs and manages evaluative research on criminal justice strategies and interventions, such as gun interdiction patrols, wireless video surveillance, truancy abatement programs, and chronic offender initiatives. Dr. McLean has formal training in qualitative techniques and extensive experience in engaging in qualitative research and analysis. Her research has been supported by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and state and local agencies.  She is the co-author (with Rob Worden) of Mirage of Police Reform: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy. 

Dr. Michael R. Smith is Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice at The University of Texas at San Antonio. He holds a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law and Ph.D. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University. Dr. Smith is a criminologist and a former municipal and county police officer.  He has served as a principal investigator on many extramural grants and research contracts over his 20-year career as a police scholar and criminal justice researcher. With funding from the National Institute of Justice, he led the most comprehensive investigation to date on the use of force by police and injuries to officers and citizens. He is a nationally-recognized expert on racial profiling and led or contributed to large-scale traffic or pedestrian stop data analysis efforts in San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami-Dade County, Richmond, Virginia, and with state highway patrol agencies in Washington and Arizona.  Most recently, he served as a senior research lead to the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Office-led police collaborative reform initiative. He has also served as a statistical and methodological consultant to the Special Litigation Section of the USDOJ and pioneered methodologies to help inform courts, communities and law enforcement agencies about disparities in police stop practices.  He has written extensively on these and other critical issues at the intersection of law, public policy, and policing. His most recent publications have appeared in Criminal Justice Policy Review, Justice Quarterly, Criminology & Public Policy, and Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management.

Dr. Rob Tillyer is the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies & Research in the College of Public Policy and an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His research interests include decision-making within the criminal justice system, situational factors associated with crime, victimology, and crime prevention. Recent journal articles have appeared in Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, Justice Quarterly, Criminal Justice & Behavior, and Crime & Delinquency. He has also received funding from federal, state, and local governments to oversee several criminal justice related research projects. 

Dr. Robert E. Worden is the Director of the John Finn Institute, and an Associate Professor of criminal justice at the University at Albany, State University of New York, on whose faculty he has served since 1990. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with specializations in public administration and public policy. Dr. Worden has conducted basic research on the forces that shape police decision-making and behavior, and applied research on police strategies, programs, and reforms. His scholarship has appeared in a number of academic journals, and his research has been funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, and a number of local governments. In 2000, he was appointed to serve on the National Research Council’s Committee to Review Research on Police Policies and Practices, whose report, Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence, was published by the National Academies Press in 2004. He is the co-author (with Sarah McLean) of Mirage of Police Reform: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy.

Jonathan Brooks is a law enforcement professional with over 20 years of experience. He currently oversees the Operations of the Tulsa Police Department including all patrol and support. Brooks has served in various capacities of the Tulsa Police Department including Traffic, Street Crimes, Disaster Response, Internal Affairs, Public Information and SWAT Commander. He was also appointed to serve as the City of Tulsa's Interim Chief Information and Technology Officer. Brooks has championed innovation in the Tulsa Police Department including comprehensive 21st Century Community Policing and Mental Health response. Brooks obtained his Bachelor of Science from Oklahoma State University.

Maris M. Herold is the Police Chief at the University of Cincinnati. She began serving as Police Chief with the University of Cincinnati after retiring from the Cincinnati Police Department.  Her primary focus at UC is police reform, including training and problem-solving.

Chief Herold began her career in social work, serving as a sexual assault investigator and as a psychiatric intake worker in a juvenile mental health facility. She transitioned from social work in 1993 and joined the Cincinnati Police Department. Chief Herold held numerous positions within the Cincinnati Police Department, including the Professional Standards Section, Training Section, Community Relations Section, and Crime Analysis and Problem Solving Unit. She also served as the District 4 Operations Commander, which serves 10 diverse neighborhoods. Throughout her tenure, her primary focus was community collaboration and problem solving.

Chief Herold holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police in Boston, and Cincinnati’s Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Leadership Course. Chief Herold has received numerous awards for her work in problem solving, community collaboration, and police reform. Most recently, she received the 2016 Collaborative Agreement Award from members of the Cincinnati Collaborative Agreement.

James L. Whalen is the Director of Public Safety at the University of Cincinnati. Mr. Whalen began his career with UC after retiring from the Cincinnati Police Department in September of 2015, where he served for nearly 30 years. Whalen began his career in law enforcement with the Metropolitan-Dade County Police Department in Miami, Florida, staying there for three years before returning to his hometown and joining the Cincinnati Police Department in 1986. Whalen made his way through the ranks and was appointed as an Assistant Police Chief for the City of Cincinnati in June 2005. In ten years as an Assistant Police Chief, Mr. Whalen commanded the Patrol Bureau, Investigations Bureau and Support Bureau. Whalen was also serving as the SWAT Commander of the Cincinnati Police Department at the time of his retirement. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement at the University of Cincinnati and a Juris Doctorate degree at Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Certified Law Enforcement Executive Officer course administered by the Ohio Law Enforcement Foundation, and the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police in Boston. In 2013, Mr. Whalen was inducted into the Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame at George Mason University.