Research Interests
My research interests are in the areas of public management, policy implementation, public administration, organizational missions and culture, and risk management. I am also interested in e-government and the intersections of communication, technology, public service, policing, and crime prevention.
My dissertation topic evolved as I progressed through the public affairs PhD program at UNLV, but its genesis is embedded in my practical experience with police officers. My dissertation title is “Driving Forces: Factors Affecting Police Officer Deaths and Injuries in Motor Vehicle Incidents.” I recently completed an executive summary for chiefs who responded to my request to participate in the survey, and I am working on a journal article to disseminate results of my research study.
I was honored to have met the well-known criminologist George Kelling, Ph.D., one of the coauthors of broken windows theory, in Las Vegas in 2011 when he spoke to groups of police officers. After hearing Dr. Kelling’s talk, I wrote a paper, “Police Response: Broken Windows, Seat Belts and Traffic Safety,” that I presented at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ (ACJS) annual conference in New York City in March 2012. Joining ACJS led to the submission of a biographical entry about Dr. Kelling for a peer-reviewed academic publication. It will be published in Wiley-Blackwell’s Encyclopedia of Theoretical Criminology in 2013.
I presented a paper titled “Driving Forces: What Police Chiefs Say About Officer-Involved Crashes” in Dallas at the ACJS annual meeting in March 2013. The paper was based on my dissertation topic and analysis of data collected in summer 2012 in a national survey of police chiefs.
In June 2011 I attended the National Institute of Justice Annual Conference in Arlington, VA, specifically to attend a workshop on the topic of police officer fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. I had the opportunity to attend plenary panels and eight different panel sessions on topics related to my research, professional experiences, and my areas of interest.
Eric Holder was one of the luncheon speakers on June 22, 2011 at the conference. Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson announced a new federal website Crime Solutions.gov, which allows researchers and others to find information on public program effectiveness. The website explains that expert reviewers provide ratings (effective, promising, and no effects ) based on “rigorous research” to indicate what works and to what degree services are considered effective.
Updated 5/15/13