PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

Dr. Cynthia Lum is Director and Associate Professor of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University. She researches primarily in the area of policing and security. Her works in this area have included evaluations of policing interventions and police technology, understanding the translation and receptivity of research in evidence-based policing, examining place-based determinates of street-level police decision-making, and assessing security efforts of federal agencies. With Drs. Christopher Koper and Cody Telep she has developed the Evidence-Based Policing Matrix, a translation tool designed for police practitioners to better institutionalize and utilize research on “what works” in policing into their strategic and tactical portfolio.

Dr. Christopher S. Koper is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University and a senior fellow in the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. Dr. Koper holds a Ph.D. in criminology and criminal justice (University of Maryland) and has over 20 years of experiencing conducting criminological research at George Mason, the Police Executive Research Forum, the University of Pennsylvania, the Urban Institute, the RAND Corporation, and the Police Foundation. Dr. Koper specializes in issues related to firearms, policing, and program evaluation. His work includes studies of the 1994 federal assault weapons ban and other policies and practices to reduce gun violence, studies of hot spots policing (including what is often referred to as the “Koper curve” principal of hot spots patrol), the Evidence-Based Policing Matrix, and studies of police technology.

FACULTY RESEARCHERS

Dr. Cody Telep is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. He received his PhD from the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University in 2013. While at George Mason, he worked for five years for CEBCP as a graduate research assistant and research associate. He received an MA from the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland in 2008. His research interests include innovations in policing, experimental criminology, evidence-based policy, and police education. His recent work has appeared in Justice Quarterly, Police Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice Education, and Journal of Experimental Criminology.

Dr. Julie Hibdon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She formerly was a Research Associate in the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy.  She received her Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society from George Mason University in 2011.  She also holds an M.A. in Administration of Justice from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.  Dr. Hibdon’s research interests include crime and place, cognitions of crime places and dangerous places, fear of crime, and policing.  Dr. Hibdon has worked and collaborated on a number of research projects including the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Project; an experimental evaluation of  License Plate Recognition (LPR) Technologies for Law Enforcement; an evaluation of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) strategy to security at airports; and most recently an evaluation of the impact of technologies on police organizations and practices.

Dr. Devon Johnson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University. Her research projects focus on public perceptions of crime and the criminal justice system, police-citizen relations, punitive crime policies, and public opinion toward domestic counter-terrorism policies and practices.  Professor Johnson has received awards for her research from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and the Law and Society Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and she is a recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award at Mason.

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS (current and former)

Dr. Julie Grieco was a doctoral student in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University, and graduated in 2016. She received an MA in Forensic Psychology from Marymount University in 2009. Her research interests include the organizational implementation of evidence-based policy, public opinion of the police, and how police learn to incorporate research into every day tactics. Julie is currently a research associate with the Police Foundation.

Jordan Nichols is a doctoral student in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and a research assistant in the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. Her research interests include homeland security, counter-terrorism and evidence-based policing. Jordan is currently working on policing and security projects within the Center.

Megan Stoltz is a doctoral student in the department and a Presidential Scholar. She received a BA in psychology and a BS in management, both from George Mason University, and a MA in forensic psychology from Marymount University. Megan is currently a Graduate Research Assistant in the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy.

Dr. Heather Vovak was a doctoral student in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University.  She received an MA in Political Science from the University of Akron in 2011. Her research interests include evidence-based policing practices, counter-terrorism, crime and place, and research methods. Heather is currently a post doctoral fellow and research associate in the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy.

Xiaoyun Wu is a doctoral student in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University. She received an MA in Criminology, Law and Society from George Mason University in 2015. Her research interests include evidence-based policing, crime and place, experimental criminology, and law and criminal justice. Xiaoyun is currently a Graduate Research Assistant in the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy.

PRACTITIONER EXPERTS

Chief Jim Bueermann is the President of the Police Foundation, a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting innovation and improvement in policing through its research, technical assistance, training, professional services, and communication programs. As president, Bueermann directs all foundation operations and is a voting member of the board of directors. Chief Bueermann worked for the Redlands Police Department for 33 years, serving in every unit within the department. He was appointed chief of police and director of Housing, Recreation and Senior Services in 1998. He retired in June 2011.

Sgt. Jeffery J. Egge is the supervisor of Crime Analysis for the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). Jeff is a 17 year veteran of the MPD and specializes in homicide, gang crime, and hot spots. He has collaborated on national projects on the use of force, broadband interoperability, immigration, police legitimacy, violent crime prevention, predictive analytics, and translating criminology into police work. He was a Senior Research Fellow at the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and contributed to publications on crime analysis, research and planning, and predictive policing. Jeff has presented at national symposia for PERF, IACA, and the CEBCP. Prior to joining the MPD, he was an Investigations and Training Specialist and Loss Prevention Manager for the Dayton Hudson Corporation (now Target Corp). He holds a Master’s Degree in Police Leadership from the University of St. Thomas and a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management from Concordia University St. Paul.

Sgt. Renée J. Mitchell has worked for the Sacramento Police Department for the last sixteen years and is currently a Police Sergeant in the Court Liaison Unit. She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of California, Davis, a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco, a Master of Business Administration from the California State University, Sacramento and a Juris Doctorate from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, where she was awarded an academic scholarship. She was the 2009/2010 Fulbright Police Research Fellow where she attended the University of Cambridge Police Executive Program and completed research in the area of juvenile gang violence at the London Metropolitan Police Service. She was the principle investigator on a department-led 90 day randomized control trial in Hot Spot policing employing the Koper Curve theory which showed promising results. The study won the 2012 IACP/ Sprint Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Silver Award. She is a Police Foundation Fellow.

Jamie L. Roush is the Crime Analysis Unit Manager for the Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff’s Office (JSO). Ms. Roush is responsible for leading and advancing crime analysis with a team of three Public Safety/Crime Analyst Supervisors and sixteen Public Safety/Crime Analysts. Ms. Roush is a frequent speaker at law enforcement conferences, author of multiple publications and consultant on numerous aspects of crime and intelligence analysis. She is a member of the George Mason University Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame for her commitment to using research and data analysis to improve police operations in Jacksonville. She is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA). Ms. Roush serves on the IACA Mentoring Committee; a committee designed to pair experienced and new analysts to enhance knowledge, skills and abilities. She holds a Master of Science in Social Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from The Florida State University.