EBP Hall of Fame
Frank Gajewski
Inducted June 2011
Nominated by Justin Ready, Arizona State University, David Weisburd, George Mason University, Anthony Braga, Rutgers University, and Lorraine Mazerolle, University of Queensland
Biography:
Frank Gajewski has 30 years experience working with the Jersey City Police Department, starting as a patrol officer in 1972. He advanced through the ranks as a narcotics officer, as a commander of the Planning and Analysis Unit, and retired as Jersey City’s Chief of Police in 2001. While in Jersey City he managed a number of important police research projects (discussed more below) on a range of areas including problem-oriented policing, crime displacement, community policing, and controlling drug markets.
Chief Gajewski has a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from New Jersey City University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Seton Hall University. He was a PhD student at Rutgers University- Newark. He is also a certified law enforcement planner and is a member of Pi Alpha Alpha (the National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration).
Evidence-Based Research and Practice:
Beginning in the early 1990s as Head of the Research and Planning Unit of the department, he initiated a series of partnerships with researchers at Rutgers University and the Police Foundation to advance policing in Jersey City and in the nation more generally. His first effort was to join with David Weisburd and Lorraine Green Mazerolle in the Jersey City Drug Market Analysis Experiment. Later he worked with David Weisburd, Anthony Braga, Lorraine Green Mazerolle and others in developing the Jersey City Problem-Oriented Policing in Violent Crime Hot Spots Experiment. These studies were two of the key research efforts noted by the National Research Council in its endorsement of hot spots policing.
He also worked with Professor Weisburd and others on the Jersey City Displacement and Diffusion Study, which continues to be the only study that was specifically developed to study displacement and diffusion rather than direct crime prevention benefits. Chief Gajewski not only facilitated the application of research in Jersey City, he became an active part of the research efforts there, as recognized by his co-authorship in the Displacement and Diffusion Study.
Contributions to Grants, Publications, and Projects:
- Braga, Anthony A, Lorraine Green, David L. Weisburd and Frank Gajewski. (1994). Police Perception of Street-Level Narcotics Activity: Evaluating Drug Buys as a Research Tool. American Journal of Police, 13: 37-58.
- Weisburd, David and Lorraine Green with Frank Gajewski. (1994). Defining the Street Level Drug Market. In Doris L. MacKenzie and Craig D. Uchida (Eds.) Drugs and the Criminal Justice System: Evaluating Public Policy Initiatives. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
- Braga, Anthony, David Weisburd, Elin Waring, Lorraine Mazerolle, William Spelman and Frank Gajewski. (1999) Problem-Oriented Policing in Violent Crime Places: A Randomized Controlled Experiment.Criminology, 37: 541-580.
- Mazerolle, Lorraine, Justin Ready, William Terrill and Elin Waring. (2000) Problem-Oriented Policing in Public Housing: Using a Mixed Model Approach to Examine Changes in Violent and Drug-Related Crime Problems. Justice Quarterly, 17:129-158.
- Ready, Justin, Lorraine Mazerolle and Elyse J. Revere. (1998) Getting Evicted from Public Housing: An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Eviction Decisions in Six Public Housing Sites. In Crime Prevention Studies, vol .8. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press
- Weisburd, David, Laura Wyckoff, Justin Ready, John Eck, Josh Hinkle and Frank Gajewski. (2006). Does Crime Just Move Around the Corner?: A Controlled Study of Displacement and Diffusion in Two Crime Hot Spots. Criminology, 44: 549-592.
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