Dr. Rachel Boba Santos

PROFESSOR OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Co-Director, Center for police practice, policy and research

INTERESTS

Dr. Santos interests include conducting practice-based research which is implementing and evaluating evidence-based practices in the “real world” of criminal justice. In particular, she seeks to improve crime prevention and crime reduction efforts by police in areas such as crime analysis, problem solving, accountability, as well as leadership and organizational change. She and Dr. Roberto Santos co-created Stratified Policing which is an organizational model for systemizing proactive crime reduction strategies in police departments. Other areas of research include police/researcher partnerships, police/community collaboration, hot spot and problem-oriented policing, predictive policing, environmental criminology, crime and place, police/crime data and technology, experimental research methodology, and program evaluation.

RECENT PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY

Dr. Santos’ recent professional activity includes serving as co-principal investigator for three federal grants working with over 20 police departments and criminal justice agencies to 1) develop a framework for institutionalizing community policing by rank, 2) implement an innovative information sharing technology for offender-focused strategies in the Roanoke Valley, VA, and 3) implement and evaluate a proactive police response to prevent domestic violence and increase victim safety in Danville, VA. She is working with police departments in Virginia, Nevada, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio to improve their community collaboration efforts and implement Stratified Policing. She has completed two experiments partnering with a police agency to test the effectiveness of systematic police response in both short-term and long-term property crime hot spots and works with the Police Executive Research Forum as a crime analysis subject matter expert. She regularly conducts presentations at state and international police and crime analysis conferences, publishes peer-reviewed journal articles and guidebooks for police, as well as writes and administers grant funded research and technical assistance. She has recently co-authored the book, Stratified Policing: An Organizational Model for Proactive Crime Reduction and Accountability. Additional information about Dr. Santos’ research, publications, and other professional activities is available on her curriculum vita.