The Fitchburg State University 4 + 1 Police Program: Examining Perceptions of an Academic-Academy Integrated Training Program
The Fitchburg State University 4 + 1 Police Program: Examining Perceptions of an Academic-Academy Integrated Training Program
Katherine P. Hazen Zachary Miner Eileen Kirk Michael McCutcheon Lilian Bobea Katherine P. Hazen, JD, PhD, is an Assistant Research Professor of Criminal Justice and Health Sciences and the Assistant Program Director of the Northeastern University Public Evaluation Lab (NU-PEL) at Northeastern University. She earned her JD/PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Psychology and Law Program in 2018 and 2021, respectively. Her research explores the psychological experience of due process of the law and includes evaluations of criminal justice programs relying on survey, archival record, observational, and interview methodologies and quantitative and qualitative data management, analyses, and reporting.Zachary Miner is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Fitchburg State University. He received his Master’s and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University at Albany. His research interests include the ownership and use of firearms, legal consciousness, and stigma.Eileen Kirk is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and the Undergraduate Criminal Justice Internship Coordinator at Fitchburg State University. She has an M.P.A. from Suffolk University in Boston, and she received her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Northeastern University in 2021. Her research involves the intersection of public policy, social inequality, and communities and crime. Her policy interests include criminal justice policy and housing policy, and more recent research examines police legitimacy and legal cynicism.Michael McCutcheon is an Associate Professor at Fitchburg State University and a former law enforcement officer with 21 years of experience. He serves as the curriculum coordinator for the Massachusetts Police Academy at Fitchburg State University. He has presented at major conferences, including the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the National Science Teachers Association. He is a frequent crime scene analyst on Court TV. Dr. McCutcheon also served as President of the New England Division of the International Association for Identification (NEDIAI). His research focuses on integrating emotional intelligence to address systemic challenges in the criminal justice field.Lilian Bobea is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Fitchburg State University. She holds an MA from Binghamton University, NY, and a Ph.D. from Utrecht University, the Netherlands. She has published extensively in English and Spanish on Police Reform, militarization, civil-military relations, gangs, and organized crime in Latin America. From 2018 to 2021, she was selected to represent the Latin America and the Caribbean regions at the UN Working Group on Mercenaries and PMSC. She is currently researching police militarization, as well as Centralized and Decentralized Police Systems.