John DeCarlo, Ph.D.

John DeCarlo Headshot
Professor
Director, Master's Program in Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice Department
Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences
Education

Ph.D. City University of New York Graduate Center
M.Phil. City University of New York Graduate Center
M.A. John Jay College of Criminal Justice
M.S. Tiffin University

About John

John DeCarlo is a nationally recognized expert in community policing and on perceptions of race in policing. He previously was a member of the Branford Police force for 34 years, including six years as chief

Dr. DeCarloÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s current research focuses on police contagion shooting, looking closely at what causes violence to escalate. He is the co-principal investigator on a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant to study racial profiling.

The co-author of three books and numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, Dr. DeCarloÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s book, Police Leaders in the New Community Problem-Solving Era, examines community policing in Boston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Newark, studying how police leaders successfully implemented community-policing strategies.

His research focuses on police management, police unions, policing methods, and eye witness identification. His published work includes "Perceptual Differences between Police and Citizens Encountering Weapons Focus Effect" in Police Quarterly and "Does Video Recording Alter the Behavior of Police During Interrogation? A Mock Crime-and-Investigation Study" in Law and Human Behavior.

His wide-ranging research interests also include environmental criminology. Exploring the effect of weather and environmental variables on crime, Dr. DeCarlo discovered that many long-held myths on weather and lunar cycles and their impact on crime appear to be untrue.

As police chief in Branford, Dr. DeCarlo was credited with making the department a model of community policing. He works closely with the New Haven Police Department, looking at gang affiliation and differential association, and at ways to thwart gun violence through the collaborative efforts of police, parole, probation, and the larger community.

The founder of the Center for Advanced Policing at the University of New Haven and co-founder of NexGen Solutions, Inc., Dr. DeCarlo was previously the coordinator of the Police Studies program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He received his Ph.D. in criminal justice and a masterÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s degree from the City University of New York Graduate Center. He also earned an M.A. from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and an M.S. from Tiffin University. He currently serves as chair of the police section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Often quoted in the media about police issues, Dr. DeCarlo has been featured on CBS News, NPRÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s All Things Considered, Al Jazeera Television, and in the New Haven Register. A widely sought-after speaker, he participated in Yale UniversityÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s Seminar on Racial Disparity in Criminal Justice and the Vera InstituteÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s conference on Police Change and Legitimacy.

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Selected Publications
  • Book ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ” An Introduction to Police Science ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Kendall Hunt Publishing ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ” (2022)
  • Book ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ” Criminal Justice Management and Leadership ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Cognella Academic Publishing ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ” (2022)
  • Book ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ” Police Science: Key Readings ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Cognella Academic Publishing ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ” (2021)
  • Peer reviewed article ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ” A Comparison of the Eyewitness Accuracy of Police Officers and Civilians - (2020)
  • Peer reviewed article ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ” An Exploratory Study of Police Officers: Low Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ” (2019)
  • Kassin, S., Lawson, V., Kuchuka, J. & DeCarlo, J. (2016). Police reports of mock suspect interrogations: A test of accuracy and perception. Law & Human Behavior, Online First, 1-15.
  • DeCarlo, J., Jenkins, M. (2015). Labor Unions, Management Innovation and Organizational Change in Police Departments. Springer Publishing.
  • Book ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Police Unions and Innovation, With Michael Jenkins, Police Unions ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Springer Publishing ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ (2015)
  • Book Review, September 2015 ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Ghettoside, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Volume XLII, Number 3
  • Book Chapter on Amadou Diallo in African Americans and Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia (2015) Jones-Brown, D and Frazier, B. Greenwood Press, New York
  • Peer reviewed Journal Article ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ FBI Law Enforcement News ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ May, 2014, with Michael Jenkins, A critical Evaluation of Executive Level Police Training ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ US Gov. Printing Office
  • Book ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Police Leaders in the New Community Problem Solving Era. With Michael Jenkins, Innovations in Policing ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Carolina Academic Press ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ (2014)
  • Peer reviewed Journal Article ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Kassin, Lawson, Kuchuka and DeCarlo, (2012), Effects of video cameras on interrogation ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Law and human behavior
  • Peer reviewed Journal Article ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ DeCarlo, J. Sedelmaier, C & Jenkins, M. (2012), Criminal Path Mapping And Its Relationship To Environmental Crime Theories, International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts (IALEIA) Journal, 21, 1
  • Peer reviewed Journal Article - International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ A Phenomenological Examination of Student Self Efficacy in Distance Learning ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ July, 2004
Grants

DeCarlo, J (2015)South Norwalk Against Crime BCJI P1.
DeCarlo, J (2016) NSF ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ“ Racial profiling study NSF LSS.

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In the Media

In the Media

John DeCarlo, professor and director of the MasterÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s Program in Criminal Justice, comments on a police commissioner who has resigned after going into a lockup area to reproach a man accused of trying to drown his twin children, who were just under three years old, in the Long Island Sound.

In the Media

John DeCarlo, professor and director of the MasterÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s Program in Criminal Justice, comments on the number of public service employees working overtime in Southington as shortages continue to be an issue throughout the state.

In the Media

Michael Lawlor, associate professor of criminal justice, and John DeCarlo, professor and director of the MasterÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s Program in Criminal Justice, comment on how police departments can discipline officers. Appeals can be made to an arbitrator panel to overrule the discipline decision.

In the Media

John DeCarlo, professor and director of the MasterÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s Program in Criminal Justice, comments on how George KellingÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s theory, developed in the 1980s, is being used as New York is dealing with serious crime in the subways again.