As we start the new year, I want to express my appreciation to our alumni whose involvement in the life of the College during 2008 helped launch our current alumni outreach program. Thank you for attending activities such as our Alumni Open Houses, Reunion, Alumni & Family Night; for serving as speakers, volunteers or recruiters at the student development events such as the Brown Bag Lunches, Family and Parent Day Panels, Law Day, Student Orientations, College Open Houses and Career Fairs; and for giving generously to the Endowed Alumni Scholarship Program and to the Scholars Circle. The John Jay alumni outreach program could not have been launched and would not have been successful without your personal involvement and support.

For excellent work "on stage" and "behind the scenes" as speakers, coordinators, and greeters, I am deeply grateful to the following current and former alumni employees of the College: Heather Berridge-Manning BS'95; Yvette Brickhouse BA'07; Janice Carrington MPA'00, Kinya Chandler BA'95; Glenn Corbett BA'82, MA; Isabelle Curro BS'84; Peter Dodenhoff BA'73; Dan Dolan MPA'99; Rima Douglas MS'07; Anila Duro BA'05, Farris Forsythe MPA'79, Rulisa Galloway-Perry BA'98; Al Gotay BS'71; Nikki Hancock-Nicholson BA'96, Terrence Harris AS'91, BA'92, MPA'95; Kevin James BA'01, JD; Zay LaFleur John BA'02; Ynes Leon MS'06; Michael Liddie BA'91, JD; Jennifer Lorenzo BS'07; Jean Louis BA'05; Vincent Maiorino MA'05, Emmanuella Mathurin BS'03; Gerard (Gerry) McCarty MPA'97; Shavonne McKiever BS'01; Melinda Molina BS'98, JD; Bettina Muenster BA/MA'06; Mayra Nieves BS'87; Irene O'Donnell BA'87; Arnold Osansky BS'82; Sandra Palleja BS '82; Maribel Perez BA'87; Katarzyna (Katie) Pszeniczna BA'06; Yvonne Purdie MPA'98; Rafael Quiles BA'02; Thomas Ridges BA'95; Kymberli Roberts BA'06, JD; Michael Scaduto BS'04; Premwati Sukhan BA'84; Juan (Johnny) Taveras BA'90; Robin Taylor-Dzul BA/MA'03; Barbara Wala BA'03; Declan Walsh BA/MA'96; Janet Winter BS'80, MPA; and Paul Wyatt MPA '85. Finally, two departing College employees deserve special mention. I extend warmest congratulations on their distinguished careers and best wishes in retirement to Darryl Westcott-Marshall MA'94 and Brian Murphy MPA'96.

For guiding the Alumni Association through an ambitious agenda in 2008, a special word of thanks is owed to the event hosts, interviewers, coordinators, and "scribe": Commissioner Thomas Belfiore BA'79, MA'96 (Treasurer, Scholarship Committee); James Brito BS'05 (Staten Island); Daniel Cabrera BS'87, MPA'93 (Washington, DC); Suzanne Chiofolo BA'00 (Scholarship Committee, Queens/Nassau/Suffolk); Teri Coaxum BA'93 (Brooklyn); Larry Cunningham BS'97, JD (Bronx, Historian); Richard Gallo BA '79, MPA '82, MA'85 (1st Vice President); Tom Kurtz BA'07 (Staten Island Yankees); Michael McCann BS'74, JD (Alumni Board President) Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey BA '75 (Nassau/ Queens/ Suffolk ), Marie Rosen BA'82 (Alumni News); Chief Ron Spadafora BS'86 (Scholarship Committee, FDNY Coordinator); and Commissioner Frank Straub MA'90, PhD (Westchester).

To all, your commitment of time, talent, and resources is testimony to the loyalty of our alumni. Your work and generous gifts have laid the foundation for the future and set the stage for an emerging group of alumni volunteers and donors. In 2009, alumni leadership teams in California, New York, New Jersey, and Washington, DC will assist in promoting open houses and the Alumni Reunion, and a second Endowed Alumni Scholarship will be awarded. As we expand our network, increase attendance, and strengthen the alumni presence; 2009 promises to be even more exciting than 2008. Best wishes to all John Jay alumni for a safe, healthy, and successful new year.

                          Jerylle Kemp, Director of Alumni Relations

President Travis Proposes a New National Office of Justice Research
In an open letter to the American Society of Criminology, President Jeremy Travis proposed the creation of a new Office of Justice Research within the U.S. Department of Justice. "The core rationale for this proposal is that the current systems in place to support research, statistics and technology are outmoded, under-resourced and insufficiently responsive to the needs of practitioners and policy makers. Our process for setting a research agenda on crime in America has been substantially compromised by the placement of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) with the Office of Justice Programs (OJP)," said Travis. He noted that the present programmatic and scientific functions at NIJ "reflects a preponderance of small research projects conducted by large numbers of principal investigators, rather than long-term scientific inquiries into critical crime issues carried out by a consortium of researchers." He proposed the removal of NIJ and BJS from the Office of Justice Programs, and the creation of a new Office of Justice Research, headed by an Assistant Attorney General, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The holder of this position, he said, "should be a scientist of national reputation, with significant experience conducting and overseeing research in this field." Travis, who served as Director of the National Institute of Justice from 1994 to 2000, hopes the letter will "generate a lively debate within the justice policy and academic community on how best to structure the nation's research and statistical program in the criminal justice arena." To read the full text of the letter, click here.

Cincinnati PD Wins Award with Prof. Kennedy's Crime Fighting Strategies
The Cincinnati, Ohio Police Department recently won the 2008 Webber Seavey Award from the International Association of Chiefs of Police for the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV). Designed by Professor David Kennedy, Director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control, the CIRV reduced gang-involved violence in Cincinnati by 38% last year. This marks the fifth time that Professor Kennedy's crime reduction strategies have garnered national acclaim. In 1999, the Boston Police Department won a Webber Seavey Award for Operation Ceasefire. Based on Kennedy's strategies, Operation Ceasefire also won the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in 1997, and the Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing in 1998. In 2007, the drug market elimination strategy he designed for the High Point, North Carolina Police Department also won the Innovations in American Government Award. The strategy identifies violent groups and incorporates a concentrated collaborative effort by a number of law enforcement agencies, social service providers, and community activists who put violent offenders on notice that the community will no longer tolerate violence. Offenders can avail themselves of social services and job training or experience the full weight of the criminal justice system that could deny plea bargains and revoke parole and probation.

Jared Kean McIntyre, a doctoral student in the John Jay/CUNY Graduate Center program in clinical forensic psychology, received a Recognition of Scholarship Award at the 7th annual Latino Trendsetter Awards and Scholarship Gala held in November at the United Nations. He currently works at Bronx TASC (Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime), conducting evaluations for the Alternatives to Incarceration program. His research interest focuses on understanding the developmental pathways to criminal behavior.