John Jay College Of Criminal Justice | The City University of New York

   

New York, NY – April 29, 2008 –  John Jay College of Criminal Justice today announced a $175,000 grant from the Dart Foundation to launch the Academy for Critical Incident Analysis (ACIA). The mission of the Academy is to promote and disseminate scholarly research relating to the emergence, management and consequences of critical incidents. ACIA will sponsor research, host conferences and symposiums as well as develop indexed archives of incident records.

According to President Jeremy Travis, “The Academy will advance the College’s and the Dart Foundation’s mutual interests in the prevention and mitigation of trauma, conflict and tragedy and the enhancement of systems for disaster and emergency relief.”

"The Dart Foundation supports centers of excellence, applying skilled scientific study to complex societal problems. We are confident that John Jay College is such a center of excellence, and will, with the leadership of President Jeremy Travis, define and advance the emerging interdisciplinary field of critical incident analysis,” said James D. Lammers, Vice President of the Dart Foundation

A Critical Incident is a relatively brief occurrence involving injury, loss, conflict, discovery or change of significant proportion, usually unscripted and unanticipated, with the potential to alter existing societal norms. Critical incidents are usually traumatic, threatening the bonds of trust that bind communities, and they can have long-term consequences. Examples include school shootings, notorious terrorist incidents, or unanticipated disasters.

“The point of the research is to understand how some of these relatively brief but traumatic events generate consequences far beyond the time and place of the event” explained Professor Ned Benton, the Interim Executive Director of ACIA.

About John Jay College of Criminal Justice: An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 14,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/.

The Dart Foundation is a private family foundation established in 1984 by William A. and Claire T. Dart. Founded in Mason, Michigan, the Dart Foundation continues to be headquartered there. In addition to its support for science-based, ethical journalism programs, the Dart Foundation makes grants toward education (primarily math, science and engineering), youth programs, health, and disaster relief.