Dr. Jeremy Wilson Receives ASC Division of Policing Distinguished Scholar Award

September 16, 2024

Dr. Jeremy Wilson, Professor in the School of Criminal Justice, has received the 2024 Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology (ASC) Division of Policing in recognition of his dedication and contributions to the field of policing.

The ASC Division of Policing reserves its Distinguished Scholar award for researchers who have made significant contributions to the field of policing that have significantly impacted the trajectory of policing research and have an extensive publication record consisting of books and scholarly journal articles that are regarded among fellow researchers.

“I am truly honored that my work would even be considered for such a prestigious award,” Dr. Wilson remarked, adding “It will serve as a constant reminder to me of the mentorship I received, the kind of mentor I want to be, the graciousness of my law enforcement partners, and the importance of conducting research that helps to make the world a better place.”

Dr. Wilson’s contributions to the field of policing began as a graduate student at Ohio State University. His dissertation research focused on community policing, and his findings greatly increased understanding of community policing implementation. This research resulted in the publication of Dr. Wilson’s first book Community Policing in America in 2006.

Dr. Wilson’s national reputation as a policing scholar continued to grow while serving as a Behavioral Research Scientist for the RAND Corporation. His work at RAND helped improve police practice and the adoption of evidence-based policing practices.

As a researcher at Michigan State University, Dr. Wilson once again expanded the field of policing’s understanding of law enforcement when he founded the MSU Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (A-CAPP) and the Program on Police Consolidation and Shared Services (PCASS). During his time as Director of the A-CAPP Center, he helped shape the field’s understanding of counterfeit items as a recognized law enforcement challenge. Similarly, as PCASS Director he helped law enforcement navigate thorny issues around merging and sharing public safety services, helping to illustrate structures and factors associated with success and failure.

In addition to improving policing researchers’ understanding of community policing, counterfeiting, and consolidation, Dr. Wilson has expanded the field’s understanding of police staffing challenges. Dr. Wilson’s commitment to understanding police staffing led to his founding of the Center on Quality Policing and Police Recruitment and Retention Clearinghouse at RAND, but also more recently the Police Staffing Observatory at MSU. Dr. Wilson and the Observatory’s members conduct groundbreaking research on the challenges related to recruitment and retention and develop evidence-based practices for addressing these and related workforce challenges.

Dr. Wilson’s contributions to the field of policing go beyond expanding the field’s understanding of these different focuses. Drawing from his more than $14M of sponsored research, he also has an impressive publication record consisting of over fifty peer-reviewed articles, thirteen books and monographs, over fifty technical reports and book chapters, and numerous reports and policy briefs. However, one of his greatest contributions to the field of policing is through his mentorship of the next generation of policing scholars.

Congratulations, Dr. Wilson. This award is well deserved!

 

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Dr. Jeremy M. Wilson is a Professor of the School of Criminal Justice and Founding Director of the Police Staffing Observatory at Michigan State University (MSU), where he also founded and directed the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection and the Program on Police Consolidation and Shared Services. Prior to joining MSU, Dr. Wilson was a Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he led the development of the Center on Quality Policing and the Police Recruitment and Retention Clearinghouse. He has held a wide variety of appointments and honorary titles at prestigious institutions around the world, and has served as an instructor for numerous law enforcement, brand protection, and supply chain training programs.

As a scholar, educator, advisor, and consultant, Dr. Wilson has collaborated with police agencies, communities, task forces, multinational corporations, professional associations, governments, and other public and private entities throughout the U.S. and the world on many complex public safety problems, and he has led over $14M of projects sponsored by the U.S. Congress, various units of the U.S. Departments of Justice and Interior, community and institutional foundations, local governments, police departments, professional associations, and companies. Among other areas, he has written over 175 publications for practitioners and scholars on police staffing and personnel planning, organizational consolidation, resource allocation, performance assessment and ROI, community policing, brand protection, product counterfeiting, field interventions for violence prevention, data and measurement, empirical modeling and evaluation. He serves on the International Association of Chiefs of Police Research Advisory Committee and on the editorial board of the Journal of Economic Criminology. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Police Executive Research Forum, American Society of Evidence-Based Policing, Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, American Society of Criminology and Academy of Criminal Justice Science.

For his contributions to police research and practice, he was named a Distinguished Scholar by the American Society of Criminology Division on Policing, and the Police Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences honored him with the O.W. Wilson Award. He won the Outstanding Book Award from the American Society of Criminology Division on White Collar and Corporate Crime for his book, Brand Protection and the Global Risk of Product Counterfeits: A Total Business Solution Approach. Additionally, the MSU Innovation Center recognized him with the Corporate Connector Award for his extensive partnership building with industry, for his contributions to police research and practice. He has received additional leadership, research, service, and supervisory awards by the American Society of Criminology, RAND Corporation, The Ohio State University, Indiana University, Michigan State University, Johnson & Johnson, Underwriters Laboratories, and the City of Lansing.