Criminal Justice Professor Wins Outstanding Service Award

Michael Jenkins, Ph.D.'06, professor and chair of The University of Scranton's Department of Criminal Justice, Cybersecurity and Sociology, received the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences 2024 Police Section Outstanding Service. The annual award honors an individual who has provided significant service to the Police Section of the academy.

The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences is an international association with 2,000 members that was established in 1963 to foster professional and scholarly activities in the field of criminal justice.

Dr. Jenkins's service to the Police Section of the academy includes a tenure as editor of the Police Forum, where he led conversations to explore the development of a peer review Police Section publication and expanded readership and contributions of the publication. Dr. Jenkins has also served on the Police Section awards committee, and, in 2016, presented the late Dr. George Kelling with the O.W Wilson Award on behalf of the section.

Dr. Jenkins said that his "favorite contribution" to the Police Section has been mentoring "students and junior colleagues from a variety of academic backgrounds and institutions."

A 2006 graduate of The University of Scranton, Dr. Jenkins has worked at the University since 2013. He is the founding executive director of the University's Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Crime. He received the University's 2017 Excellence in Scholarly Publication Award, which is presented to faculty members who have attained distinction in scholarship or creative activity. Also in 2017, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study with the London Metropolitan Police and the University College London. In addition to published research articles in academic journals, his books include "Police Leaders in the New Community Problem Solving Era" and "Policing the World: The Practice of International and Transnational Policing (2nd edition)."

Dr. Jenkins has written editorials and has been quoted in numerous news articles on diverse topics related to criminal justice that were published in national and international outlets, such as The New York Times, BBC, The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post and The Philadelphia Inquirer, in addition to multiple local news outlets.

In addition to his bachelor's degree from Scranton, Dr. Jenkins earned his master's degree and doctorate from the State University of New Jersey, Rutgers.