Criminal justice

The field of criminology and criminal justice addresses the nature and causes of crime and the administration and impacts of our criminal justice system. The School of Public Affairs faculty are experts in areas such as law enforcement and policing reform, crime data analysis, gender-based violence, victimology, and white-collar crime, and our alumni are represented in organizations across the criminal justice spectrum from federal investigative agencies to community nonprofits. 

 

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Selected media mentions

Below is a selection of articles in which our Criminal Justice faculty and Center on Domestic Violence staff have been featured.

Featured webinar

How can we improve police and community relations?

No issue has more national attention right now than police and community relationships and related racial inequities, after the brutal killings of George Floyd and others by police officers. Massive protests and calls for police reform continue across the nation, even as we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The CU Denver School of Public Affairs hosted a webinar on June 30, delving into the topic of improving police and community relations.

Moderator:

  • Mary Dodge, Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, CU Denver School of Public Affairs

Panelists:

  • Jessie Lee, Executive Consultant, The Kaleidoscope Group; Former Executive Director, The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE)
  • Tanya Settles, CEO, Paradigm Public Affairs and CU Denver School of Public Affairs Alumna
  • Paul Taylor, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, CU Denver School of Public Affairs; Former Colorado law enforcement officer

Faculty OpEd

Featured course

CRJU 3320: Police-Community Relations

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    Arms promotes sensitivity and awareness in Police-Community Relations class

    Sep 11, 2020 by Rebecca Gianarkis
    Lecturer Arthur “Skip” Arms brings to the classroom 34 years of experience serving the Colorado Springs Police Department in roles ranging from Officer to Commander in areas ranging from and community relations to internal investigations. When asked why he teaches, Lecturer Arms easily replies, “It’s my opportunity to give back to the career that gave me so much.” Arms is able to “give back” because the undergraduate core and elective courses he teaches are primarily full of students who aspire to work in some level of law enforcement. This fall 2020, Arms is teaching ‘Police-Community Relations’ in a highly charged socio-political environment.
    Full story

Latest news about criminal justice

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    Center for Community Safety and Resilience Presents Analysis of Decade-long Colorado Crime Data

    Mar 16, 2023 by Toula Wellbrook
    The new Center for Community Safety and Resilience (CCSR), housed at the School of Public Affairs at CU Denver, hosted an event to disseminate the findings of a recently produced report on crime rates in Colorado from 2010 to 2021. The report co-authors are School of Public Affairs faculty Professor and CU Regent Callie Rennison and Dr. Sheila Huss, clinical assistant professor and interim co-director of the CCSR.
    Full story
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    CU Denver’s School of Public Affairs: For 50 Years, a Place to Lead, Solve, and ChangeOpens in a new window

    Feb 28, 2023
    This year, as CU Denver celebrates its own golden anniversary, SPA is also celebrating 50 years of education, research, and outreach that helps cities and communities operate better and more equitably.
    Opens in a new window Full story
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    School of Public Affairs launches re-imagined Center for Community Safety and Resilience

    Feb 17, 2023 by Toula Wellbrook
    The School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver established the new Center for Community Safety and Resilience (CCSR), a collaborative and innovative center whose mission is to advance research-based evidence and practice toward individual and community safety, resilience, and justice through effective programs, practitioner and community education, and public policy advocacy and analysis.
    Full story
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    Online MCJ Program ranked among top 25 program in the nation for online graduate criminal justice for fourth consecutive year

    Jan 24, 2023 by Toula Wellbrook
    The Master of Criminal Justice (MCJ) program at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs is ranked among the top 25 programs in the nation for online graduate criminal justice, for a fourth consecutive year according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Online Master’s in Criminal Justice Programs rankings.
    Full story
  • NVS History Colorado photo by Together Creative Media

    An Interview with SPA Alum Nga Vương-Sandoval, U.S. Refugee Advisory Board Project Manager

    Sep 30, 2022 by Joan Fishburn
    Joan Fishburn, Career Services and Alumni Engagement Manager, recently interviewed Nga Vương-Sandoval (MCJ' 02) to talk about her lifelong commitment to advocating on behalf of refugees, immigrants, and other displaced people here in Colorado and around the world. Nga speaks from experience. As a child, Nga and her family fled their homeland due to the Việt Nam War and became refugees. They were displaced in refugee camps before resettling in the U.S. and were known as "boat people."
    Full story
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    Recollections on Supporting Team Unstoppable

    May 23, 2022 by Maria Limon
    Maria Limon, Rural Technical Assistance Manager and Fostering Youth Leadership Specialist for the Center on Domestic Violence at the CU Denver School of Public Affairs, shares powerful experiences of working with Team Unstoppable, a group of youth leaders at several high schools in Denver for the last year and a half. They are “an unstoppable movement using humanity’s compassion and love to end all forms of violence.”
    Full story
  • Number 20 ranking for the MCJ program for 2022.

    Online MCJ Program Advances to Number 20 in National Ranking

    Jan 25, 2022 by Toula Wellbrook
    The Master of Criminal Justice (MCJ) program at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs has been ranked number 20 in the nation for 2022—advancing four positions from last year—according to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Online Master’s in Criminal Justice Programs rankings. The program ranks second in Colorado, up one position from last year’s rankings.
    Full story
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