21CP is the preeminent team of forward-thinking thought leaders on public safety.

Partners

Charles H. Ramsey

Charles H. Ramsey was appointed Police Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department on January 7, 2008, by Mayor Michael A. Nutter. He retired in January 2016 after serving eight years as Commissioner and leading the fourth largest police department in the nation with over 6,600 sworn members and 830 civilian members.

Commissioner Ramsey has been at the forefront of developing innovative policing strategies and leading organizational change for the past 35 years. He brings over fifty years of knowledge, experience, and service in advancing the law enforcement profession in three different major city police departments, beginning with Chicago, then Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. He is an internationally recognized practitioner and educator in his field and is a Past President of both the Police Executive Research Forum and the Major Cities Chiefs Association. He is the only law enforcement professional to have served as President of both prominent organizations at the same time and to receive the Leadership Award from 3 major law enforcement organizations; the FBI National Executive Institute, Police Executive Research Forum, and the Major Cities Chiefs Association. In December 2014, following several high-profile incidents involving police use of force, President Barack Obama chose Commissioner Ramsey to serve as co-chair of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. He is currently a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law, an advisor to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and is a Founding Partner in the consulting firm 21st Century Policing Solutions, LLC.

Commissioner Ramsey served as the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, District of Columbia (MPDC), from April 21, 1998, to January 1, 2007. During his tenure he oversaw and participated in numerous high-profile investigations and events in Washington DC, including the 9/11Terrorist Attacks, 2001 Anthrax Attacks, 2002 DC Sniper Investigation, and the 2001 and 2005 Presidential Inaugurations.

Commissioner Ramsey holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI National Executive Institute and the Executive Leadership Program at the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security. In December 2015, the Philadelphia Police Department Training Academy Auditorium was named in his honor, and The United States Congress approved a U.S. Postage Stamp bearing his likeness.

Kathleen O'Toole

Kathleen O’Toole is the former Chief of Police of the Seattle Police Department and former Commissioner of the Boston Police Department. She has held several executive positions in the public and private sectors and is widely recognized for her principled leadership and successful reform efforts in North America and Europe.

As a law school student, Kathleen accepted a position as patrol officer with the Boston Police Department and quickly rose through the ranks. She served as Chief of the Metropolitan District Commission Police in Boston, Lieutenant Colonel overseeing Special Operations in the Massachusetts State Police, Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety, Boston Police Commissioner and Seattle Chief of Police. She also served as Chief Inspector of the Garda Síochána, the Irish national police service. She was a member of the Independent Commission on Policing during the Northern Ireland Peace Process, the Commission on the Future of Policing in England and Wales, and recently chaired the Commission on the Future of Policing in the Republic of Ireland. She has also performed services as a subject-matter expert for the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and was appointed as Monitor to oversee a federally supervised consent decree in East Haven, Connecticut. She was an advisor to the Illinois AG’s Office during the development of a settlement agreement between the City of Chicago and the State, and now serves as a member of the monitoring team overseeing the project. She also serves as a member of the monitoring team in Baltimore.

Kathleen’s public safety experience extends well beyond policing. When serving as Secretary of Public Safety in Massachusetts, she was responsible for twenty agencies, boards and commissions. In addition to the Massachusetts State Police, those agencies included the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Fire Services, the Department of Correction and the Registry of Motor Vehicles. She chaired the Boston Fire Department Review Commission and was a member of a four-member panel that developed the framework for reform of the Northern Ireland Prison Service. She has overseen and directed planning, operations, and recovery for hundreds of major events and natural disasters.

Kathleen has substantial private sector experience as well. As a practicing attorney, she has represented clients on civil matters and acted “of counsel” to a Boston law firm. She once served as a corporate security manager at Digital Equipment Corporation and had global responsibility for executive protection, crisis management and threats of violence in the workplace. Kathleen has also provided a diverse range of consulting services to several multi-national corporations based in North America and Europe.

In the academic arena, Kathleen has conducted and published research in the areas of organization science, law and criminal justice. She served as an adjunct faculty member at Northeastern University, University of Ulster and Seattle University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Boston College, a Juris Doctor from New England School of Law, and a PhD from the Business School of Trinity College Dublin.

Roberto Villaseñor

Roberto Villaseñor served with the Tucson Police Department for over 35 years, and served from May 2009 until his retirement in December 2015 as the Chief of the Department. He served in every division and bureau of the Department, to include Patrol, Investigations, Internal Affairs, Bike Patrol, PIO, Hostage Negotiations, Community Policing, Administration and Communications. As an Assistant Chief for 9 years, he commanded all four bureaus of the Department, and served as the Union Liaison involved in discipline grievances and labor negotiations. His career history and assignments have given him a thorough understanding of all facets of policing and police management.

Villaseñor served on several state and national boards and committees, to include the Arizona HIDTA (Chairman), The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police (President), the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) Executive Board, the FBI CJIS/UCR Working Group, and currently sits on the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Ethics and Integrity Advisory Panel. In 2014 Chief Villaseñor was appointed by President Obama to the President’s National Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and in 2015 was appointed by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to the Arizona Criminal Justice Council.

Chief Villaseñor has a B.S. degree from Park University and a M.Ed. from Northern Arizona University. He attended the PERF Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP), University of California at Long Beach Leadership Development Series, the FBI National Academy, and the FBI National Executives Institute (NEI). Throughout his career, in addition to numerous Commendations and Letters of Appreciation, he received the Department’s Medal of Distinguished Service, three Medals of Merit, and was Officer of the Year for 1996. In 2015 The Tucson Branch of the NAACP presented him an award for “Pursuing Liberty in the Face of Injustice,” and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber named him as the 2015 Arizona Public Servant of the Year.

Matthew Barge

Matthew Barge is a police practices and civil rights expert with 18 years of experience working with law enforcement agencies, city governments, and communities on public safety challenges. He currently leads work on outcome assessments and compliance reviews for the federal monitoring team overseeing the consent decree involving the Baltimore Police Department. From 2015 through 2019, he served as the federal court-appointed Monitor overseeing a federal consent decree involving the Cleveland Division of Police. He has also been a member of the monitoring team in Seattle from 2013 through 2018 and 2020 to the present.

In his work with 21CP Solutions, Mr. Barge has provided expertise and counsel to the California Department of Justice, New York Attorney General’s Office, and Minnesota Department of Human Rights on investigations and oversight of police practices. He has conducted voluntary, comprehensive assessments of police departments for numerous communities including Aurora, Colorado; Raleigh, North, Carolina; South Bend, Indiana; and Tacoma, Washington. He has also assisted universities and colleges, from Harvard University and Yale University to the University of Oregon and University of Southern California, in addressing community safety issues.

Mr. Barge has been a Senior Policing Fellow with the Policing Project at N.Y.U. School of Law since 2017. In that capacity, he has served as a member of the design team on an initiative focused on re-imagining the delivery of public safety services; helped to design a tool to help police departments assess their performance and operations; and worked to implement a Neighborhood Police Initiative promoting community problem-solving approaches at the Chicago Police Department.

A lawyer, Mr. Barge previously worked as a litigator specializing in complex, multi-district litigation at the law firms of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan in New York City. He is a graduate of N.Y.U. School of Law and Georgetown University.

Nola Joyce

Nola M. Joyce, Partner and Principal Consultant for 21CP Solutions, LLC, is a nationally recognized policing expert. She also served as Deputy Commissioner for the Philadelphia Police Department and held executive positions in the Washington, D.C., and Chicago Police Departments. She spearheaded significant organizational change efforts in these demanding public safety agencies, demonstrating exceptional ability to drive transformation.

Her achievements and recognition in policing and public safety are extensive and diverse. She served on several prestigious advisory boards, including the American Law Institute’s project Principles of the Law: Policing, and the National Science Academy’s Panel on Modernizing the Nation’s Criminal Statistics. Her expertise is widely recognized, as evidenced by her role on the International Association of Police Chiefs (IACP) Research Advisory Committee, the Police Executive Research Forum’s (PERF) Research Council, and as a Senior Executive Fellow of the National Institute of Policing. She received the Gary P. Hayes Award from PERF and the Award of Research Excellence from IACP, further validating her significant contributions to the field.

Ms. Joyce is driven by a deep passion for helping agencies reach new heights of performance and service. Her advanced degrees in sociology, public policy, homeland security, and diverse experiences bring unique and valuable perspectives to her work. This combination of passion and expertise allows her to find innovative solutions to complex issues.

Sean M. Smoot

Sean Smoot is the Managing Partner of 21CP Solutions. He is a member of the Baltimore and Cleveland Police Departments federal consent decree monitoring teams. He is the Director of the Police Benevolent & Protective Association of Illinois and the Police Benevolent Labor Committee.

Mr. Smoot serves as the Area 4 Vice-President of the National Association of Police Organizations (“NAPO”), a national law enforcement advocacy group representing over 250,000 police officers. He has served on the Advisory Committee for the National Law Enforcement Officers' Rights Center in Washington, D.C. since 1996. Mr. Smoot serves on the Advisory Committee at the Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Public Sector Labor Relations Law Program. Since 2015, he has served on the Illinois Commission on Police Professionalism. In 2020, Mr. Smoot was appointed to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) and currently serves as the Board Chairman. He previously served on ILETSB’s Use of Force Advisory Committee, Police Pursuit Advisory Committee, Racial Profiling Advisory Committee, and the Task Force on Police Integrity.

A nationally recognized subject matter expert regarding police related topics such as, Public Employment Labor Law, Pension & Benefits Law, Section 1983 Civil Rights Litigation, and Police Use of Force; he has written several articles for police publications and newsletters and speaks regularly at state, national, and international forums regarding community policing, public safety, and public employee labor issues. Mr. Smoot was a member of President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. He served as a police and public safety policy advisor to the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Teams.  Mr. Smoot served as the Police Commissioner for ten years and as an elected Alderman for twelve years in the City of Leland Grove, Illinois.

Mr. Smoot holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Sciences from Illinois State University and his Juris Doctor degree from the Southern Illinois University School of Law. Mr. Smoot was a Member of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University from 2008 to 2014.

Senior Advisors

Hassan Aden

Chief Aden is the former Chief of Police of the Greenville Police Department in Greenville, North Carolina. Until late 2015, he was the Director of the Research and Programs Directorate of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), where he directly oversaw the day-to-day management of operational programs and research projects aimed at advancing professional police services.

Chief Aden served 26 years at the Alexandria Police Department in Alexandria, Virginia, rising to the rank of Deputy Chief prior to his retirement and appointment as Chief of Police in Greenville. Aden currently serves as the deputy monitor in the federal consent decree in Baltimore, the associate monitor in the Chicago state consent decree and the Independent Police Monitor for the Santa Barbara (CA) Police Department. He previously served as the monitor in the Cleveland federal consent decree and deputy monitor in the Seattle federal consent decree. Aden also works with the U.S. Department of Justice (COPS and BJA) providing technical assistance in areas such as violence reduction, internal accountability and community policing in cities that include Louisville, Kentucky, Dearborn Heights, Michigan, North Miami, Florida and others.

Aden is a former commissioner of the governing board of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and has served as a Senior Executive Fellow at the National Policing Institute (formerly The National Police Foundation). Aden is an active member of the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ). Among other academic credentials, he holds a Master of Public Administration from American University in Washington, DC.

Christine Cole

Christine Cole is a subject matter expert in public safety, improving police performance, and community engagement. For decades, Ms. Cole worked across local, regional and state levels of government in policing, institutional and community-based corrections, victim advocacy, community organizing, and emergency response planning as well as working as part of a prosecution team. She has contributed to research and writing about police organizations, leadership, oversight and the organization of first responders to mass casualty and active shooter events.

Christine previously served as the executive director of the Crime and Justice Institute at CRJ, a national non-profit working on justice and safety reform. She ran the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at Harvard Kennedy School and served as chief of staff at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety where she led and monitored policy and operational reform efforts throughout 14 state agencies and 22 commissions. Christine holds a MPA from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, MA in community psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and BA from Boston College.

Robin Engel

Robin S. Engel, Ph.D. is a Research Scientist at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, following over 25 years in academic positions at the University of Cincinnati and the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Engel has spent her career generating and testing evidence-based police practices, transforming police agencies through reform efforts, and reducing crime and violence in our most vulnerable communities. As an award-winning researcher, she has partnered with dozens of police agencies and communities in the US and internationally, served as Principal Investigator for over 100 funded research studies and projects totaling over $32M in external funding, and ranked among the top academics nationally in criminal justice/criminology based on publications in prestigious peer-reviewed journals. From 2015 – 2019, she served as Vice President for Safety and Reform at the University of Cincinnati, where her executive duties included oversight of daily operations and successful implementation of comprehensive police reforms in the aftermath of a fatal police shooting of an unarmed motorist.

Dr. Engel’s work in violence reduction partnerships has been honored with the 2008 IACP/Motorola Webber Seavey Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement, the 2009 IACP/West Award for Excellence in Criminal Investigations, and the 2008 National Criminal Justice Association’s Outstanding Criminal Justice Program Award. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University at Albany in 2017, and the 2022 O.W. Wilson Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Dr. Engel also serves as a four-time governor-appointed member of the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, former Co-chair of the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Research Advisory Committee, and consultant on police training for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

Maggie Goodrich

Maggie Goodrich retired in March 2017 as Chief Information Officer for Public Safety for the City of Los Angeles – a role with responsibility for the Los Angeles Fire Department as well as the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) – following a career as an attorney and technology expert. As CIO for the LAPD for seven years, Ms. Goodrich was responsible for all LAPD technology, procurement, contracts, and grant funding. Prior to becoming CIO, she was a Commanding Officer responsible for the development and implementation of all LAPD Training Evaluation and Management Systems (TEAMS II), which included, among others, the early intervention, complaint management and use of force systems. In this role, she worked closely with the DOJ and court-appointed monitor to ensure the city’s compliance with a federal consent decree.

Previously, Ms. Goodrich served in the Office of the Mayor as a Policy Director for Homeland Security and Public Safety and held legal and technology positions in the public and private sector. Ms. Goodrich is an attorney with expertise in public safety grant funding (private, State and Federal), local government procurement, and IT contract negotiations. Ms. Goodrich currently serves as a consultant to the University of Chicago Crime Lab and is on the Baltimore and Newark police department federal monitorships . She regularly conducts technology assessments of law enforcement agencies across the country and serves as a technology advisor to a number of technology vendors. Ms. Goodrich received her Bachelor’s Degree from Chapman University, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Ms. Goodrich received her J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

Michael Harrison

Commissioner Michael Harrison has 33 years of policing experience across multiple major-city police departments. Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader and proponent of constitutional, community-based policing, he most recently led the Baltimore Police Department as its 41st Commissioner, from 2019 to 2023. In that capacity, he successfully advanced reform under a federal consent decree and forged new approaches for fostering relationships with local residents faced with endemic violence.

Prior to Baltimore, Commissioner Harrison served the New Orleans Police Department for nearly three decades, serving as Superintendent from 2014 through 2018.

He also served as the President of the Police Executive Research Forum from 2021 through 2023.  

Scott Thomson

Mr. Thomson has a distinguished record of public service with more than 27 years of law enforcement experience, most recently for 11 years as the Chief of Police of the Camden County Police Department, where he oversaw a police department of more than 600 sworn and civilian employees. Mr. Thomson holds an M.A. in Education from Seton Hall University and a B.A. in Sociology from Rutgers University.

In 2013, Mr. Thomson pioneered an innovative strategy that significantly transformed the public safety profile of the city of Camden, NJ, a city that was perennially labelled as the “Nation’s Most Dangerous City.” He created a new police department that was responsible for achieving unprecedented reductions in crime, culminating in a 50-year low in 2018. To achieve this, Mr. Thomson developed unique strategies, harnessed technologies, and bolstered an organizational culture that led to the President of the United States in 2015 recognizing his department as a model for 21st Century Policing.

Mr. Thomson has served on numerous boards and committees of leading institutions including the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the United States Attorney General Global Advisory Committee, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and was a founding member of the Harvard University Law Enforcement Summit Executive Leadership Group. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, School of Administrative Science.

From 2015 to 2019, Mr. Thomson was the elected President of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington DC policing think-tank which represents more than 3000 international law enforcement executives.

Darrel W. Stephens

Darrel Stephens has served over 40 years as a police officer and executive. He is most recently retired as the Chief of Police for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, where he served from 1999 to 2008. Prior to his service in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, he served as Chief of Police and City Administrator for the City of St. Petersburg, Florida (1992 – 1999), Executive Director of the Police Executive Research Forum (1986 – 1992), Chief of Police for Newport News, Virginia (1983- 1986), Chief of Police for Largo, Florida (1979 – 1983), Assistant Chief of Police for Lawrence Kansas (1976 – 1979) and rose through the ranks from officer to commander in the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department from 1968 to 1976.

Perhaps best known for advancing innovative approaches to policing, Stephens has earned a national reputation as a leader in law enforcement. The Major Cities Chiefs Association elected Stephens vice- president in 2005 and president in 2007. He was also awarded the ACJS O.W. Wilson Award (1996) and the prestigious Police Executive Research Forum’s Leadership Award (2005). He was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and has served on both the Harvard University Executive Session for Policing, Domestic Terrorism, and Community Policing as well as a graduate of the Senior State and Local Government Executives program. He holds an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Central Missouri State University, where he also earned a M.S. in Public Services Administration (1977). Chief Stephens is now with a member of the Faculty of the Public Safety Leadership Program at Johns Hopkins University in the School of Education.

James L. Whalen

James L. Whalen retired after a 40-year active law enforcement career in 2022, last serving as the Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police at the University of Cincinnati. Mr. Whalen joined the University of Cincinnati after retiring from the Cincinnati Police Department in September of 2015, where he served for nearly 30 years. Mr. Whalen made his way through the ranks and was appointed an Assistant Police Chief for the City of Cincinnati in June 2005. Mr. Whalen played a significant role in the development of the Collaborative Agreement as well as the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Justice and the Cincinnati Police Department and was charged with implementing many of the reforms derived from those historic documents. Mr. Whalen joined the University of Cincinnati at a time of great turmoil and played a significant role in implementing and maintaining reform measures there as well. Mr. Whalen holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement from the University of Cincinnati and a Juris Doctorate degree at Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. In 2013, Mr. Whalen was inducted into the Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame at George Mason University.

Associate Consultants & Affiliates

Brenda J. Bond

Brenda J. Bond-Fortier, PhD is Professor of Public Administration in the Institute for Public Service at Suffolk University. Dr. Bond-Fortier specializes in organizational change in criminal justice, systematic and collaborative approaches to organizational and community challenges, and the development, implementation, and evaluation of public safety policies and practices. Her book, Organizational Change in an Urban Police Department: Innovating to Reform (2020) analyzes changes in policy, practice and community relationships to understand innovation and organizational transformation in policing.  She has conducted research across the United States, published her work in prestigious journals, and been cited in major media outlets. Bond-Fortier is a nationally respected and recognized policing scholar who is valued by practitioners and policymakers for her participation and contributions to police practice and management. She serves as a Subject Matter Expert for the US Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance Strategies for Policing Innovation initiative, and is a Senior Research Fellow for the National Police Foundation. She previously served as a Research Associate at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government Program in Criminal Justice Policy & Management, as Research Advisor for the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, and as Director of Research and Development at the Lowell, Massachusetts Police Department.

Dr. Bond-Fortier received a PhD and MA in Social Policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, a Master of Arts in Community Social Psychology and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Jennifer Cherkauskas

Jennifer Cherkauskas is a policing scholar with experience partnering with dozens of state, local, and university police agencies on research, evaluation, and technical assistance projects. She has over two decades of project management experience, leading multi-year, state-wide research projects and multi-agency projects.

In her role as a Director at the National Policing Institute, she provided executive oversight to a portfolio of over a dozen projects funded by federal, state, local, and philanthropic organizations.

Dr. Cherkauskas’ areas of expertise include police training, organizational change, and officer behavior. She holds a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.

Maurice Classen

Maurice Classen has spent two decades in government and philanthropic positions in various leadership roles across multiple jurisdictions.  Mr. Classen served for over two years as Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Chicago, where he had principal management responsibility for day-to-day city operations, including throughout the COVID-19 global pandemic. In addition to managing the successful development and passage of budgets that resulted in the largest investments in violence reduction programming in Chicago, Mr. Clasen was also the primary drafter of the City’s police oversight legislation.

Previously, Mr. Classen served as Director of Strategy at the Chicago Police Department (CPD), where he built a 25-person team of data analysts, auditors and project managers focused on reform mandates created by the CPD’s consent decree with the Illinois Attorney General. In that role, he drafted a Department-wide Strategic Plan and created a system of accountability for tracking and analyzing reform and strategy efforts. His team was also responsible for the creation of Chicago’s data dashboards, an initiative that posted—for the first time in the city’s history—on the department’s website real time data on use of force, hate crimes, and community trust.

Before entering service to the City of Chicago, Mr. Classen served for five years as a program officer at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, with grantmaking focused on community policing, procedural justice, violence reduction, police oversight and city accountability issues. Mr. Classen began his career in Seattle as criminal prosecutor in King County (Seattle), Washington. He served for six years as a guest lecturer in evidence and trial advocacy at the University of Washington School of Law and was appointed the Assistant Director of Trial Advocacy in 2010. Mr. Classen holds a B.S. from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and earned his J.D. at the University of Washington School of Law. 

Jessica Drake

With over 20 years of experience in volunteer and program management, community outreach, and project development cultivated at some of Baltimore’s most challenging housing, education, and healthcare nonprofits, Jessica Drake has made an immediate and long-felt impact on each organization she touches. As Vice President of Program Management and Development at Strategic Applications International (SAI), Mrs. Drake provided facilitation and support services for President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. While primarily engaged in logistics coordination, there were also opportunities to offer writing and editing support during the production of the final recommendations, report, and implementation guide. The grants she has monitored on behalf of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) at the Department of Justice (DOJ), including the recent Law Enforcement Officers Mental Health and Wellness Case Studies that were presented to Congress during the 2019 legislative session, have produced comprehensive literature on officer safety and wellness (OSW). An expert in nationally-recognized best practices in OSW, in the past, Mrs. Drake has been called upon by the COPS Office to host a series of forums titled, Emerging Issues in Policing. These forums brought together the foremost experts in law enforcement with the most forward-thinking officers and ranking officials the nation’s departments had to offer, to address the challenges and tout the successes of police, city officials, and the communities they all are called to serve.

Previously, Mrs. Drake was the Director of Community Outreach and Volunteerism at the Living Classrooms Foundation in Baltimore’s historic Fells Point area. She was the School & Youth Coordinator for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Maryland, and as the Advocacy and Youth Engagement Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake, she regularly led teams of teenage volunteers into the neighborhood of Pigtown & Eastern Baltimore.

Terry Gainer

Terry Gainer served 47 years in law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels. He has nearly 50 years of national and international law enforcement experience. He began his career in law enforcement with the Chicago Police Department in 1968, spending years as a homicide detective and after law school, became that agency's Chief Legal Officer. In 1998, he was named Executive Assistant Chief of the Metropolitan Police in Washington, D.C., responsible for all operations and from 2002 to 2006, he became Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police. Four years later, he was appointed as the 38th U.S. Senate Sergeant-At-Arms, the Senate's chief law enforcement and administrative officer. He has been a Director of Mace Security International Inc. since July 14, 2015.

He previously served as a Director of the Illinois State Police from 1991 to 1998. He began his law enforcement career as a police officer in the Chicago Police Department, where he rose through the ranks to homicide detective and then sergeant before, ultimately, being appointed chief legal counsel for the department. After 20 years with the Chicago Police Department, he served as the director of the Illinois State Police from 1991 to 1998. A native of Chicago, he is a decorated veteran who served in Vietnam and retired as a Captain in the United States Navy Reserve. He is the past commissioner of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), a board member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and member of the Police Executive Research Forum. Mr. Gainer received his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Saint Benedict’s College, a Master of Science and a Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University.

Emily Gunston

Emily Gunston, Associate Consultant at 21CP, is a police practices expert and civil rights lawyer with more than 20 years of experience working with law enforcement, cities, and communities on constitutional policing. This includes an extensive background in investigations regarding public safety. Most recently, she was the First Assistant Attorney General at the Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia.

Previously, she was a Deputy Chief of the Special Litigation Unit within the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, where she led and supervised numerous police investigations and settlements involving major-city police agencies. Ms. Gunston began her career as a Public Defender at the Contra Costa County Office of the Public Defender and is a graduate of the UC–Berkeley School of Law.

Eve Gushes

Eve Gushes is the former Deputy Chief for the Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform for the Chicago Police Department, where she oversaw and led all personnel assigned to the CPD reform effort and initiatives relating to compliance with a state consent decree. In her 32 years with CPD, Ms. Gushes developed and implemented the CPD’s first–ever Force Review Unit to increase citizen and police officer safety to reduce exposure to civil liability. She also coordinated cooperation among Bureaus in the CPD to ensure reform efforts were understood and looked upon as a Department-wide strategy.  

Ms. Gushes currently serves as a Compliance Officer and Community Liaison with the Portland Police Bureau in support of a Settlement Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.  She also serves as a Strategic Site Liaison within the Department of Justice's National Public Safety Partnership Program to assist the Albuquerque Police Department in implementing strategic violence reduction initiatives.  Ms. Gushes earned a D.Ed. and a Master of Science in Training and Development from Loyala University of Chicago.  She holds a B.S. from DePaul University in Chicago.

Ganesha Martin

Ganesha Martin is a criminal justice and police reform expert with substantial experience in local government and community engagement. A lawyer, Ms. Martin served as the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) for the City of Baltimore. She has overseen collaborative criminal justice efforts that included the Baltimore Police Department, Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office, Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention, Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office, the judiciary and several community groups.

Ms. Martin led the federal court-ordered Consent Decree reform efforts at the Baltimore Police Department from 2015 – 2018. As Chief of the Department of Justice Compliance, Accountability & External Affairs Division, Martin collaborated with DOJ Civil Rights Division attorneys during a patterns or practice investigation that ultimately led to a Consent Decree. Ms. Martin holds a J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law and a B.A. from Baylor University.

Marvin “Ben” Haiman

Mr. Marvin “Ben” Haiman is the Executive Director of the Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Virginia and a Visiting Fellow at Rutgers University. A respected leader in public safety, Mr. Haiman consults nationally and internationally on law enforcement policy, recruitment, training, and technology. Previously, he served as Chief of Staff for the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, D.C., overseeing key units, including Communications, General Counsel, Equity and People, and Professional Development. He led the MPD’s Professional Development Bureau from 2017 to 2021, where he advanced recruiting, training, testing, and HR operations, following several roles related to technology and policy.

Mr. Haiman’s extensive background also includes directing the Homeland Security Advisory Council at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he developed critical task forces on national security issues. He holds a master’s degree in management from Johns Hopkins University, bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Iowa, along with additional certifications in strategic management and public administration. He is a graduate of the Metropolitan Police Academy in Washington DC. Recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police as a 40 Under 40 honoree, Mr. Haiman has also earned the prestigious Gary P. Hayes Award from the Police Executive Research Forum. He resides in Washington, D.C., with his family and serves as a reserve officer with the MPD.

Tracey Meares

Tracey Meares is a professor of law at Yale University. Professor Meares has worked extensively with the federal government, having served on the Committee on Law and Justice, a National Research Council Standing Committee of the National Academy of Sciences from 2004–2011.

Additionally, she has served on two National Research Council Review Committees: one to review research on police policy and practices, which produced the book, Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence (2004, Skogan and Frydl, eds.) and another to review the National Institute of Justice, Strengthening the National Institute of Justice, (2010, Welford, Chemers and Schuck, eds). In November of 2010, Meares was named by Attorney General Eric Holder to sit on the Department of Justice’s newlycreated Science Advisory Board.

Kevin Morison

Kevin Morison has spent more than four decades working in the criminal justice system at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as in the private non-profit sector. Mr. Morison started his career at the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, a state planning and research agency, where he served as Public Information Officer and publications editor. He subsequently served in leadership positions at both the Chicago Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of Washington, DC. In Chicago, he was part of the team that developed the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS), the police department’s innovative philosophy of community policing and problem solving. He also served as Director of News Affairs and chief spokesperson for the department. Mr. Morison has also served as Director of Communications for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Assistant Sergeant at Arms for the United States Senate, and Chief Program Officer for the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). Mr. Morison holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Tom Ogden

Tom served as the Chief of Police at Carnegie Mellon University from 2008 until his retirement in 2022. In 2007, Carnegie Mellon became the first university police agency accredited in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Chief Ogden began his career as a police officer for the Borough of Carnegie in 1979. He then served with the Mt. Lebanon Police Department from 1980 until 2008. He held all five ranking positions in that agency and served as Chief for 10 years.

Chief Ogden worked as an accreditation assessment team leader for 18 years and as a senior member of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Accreditation Commission. He is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State Police Academy and the 181st Session of the FBI National Academy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Point Park University and a graduate degree in public policy from the University of Pittsburgh.

Erin Pilnyak

Erin Lang Choi Pilnyak has served in a variety of public sector positions relating to policing and public safety. Ms. Pilnyak began her career at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (DANY), where she spent 10 years and was a member of the Sex Crimes and Crime Strategies Unit among other units. After DANY, she served as the Deputy Director of Crime Strategies at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) where she oversaw all criminal justice strategies in New York City and devised and implemented criminal justice reform initiatives for the City. Ms. Pilnyaksubsequently joined the NYPD where she held the two-star position of Assistant Deputy Commissioner at the Risk Management Bureau. In this capacity, she focused on developing policies and programs aimed at guiding the NYPD in implementing mandated reforms. Additionally, she managed the day-to-day operations of the approximately 200-person Risk Management Bureau.

Ms. Pilnyak transitioned from her role at the NYPD to become the Chief Operating Officer at IntegrAssure. Concurrently, she served as the Deputy Consent Decree Monitor for the City of Aurora (CO) and as the Deputy Independent Police Auditor for the Cities of Petaluma and San Leandro (CA). She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Cornell University School of Law.

Laurie Robinson

Laurie Robinson is the Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University, a position she has held since 2012. She served as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) in the U.S. Department of Justice from 2009 to 2012. From 1993 to 2000, she served her first term as the Assistant Attorney General for OJP.

Ms. Robinson is a Senior Fellow at the George Mason University Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, and serves as co-chair of the Research Advisory Committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Vera Institute of Justice. Ms. Robinson received a B.A. from Brown University.