Sofia Brabham
Sofia holds a bachelor’s of Science and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of North Texas. Her academic interests are law enforcement training and 911 emergency communications stress. Sofia hopes to use her PhD to pursue research and teaching at the university level. She is currently the Lead Trainer for Tarrant County 9-1-1 District. As the Lead Trainer she helps to provide training for about 700 emergency dispatchers throughout Tarrant County.
Mark Brown
Mark holds a bachelor’s degree from Dallas Baptist University, Master’s degree from UT Tyler in communication and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Tarleton State University. His research interests include tactical medicine, use of force, cybercrime, media influence in perceptions of police conduct and civil rights issues. After graduation, Mark plans to teach criminal justice related topics, provide advanced training for law enforcement and assist police agencies with data analysis to better serve their constituents. With over 20 years in law enforcement, Mark currently serves as Commander of a federal tactical team, over-seeing special operations in high risk environments.
Susan Brown Davis
Susan Brown Davis graduated from the University of Texas in Arlington with a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology in 1986 and Master’s Degree in Public Administration in 2006. For the past 25 years she worked in hospital administration consulting while also working in the field of Genetic Genealogy. Since 2019 she has been working with Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement agencies solving Cold Cases through Investigative Forensic Genetic Genealogy. Her expertise and subject matter expert in this field has afforded commendation from many Law Enforcement agencies throughout the United States. Susan is pursuing her PhD in Criminal Justice to explore and research the many facets of DNA collection and use in Law Enforcement and the community. She hopes to further best use practices and standards in the Criminal Justice field with regards to how DNA is handled, preserved and processed, as well as its impact on the Criminal Justice system.
David Dickie
David received his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Hardin-Simmons University and graduated from Indiana State University with a master’s degree in Criminology in 2012. He has more than 20 years of law enforcement experience with the Texas Department of Public Safety. David’s research interests include the future of policing, recruitment practices, and criminological theory. His interests encompass reviewing the policies and laws affecting the police function in today’s society. He plans to combine real-world experience with the knowledge gained from the doctoral program to enter a teaching position and work with policymakers to create a better system of policing through analysis and research.
Reagan Bryant
Reagan graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Texas Wesleyan University and a Master’s of Criminal Justice from University of Texas at Arlington. Reagan is interested in research in the areas of human trafficking, the connections between the criminal justice system and mental health, and the criminal justice system and the education system, and the impacts of hashtag movements on the reporting of crime. Upon graduating with her PhD, she is looking forward to becoming a researcher and consultant. She is currently teaching English and journalism at Benbrook Middle-High School in the Fort Worth ISD. She is also serving on the Campus Employee Relations Committee, the Site Based Decision Making team, and the District Employee Relations Committee, and is the sponsor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Kevin Buchanan
Kevin has been in law enforcement for over 10 years and currently works as a peace officer for the city of Roanoke. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, a master’s degree in Criminology from Texas A&M-Commerce, and holds a Master Peace Officer Certificate from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Kevin is passionate about educating the future of law enforcement and has been involved in the training of police recruits and police officers for the past several years. Upon completing the program, Kevin would like to continue his passion in teaching and contribute to the profession by applying research to shape criminal justice policy.
Christina Camberos
Christina holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from The University of North Texas and a M.S. in Criminal Justice & Criminology from Texas Christian University. Her specific research focus areas are corrections policy reform, LGBTQ prisoner inequalities, and mental health in prison. Upon completion of the Ph.D. program, Christina looks forward to becoming a faculty member at an out of state university to educate scholars, as well as research and consult. She is currently employed as a Fraud Lead Analyst of the Special Investigations Unit at Cigna, where she oversees fraud investigations. Her primary function consists of planning and initiating appropriate course of actions for resolution and restitution of high dollar amounts.
Glennie Burks
Glennie graduated from Western Michigan University and obtained his master’s degree from Texas Woman’s University. He completed fellowships at RAND Corporation and Harvard University. He spent a decade with the Tarrant County Juvenile Probation. In 2003, he returned to the army and completed 30 years of service. He has presented at conferences and given talks on crossover offenders and distressed communities. He has further researched and presented on racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system. Mr. Burks plans to focus his research on the question: “Why are delinquency and crime rates persistent in socially disorganized neighborhoods?”
Christopher Cook
Chris holds a Master of Arts in Criminology & Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master Peace Officer Certificate from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Chris’ research interests include communications, social media, public perception of crime, and critical incident mitigation. He plans to teach fulltime upon graduation and consult for public safety agencies. Chris currently serves as the lieutenant commander overseeing the media relations and strategic communications for the Arlington, Texas Police Department. He was also elected in 2019 and serves as the current Vice President of the National Information Officers Association (NIOA), the largest group of communication professionals in the world.
Kevin Denney
Kevin received his undergraduate in sociology from Texas A&M in 1991. He earned his master’s in criminal justice in 2016 and a second master’s in public administration three years later, both from Tarleton State University. During his PhD program, Kevin plans to focus on evolving issues in law enforcement. While he has enjoyed his career in law enforcement tremendously, with this doctoral degree, he plans to give back to the profession he loves, by positively shaping fundamental changes in police agencies and leaving a legacy for his children and grandchildren. He has been a police chief for five of his 28 years and is currently Chief for the Jarrell Police Department.
Isaiah Fincher
Isaiah received his Bachelor’s degree in 2018 from Butler University in Philosophy, Religion, and Political Science. He received his Masters of Science degree in 2021 from Indiana State University in Criminology and Criminal Justice. His primary research interests are juvenile justice, preventative strategies for at-risk youth, the relationship between mental illness and crime, and racial disparities in mass incarceration. Upon graduating with his PhD, he plan to develop national community-based youth programs and be involved in policy making concerning juveniles and minority communities.
Marquis Fomby
Marquis graduated with Bachelor’s in criminal justice degree from Loyola University New Orleans and Masters of Science degree in management from Troy University. His primary research interests involve police, including community relations, accountability, and social change. Marquis also has an interest in Mental Health and Resiliency among Police Officers. His goals are to teach and to develop national community programs that strengthen the relationship between police and the community. Marquis is a 17-year federal law enforcement professional and Marine Corps veteran.
Amber Fort
Amber received an associate degree from Tarrant County College in spring of 2012 to which she transferred to University of Texas at Arlington where she completed her bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice in 2015. Amber continued her education at Tarleton State University where she obtained her master’s degree in Criminal Justice in 2019. Upon completion of her BA, she began working at Tarrant County CSCD in 2015, where she is still currently employed. Amber has a variety of research interests, but her focus is on the effects of legalization of marijuana on adult probation, expanding the knowledge of probation to young adults and the community. Upon completion of her PhD Amber hopes to become a professor educating others, continuing to obtain knowledge through research, and creating a course with more focus on community supervision in hopes to divert young adults from entering the system.
John Galloway
John received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tarleton State University in criminal justice. He has a wide variety of research interests within policing, public perception of law enforcement, and criminal psychology. Mr. Galloway has been a full-time police officer for over 21 years, with the last six years serving as a detective at Fort Worth Police Department. Upon receipt of his PhD, he plans to retire his badge and transition from practitioner to service in academia. He hopes to contribute research that is a benefit to the social science of criminal justice, as well as teach students who are eager to enter the field.
Marissa Hayes
Marissa received Bachelor of Behavioral Science from Hardin-Simmons University in 2011, double majoring in criminal justice and psychology. She received her MS in criminal justice from the University of North Texas in 2014. Her research interests are in victimology, feminist criminology, violence against women, women in law enforcement, and sexual assault. She is also interested in mental health and the justice system, specifically the courts system and the use of the insanity plea. She is currently working in the Special Investigations Unit for AmTrust North America. She is looking forward to becoming a professor with her PhD, teaching students about all the multi-faceted aspects of criminal justice and hopefully introducing them to new concepts and ways of thinking about the justice system. She also wants to use her research to change the narrative of how sexual assault cases are handled, specifically how sexual assault cases on college campuses are responded to, handled, prosecuted, and sentenced.
Krystal Kaether
Krystal has 10 years of law enforcement experience in Confinement, Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Human Trafficking, and Internal Affairs. She graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Criminal Justice/Criminology, and a Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice/Criminology. She is a TCOLE Instructor, Master Peace Officer, and Sergeant. Her passion is developing others in leadership roles and training law enforcement professionals. She purses a PhD for growth as a leader in her agency and to research leadership skills for law enforcement professionals. She aspires to join academia as a Criminal Justice Professor.
Troy Lawrence
Troy earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Texas Wesleyan University and his master’s degree in digital forensics from Sam Houston State University. After earning his PhD and retiring from the Fort Worth Police Department, Troy plans on teaching graduate students about forensic science and criminal justice at the collegiate level. His research interests include mobile phone forensics, computer forensics, and video forensics. Troy is a 30-plus year veteran of the Fort Worth Police Department and is currently a sergeant assigned to the Digital Forensic Lab.
R. Ryan Rider
Ryan graduated from Texas A&M with a bachelor’s degree in Construction Science, he then received his master’s from Tarleton State University in Criminal Justice. Ryan is interested in expanding on his current research on officers’ perception of new technology on crash reconstructions, as well as furthering research on the forensic investigation of crime scenes by law enforcement, driving while intoxicated offenses, and advancing law enforcement use and deployment of 3D scanner and virtual reality technology. Upon graduating, Rider plans to continue his consulting and research business, teach, and expand on training and application of 3D scanning and virtual reality in law enforcement. R. Ryan Rider is currently the Owner and Operator of Triple “R” Investigations.
Steve Romero
Steve Romero obtained a Master of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2019, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in 1992, and an Associate of Arts from Odessa College in 1990. His research interest is in the use of force by police, hiring practices and representation of minorities on police departments. Once he obtains his PhD Degree, he would like to get hired as a tenure-track professor at a university in their criminal justice department. He would also like to establish a consulting company that specializes in the analysis of police department’s use of force policies and training for deficiencies and provide recommendations to strengthen them.
Richard Savage
Richard graduated in 1999 with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and social work from Lubbock Christian University. He returned to school and graduated from Tarleton in May 2017 with a master’s degree in criminal justice. Richard would like to research cybercrime, school safety and security, and the effects the Sandra Bland Act has on law enforcement within racial profiling data reporting. After graduating with his doctoral degree in criminal justice, Richard hopes to become a consultant and Federal Monitor for Federal Consent Decrees. In 2019, he was temporarily assigned to Uniform Operations as a lieutenant (patrol commander) where he is currently working.
Daisha Sipho
Daisha received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science from Texas Christian University. Her research interests include wrongful convictions, death penalty, and juvenile justice. Upon completing her PhD, she plans to become a criminal justice professor and continue to conduct research/publish.
John Wirt
John graduated from Tarleton State University in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in communication minoring in biology. In 2009 he earned a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Mississippi College. He has advanced training in brief, group, and personal therapies as well as family systems. His research interest center around recidivism among offenders with access to mental health treatment and public perception of law enforcement. Upon graduation John plans to work as a consultant and be involved in policy making concerning the mental health needs of offenders. John currently owns and operates a small business servicing a 5 state territory.