Background
Ph.D. Arizona State University
M.A. Arizona State University
B.A. California Lutheran University
Dr. Santos joined the faculty in 2016.
Interests
Dr. Santos interests include conducting practice-based research which is implementing
and evaluating evidence-based practices in the “real world” of criminal justice. In
particular, she seeks to improve crime prevention and crime reduction efforts by police
in areas such as crime analysis, problem solving, accountability, as well as leadership
and organizational change. She and Dr. Roberto Santos co-created Stratified Policing
which is an organizational model for systemizing proactive crime reduction strategies
in police departments. Other areas of research include police/researcher partnerships,
police/community collaboration, hot spot and problem-oriented policing, predictive
policing, environmental criminology, crime and place, police/crime data and technology,
experimental research methodology, and program evaluation.
Recent professional activities
Dr. Santos’ recent professional activity includes serving as co-principal investigator
for three federal grants working with over 20 police departments and criminal justice
agencies to 1) develop a framework for institutionalizing community policing by rank,
2) implement an innovative information sharing technology for offender-focused strategies
in the Roanoke Valley, VA, and 3) implement and evaluate a proactive police response
to prevent domestic violence and increase victim safety in Danville, VA. She is working
with police departments in Virginia, Nevada, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio to
improve their community collaboration efforts and implement Stratified Policing. She
has completed two experiments partnering with a police agency to test the effectiveness
of systematic police response in both short-term and long-term property crime hot
spots and works with the Police Executive Research Forum as a crime analysis subject
matter expert. She regularly conducts presentations at state and international police
and crime analysis conferences, publishes peer-reviewed journal articles and guidebooks
for police, as well as writes and administers grant funded research and technical
assistance. She has recently co-authored the book, Stratified Policing: An Organizational
Model for Proactive Crime Reduction and Accountability.
