Background
Ph.D. Nova Southeastern University
M.S. Florida Atlantic University
B.S. Barry University
Dr. Santos joined the faculty in 2016.
Interests
Dr. Santos is a retired police commander from a large police agency in Florida where
after 22 years worked in, supervised, and commanded every division within the agency.
As such, his interests lie in policing. He assists police agencies and conducts evidence-based
and practice-based research to “translate” research to practice and vice versa. Dr.
Santos focuses on areas of crime reduction approaches and strategies, crime and place,
environmental criminology, police use-of-force, police training, criminal investigations,
organizational change and leadership, police and community partnerships, crime analysis,
and experimental research methodology.
Recent Professional Activities
Dr. Santos co-created a crime reduction approach, called Stratified Policing, that
provides the means for a police organization to systematize and sustain proactive
crime reduction practices taking “what works” and “making it work” within the police
organization. His book entitled, Stratified Policing: An Organizational Model for
Proactive Crime Reduction and Accountability will be available in late 2020. He is
active in assisting police agencies around the U.S. and internationally in organizational
change, evaluation, and sustainability processes for institutionalizing proactive
crime reduction strategies, problem solving, and accountability. In addition, he has
conducted a quasi-experiment and random controlled trial (RCT) testing police response
in, what he has coined as, “micro-time hot spots.” This work has resulted in recent
grant funding, several peer-reviewed journal articles, and a police guidebook. Dr.
Santos was inducted into George Mason University’s Evidence-Based Policing Hall of
Fame for leading rigorous research and the implementation of evidence-based practices
into day-to-day police operations. Dr. Santos recently completed work with the Office
of Community-Oriented Policing Services to publish a guidebook to assist police supervisors
to implement and carry out community-oriented policing. Dr. Santos is currently the
co-PI for three federal grants that include partnerships with over 20 police departments
and criminal justice agencies to develop an organizational framework for institutionalizing
community policing; to implement an innovative technology and proactive offender-focused
strategies; and to create a model for proactive police response to prevent domestic
violence and increase victim safety.
