Meet the LEADS Scholarship Recipients

Lieutenant James Knoblach has served with the Suffolk County Police Department since 2010 and is currently assigned to the Second Precinct Crime Section as the Commanding Officer. In this role, he oversees three investigative units, an Anti-Crime/Gang unit and two Community Support unit teams. In addition to conducting the vast array of investigations, a focus area of this Section is addressing quality of life concerns for the community and Precinct. His previous assignment was in the Office of the Police Commissioner, Strategic Initiatives Bureau. In this prior role, he managed Department-wide initiatives by evaluating policies, programs, and resources to enhance police services provided to the County. Previously, he was also the Commanding officer and founder of the newly formed Behavioral Health Section. His broad law enforcement experiences include tenure in the Office of the Chief of Patrol, as a patrol supervisor, and as a police officer having served both in patrol and in several specialty commands. He has a proven record in utilizing data systems to enhance operational effectiveness. Lieutenant Knoblach has incubated data-focused initiatives in a variety of law enforcement areas. He holds a B.B.A. with a concentration in Finance and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Information Systems Security, both from James Madison University. He is looking forward to working with fellow LEADS scholars to research and improve the use of police data to enhance policing strategies.

Jennifer Hall has served the citizens of Louisville for the past 15 years in multiple roles for the Louisville Metro Police Department. She is currently assigned to the Career Development Unit as well as being the Police Training Officer Coordinator, which is part of the LMPD Training Division. Prior to this assignment, Sergeant Hall was a detective in the Crimes Against Children Unit.

She holds a BS in Criminal Justice from Eastern Kentucky University, a MA in Sociology from the University of Louisville, and a PhD in Applied Sociology from the University of Louisville. Her dissertation was a case study that examined the efficacy of a community policing initiative piloted by LMPD, which focused on the interconnectivity between public perception of law enforcement and the police perception of public opinion. Sergeant Hall has ambitions to pursue research that surrounds police training and curriculum reformation, focusing on new officers and their learning, their ability to communicate effectively, and decision-making skills. With a passion for law enforcement training, Sergeant Hall hopes to have an impact on mindset, officer intervention, and police culture.

Jessica Huff is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on policing and program evaluation. She is specifically interested in using experimental methods to examine police programs and policies intended to improve police effectiveness and fairness. She has partnered with police agencies across the U.S. to evaluate programs including violence reduction strategies, intelligence-led approaches to gun crime investigations, use of force training, and body-worn cameras. She has additionally worked with police agencies to assess and enhance their capacity to identify trends in crime and officer performance. Her work has been funded by the Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. She has published in outlets including Criminology, Criminology & Public Policy, and the Journal of Experimental Criminology. In addition to teaching statistics and policing in an academic setting, she has provided professional training related to crime analysis, crime mapping, and statistics to police practitioners throughout the U.S. and internationally, funded by the United Nations Development Program and the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing.

Deputy Chief Scott Mourtgos has nearly two decades of service with the Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD). He currently oversees the Field Operations Bureau. Deputy Chief Mourtgos has previously served in patrol, narcotics, community intelligence, investigations, professional standards, and training. He also served as the Intelligence Commander for the SLCPD as a Major Cities Chiefs Association member. Deputy Chief Mourtgos holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Weber State University, an M.A. in Forensic Psychology from the University of North Dakota, and is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Political Science Department at the University of Utah. He is also an FBI National Academy graduate. His research interests include public perceptions of use-of-force, investigative techniques in sexual assault cases, and crime deterrence policy. He has published numerous peer-reviewed studies in academic journals, which can be accessed at https://smourtgos.netlify.app/

Lieutenant Victor “Tony” Galladora is a 15 year veteran of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Department of Police and is currently serving as the Executive Officer for the Field Services Bureau Chief. The Field Services Bureau includes the Public Information Division, Special Operations Division, Traffic Division, and Security Services Division. Lt. Galladora is expected to complete a Management Master’s Degree with a Homeland Security Management Specialization from University of Maryland Global Campus in Fall 2020. His research interests include developing operationally significant standardized test methods for sUAS and other technological solutions to solve law enforcement problems. He is looking forward to working with fellow LEADS scholars and academics to research and implement evidence based best practices to improve the quality and efficiency of public safety.

Loren T. Atherley serves as Director of Performance Analytics & Research (PA&R) and the Senior Research Scientist for the Seattle Police Department (SPD). The PA&R Section is a continuation of the department’s internal performance, evaluation and advanced research methods capabilities, developed to demonstrate compliance with a federal Consent Decree. Loren leads a regional research consortium, a national data working group on Analytics & Evidence Based Policing (affiliated with the Major Cities Chiefs Association) and an international research network. In addition, Loren consults across the criminal justice and data sciences, including: statistics and research methods, threat assessment / threat management and violent / aggressive / psychopathic behavior, providing strategic advice to the Chief of Police and the City of Seattle, as well as other local, state and federal agencies. Loren is an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice at Seattle University.

Loren holds a Master's degree in Criminal Justice from Seattle University, where he completed a thesis on behavioral profiling and serial sexual homicide, which focused on Gary L. Ridgway, known commonly as the Green River Killer.

Jason Schiess has worked in the law enforcement profession for 26 years, and currently commands the Analytical Services Division at the Durham (NC) Police Department. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida in 2001, and graduated from the Senior Management Institute for Police (PERF) in 2016. Law enforcement experience includes tours of duty at the Port Orange (FL) Police Department, Larimer County (CO) Sheriff’s Officer and Grand County (CO) Sheriff’s Office. Areas of concentration include corrections, uniform patrol, high-liability training, SWAT, crime analysis and intelligence.

Analytical projects include “Operation Bulls Eye,” a multi-year, multi-agency enforcement initiative against violent gun crime in a two square mile area of East Durham, and the “Residential Awareness Program,” which was developed to abate near-repeat residential burglaries. Jason has also served as a data partner with North Carolina Central University as part of the Research Network for Misdemeanor Justice though John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Additional research interests include integrating data across the local criminal justice system, creating a visualization tool to identify evidence-based points of intervention that effectively divert persons who offend from continuing criminality.

William Forrester now is a core faculty member at Walden University in the Doctor of Public Administration Program. In 2024, he retired from the Memphis Police Department (MPD) at the rank of sergeant. During his time with MPD, he primarily served in Uniform Patrol and in the department’s Accreditation and Research Office where he served as the accreditation manager at the time of retirement. William served six years as a commissioner on the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission with two years on both the commission’s Rules Committee and Informal Hearing Committee. William was adjunct faculty member in the Doctor of Criminal Justice Program at Saint Leo University from 2021 to 2024 and served as contributing faculty with Walden University before being promoted to core faculty. He was a Policing Fellow at the National Police Foundation from 2018 to 2024. William holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Walden University, a M.S. in Criminal Justice from Bethel University, a M.S. in Data Analytics from Western Governors University, and a BM in Instrumental Music Education. His interests include officer retention, training, application of data science in law enforcement, and internal disciplinary procedures.

Captain Christian Cory has served on the Wichita Police Department for 23 years. He currently leads the Crimes Against Persons Bureau. Captain Cory has previously served in the Homicide Section, DV/Sex Crimes Section, Gang/Felony Assault Unit, Crisis Negotiation Team, and Patrol. He has obtained his B.S. in Criminology at Kansas State University and his M.A. in Forensic Psychology at the University of North Dakota. Captain Cory’s interests and expertise involve science-based interviewing & interrogation, rapport development, de-escalation, cognitive interviewing, and increasing the effectiveness of law enforcement investigations through communication. He brought science-based interviewing curriculum to Wichita and has now been officially adopted by the Wichita Police Department. Captain Cory has collaborated with researchers and practitioners to bring several studies to Wichita Police Department on topics including: a science-based interviewing field validation study, proximity-based evidence disclosure, resistance in interviewing, text intervention in domestic violence cases, and will be teaming up on a randomized control trial to assess an evidence-based project at Wichita Police Department in 2023.

Gio Veliz has served the citizens of Minneapolis since 1992 with a philosophy to improve community trust and police services. His prior assignments include administrative sergeant to the Chief, investigations, patrol and Director of Police Activities League.

He leads the Special Crimes Investigations Division and works in partnership with multiple stakeholders to develop recommendations to eliminate traffic fatalities, juvenile racial disparity as well as reduce the backlog of sexual assault kits.

He holds a BS from John Jay College, an MA in leadership from Saint Thomas University and is an PhD candidate at Hamline University. His doctoral research focuses on the intersection of police legitimacy and immigrant communities. Additionally, he is an alumni of the Northwestern Police Command School, an alumni of the Senior Executive in Local Government program at the Harvard Kennedy School and a 2016 Bush Fellowship recipient.

He is married and he and his wife enjoy walks with their dogs. He is grateful for his spouse’s reminders that his role as a public servant is not a job but an opportunity to serve the community. He will take this opportunity to lead research projects and implement best practices to enhance police services in Minneapolis.

Shaun L. Ward, D.M. is a service-minded change agent focused on the people side of change. He is seasoned law enforcement professional with nearly 20 years of service. He has proven success in community engagement initiatives, program development and implementation, problem solving, leadership and policy development, strategic development, directing and executing community service activities, operations management, threat management, project coordination, and program analysis. Dr. Ward currently serves as a research community affiliate and advisor to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte High-reliability Systems, Emotions, and Risk within Organizations (H.E.R.O.) Lab, which is dedicated to researching topics that are meaningful to scholars, practitioners, and communities at-large.  His research interests are in occupational health and safety, relational process, employee and community well-being. 

Lieutenant Dolly is a twenty-year veteran of the St. Louis County Police Department and currently responsible for the research, policy, and analysis function of the department.  Before his current assignment, he has held positions in patrol, the training academy, and the Chief’s Office.  Lieutenant Dolly leads a team that produces all crime analysis products and operating policies for the department.  Over the course of several years, his team has produced dozens of policies based on evidence and best practices. His research interests include using institutional theory to explain change in policing practices and hopes to collaborate with other LEADS scholars to study the career outcomes of officers.  Lieutenant Dolly has a master’s degree in Public Administration and is currently in the dissertation phase of a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Missouri St. Louis.  He looks forward to using the LEADS program as a means to improve policing in the St. Louis region

Constable Maria Wright has been a sworn member of the London Police Service for twelve years and has experience in both the uniformed and criminal investigations divisions. Maria is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Applied Criminology and Police Management at Cambridge University.  Her thesis project is a 10-year analysis of tracking the accuracy of assessing persons who may be a high risk for committing intimate partner violence offenses. In her current role as part of LPS’s modernization team, she is using her knowledge and experience to develop an evidence-based project that will evaluate the effectiveness of different proactive impaired driving interventions. She is also creating a project that focuses on crime prevention for residential break and enters in the city of London, Ontario. 

Inspector Feras Ismail is a 22-year member of the Peel Regional Police and has worked in various areas including Uniform Patrol, the Street Crime and Gang Units, the Intelligence Security Section, the Training Bureau, and is now working in Community Safety and Wellbeing Services.

Inspector Ismail is an internationally recognized counter-terrorism and hate crimes expert and has served in an interview and consultative capacity on a wide-array of terrorism and extremism-related investigations with Peel Regional Police and the RCMP – Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET).

Inspector Ismail’s operational experience, coupled with his community engagement and crime prevention work, have enabled him to play a pivotal role in the development of various organizational policies and training programs designed to build internal capacity to prevent and respond to hate motivated crime and violent extremism. Inspector Ismail has presented on these and related issues at a range of domestic and international practitioner and academic symposia, and has briefed high level government and police officials on hate motivated crime and counter-terrorism/countering violent extremism training, policy and practice. Inspector Ismail’s current duties involve the collection, collation and analyses of data on hate-motivated incidents and crime, he regularly drafts reports on these data and delivers related presentations for both police and non-police audiences.

Inspector Ismail holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from McMaster University and a Master’s Degree in Leadership from the University of Guelph. He is the current co-chair of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee, a member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) – Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Subcommittee and a member of the National Hate Crimes Task Force. He is also the recipient of the 2020 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Leadership in Human and Civil Rights Award.

Dr. Sean Zauhar is a 23-year law enforcement veteran. He is currently a police lieutenant in charge of professional standards and training for the Apple Valley (Minnesota) Police Department. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas, Metropolitan State University, and Rasmussen University. He specializes in curriculum design, training implementation, and program evaluation. His research focuses on effective police training methods to minimize the use of force while enhancing public safety and building community trust. Dr. Zauhar has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Walden University (MPLS, MN) and a M.A. in Police Leadership & Education from the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN).

Special Constable John Ng is a divisional crime analyst with the Saskatoon Police Service and has been a law enforcement analyst for nearly 10 years. He’s a certified law enforcement analyst with the International Association of Crime Analysts and has been an active member having volunteered with their former Methods Subcommittee co-authoring a handful of technical papers on analytical methods including hotspot analysis, the prioritization of persons who commit crimes, and social network analysis and currently volunteers with their Publications Committee. He’s presented at crime analysis conferences and recently at the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) Conference on the role of crime analysts in EBP. He also served as the Analyst Series Coordinator (lead) for the Canadian Society of Evidence-Based Policing’s (CAN-SEBP) Community Engagement Team and continues to volunteer as a Community Liaison for CAN-SEBP promoting the value of law enforcement analysts in EBP. He’s successfully completed a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Toronto. His research interests include police culture, police leadership, organizational change, police tactics & strategies, hotspots policing, the management of persons who commit crimes (and risk assessments), and crime analysis. 

Sergeant Nick Bell is in his 16^th year of service with the West Vancouver Police Department in British Columbia, Canada. He is currently in-charge of the Community Service Team, working with community stakeholders, schools, and government agencies to address a variety of community policing issues. Prior to this position, Sgt Bell has worked as a frontline patrol supervisor, police academy instructor, and surveillance officer. Sgt Bell holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Victoria, a master’s degree in emergency management from Royal Roads University, and a master’s of law degree specializing in International Justice from the University of London. Sgt Bell has taken part in a number of research projects at the local, national, and international level. Most recently, Sgt Bell has partnered with New York University in several randomized control trials related to crime prevention and police response. Sgt Bell is currently researching neighborhood watch, specifically examining how the expansion of neighborhood watch impacts crime and sense of safety. Sgt Bell aims to use this NIJ LEADS program to gain further knowledge in evidence based policing and to partner on research projects throughout North America. Sgt Bell’s research interests are in the area of evidence based decision making, crime prevention, and community engagement with police. Away from policing, Sgt Bell is kept busy by a very active little son, an amazing wife and a chubby French Bulldog.

Ashley Covarrubias is a native Tucsonan who has proudly served with the Tucson Police Department since 2016. She holds a BS in Criminal Justice Administration and an MPA from the University of Arizona. In 2014, Officer Covarrubias began a doctoral program in Public Policy and Management where her research primarily focused on dark networks in terrorism and ethics in policing. Since she began at TPD, she has served in Operations Division West as a patrol officer. During her tenure, she founded a community engagement program, You Can, Too. (YCT), with the goal to replace fear with facts and provide community members in underserved areas opportunities to have non-enforcement contact with police officers. She piloted the program at the Fred G Acosta Job Corps Center, F.O. Holaway Elementary School, and E.C. Nash Elementary School, where she collected data both pre- and post-intervention. Preliminarily findings show significant increases in community trust in police and in willingness to report crime. The program is currently expanding citywide in Tucson and the Yankton (SD) Police Department has also begun the program in their jurisdiction. Officer Covarrubias also received a grant from the Arizona State University School of Social Work to conduct a comprehensive study of the effectiveness of YCT. YCT was also recently chosen as a primary intervention strategy for a local Department of Justice Community Based Crime Reduction grant.

Dr. Cramer is the Analysis Administrator for the Tucson Police Department (TPD), and has more than 9 years of experience in social science research and data analysis. At TPD, Dr. Cramer leads the Analysis Division and is responsible for advancing the Department's strategy of effective policing through policy informed by research, advanced applications of data and analysis, and strong community relations. Before joining TPD, he served as project manager for the NIJ Evaluation of the OVC Vision 21: Linking Systems of Care for Children and Youth State Demonstration Project at ICF. Previously, Dr. Cramer consulted for the International Organization for Migration as Social Network Consultant On Violent Extremism, where he evaluated a countering violent extremism (CVE) network in Niger. He has also consulted for USAID-OTI as international expert on social network analysis, where he designed and implemented a social network study of violent extremism in northern Mali. Dr. Cramer has extensive experience conducting data analysis related to violence, crime, and extremism, and has particular interests in social network analyses and quantitative methods. He received his Ph.D., and M.A., from the University of Arizona, and received his B.A., from Syracuse University.

Kyle McLean is an Assistant Professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of South Carolina, writing a dissertation on how individuals evaluate outcome fairness in police-citizen interactions. His policing research focuses on police-community relations, police training, and evaluations of policing programs. In graduate school he worked on an NIJ-funded evaluation of a social interaction training program for police officers in the Tucson, AZ and Fayetteville, NC police departments. The study was the first of its kind to use random assignment to evaluate the effects of a low-intensity, high-repetition social interaction training program in police departments. In addition to this project, he also worked on an evaluation of the Greenville, SC police department’s body-worn camera project. As an assistant professor, he has begun to develop new projects including a study of officer perceptions of body-worn camera footage of use of force incidents that includes a component evaluating a use of force training program.

Chief Cecilia Ashe is a 27-year veteran of law enforcement who was appointed as Chief of Police for the City of Milford Police Department, DE in February 2023.  Prior to her appointment, she worked at Wilmington Police Department in Wilmington, DE for approximately 17 years, where she was assigned as the Inspector of Operations. Chief Ashe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Wilmington University and is a graduate of the Senior Management Institute for Policing, Session 70. She was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Wilmington Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center, which was the first in the State of Delaware. Additionally, she developed a Crime Gun Intelligence Center in partnership with ATF that focuses on NIBIN lead investigations and has resulted in hundreds of leads in firearms investigations.

Based on her work in this field, Chief Ashe was accepted into the National Institute of Justice’s Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) Program in 2019. She has most recently been recognized for her leadership, oversight and strategic planning while implementing Group Violence Intervention in Wilmington which was plagued with gun violence. This resulted in an over 58% reduction in homicides and nearly 30% reduction in shooting incidents, while simultaneously reducing citizen complaints against officer by over 22% by the end of 2022 within the City of Wilmington.

The NIJ LEADS program will facilitate Chief Ashe in advancing her knowledge of evidence-based research in law enforcement, which she will take back to her department to further its commitment to integrating research and science into policies and practices.

Dr. Cory Haberman is an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice and Director of the Institute of Crime Science at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Haberman has two primary research interests. First, Dr. Haberman’s research focuses on using quantitative methods to understand spatial-temporal crime patterns. Second, Dr. Haberman’s research uses mixed-methods to advance evidence-based policing with particular interests in crime analysis, hot spots policing, and focused deterrence. Dr. Haberman’s has worked with police agencies across the country on implementing innovative strategies, such as hot spots policing or focused deterrence. He is also currently working on projects related to the use of virtual reality for law enforcement training. Dr. Haberman’s work has been published in leading criminology and criminal justice journals, such as Criminology, Crime and Delinquency, Journal of Experimental Criminology, and Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.

I received my PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of South Carolina in 2015. Currently, I am an assistant professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where I coordinate our MA program and teach undergraduate and graduate-level classes on policing. My research centers on policing with emphases on procedural justice, legitimacy, and officer-involved shootings. To date, I have published over thirty peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews related to these and similar topics. I am thrilled to have been selected for the inaugural class of LEADS Academics, because as a criminologist, I believe it is important to convey research findings to people outside of academia – including the police and the general public. I look forward to networking and potentially collaborating with the other LEADS Academics and Scholars to advance policing through rigorous science.

Deputy Chief John Koch joined the Colorado Springs Police Department in 2002, where he served as a patrol officer for the first five years of his career. He then transferred to detective positions in the Crimes Against Children Unit (2007-2010) and Homicide Unit (2010-2013). He was promoted to sergeant in 2013, serving as a patrol supervisor (2013-2014), detective sergeant in the Special Victims Section (2014-2017), and Internal Affairs sergeant (2018). Promoted to lieutenant in 2018, he was a patrol watch commander in the Sand Creek Division (2018-2019) and the Strategic Information Center lieutenant in Metro VNI (2019-2020). Promoted to commander in 2020, he led the Gold Hill Division (2020-2022), Professional Standards Division (2022-2023), and Management Services Division (2023-2025).

In 2025, Deputy Chief Koch was promoted to his current position leading the Investigations & Special Operations Bureau. In this role, he oversees all criminal investigation, tactical, and crime analysis functions of CSPD.

 Deputy Chief Koch holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Colorado. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy – Session 286.

After 26 plus years with the Richmond (VA) Police Department, David Naoroz retired from sworn service with the City of Richmond and has recently been appointed as Senior Policy Advisor to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. Previously, he has served in numerous leadership roles within the Richmond Police Department, a 15-year member of the SWAT Team, and a use of force instructor for the academy responsible for designing the training currently employed by the department. His research interests include recruitment, training, officer wellness, and police technology. Mr. Naoroz is a graduate of the University of Richmond.