Geoffrey Philip Alpert is a professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina.

Education

Alpert received his B.A. and M.A. from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in 1969 and 1970, respectively. For one year (1974-1975) he attended the University of Oregon School of Law. In 1975, he received his Ph.D. from

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

Career

Alpert served as assistant professor of sociology and public administration at the

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is a public research university in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is one of four campuses that make up the University of Colorado system. As of Fall 2017, UCCS had over 12,400 undergraduate an ...

from 1978 to 1979. He served as an associate professor of sociology at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

from 1981 to 1985, and a full professor there from 1985 until becoming a professor at the University of South Carolina in August 1988.

Research and views

Alpert is an expert on

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

use of force The use of force, in the context of law enforcement, may be defined as the "amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject". Use of force doctrines can be employed by law enforcement officers and military perso ...

. He has said that the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

's agreement with the

Cleveland Division of Police The Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) is the governmental agency responsible for law enforcement in the city of Cleveland, Ohio. Karrie Howard is the Director of Public Safety and Dornat "Wayne" Drummond is Chief of Police. In 2014, the Jus ...

was the only such agreement he knew of that required the city's police department to boost its resources. He has also said that one of the most important aspects of the DOJ's agreement with the New Orleans Police Department was that it was the first to include outcome measures to determine whether the city had fulfilled its requirements under the agreement. In 2015, he told the ''Wall Street Journal'' that when police departments are in dire straits, they often decide to fire their chief. He added that, with regard to this decision, "It could be the sacrificial lamb or it could be the necessary change," and that the firing of

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...

superintendent Garry McCarthy was an example of the former. He has said that the shooting of Jeremy McDole was "relatively new and rare" because the officer who shot McDole was arrested and charged with depriving McDole of rights "under color of law".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpert, Geoffrey Philip University of South Carolina faculty Living people American criminologists 1948 births University of Oregon alumni Washington State University alumni University of Colorado Colorado Springs faculty University of Miami faculty University of Oregon School of Law alumni