The National Policing Institute (the Institute) is proud to announce and welcome Robin S. Engel, PhD as the Institute’s Senior Vice President, becoming the second highest-ranking executive within the national non-profit research and policy organization dedicated to excellence in policing and community safety through science and innovation.
Dr. Robin S. Engel, a nationally known and highly respected criminologist, has served as a Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Director of the Center for Police Research and Policy. From 2015 to 2019, she served as UC’s Vice President for Safety and Reform, where her administrative duties included oversight of daily operations of the university’s public safety department and implementation of comprehensive police reforms in the aftermath of a critical incident involving the fatal police shooting of an unarmed motorist.
For more than two decades, Dr. Engel has worked to engage in policing research designed to reduce harm in communities and make police-community encounters safer, promoting best practices through academic-practitioner partnerships. She has served as Principal Investigator for over 90 studies and projects and was ranked among the top academics in the field of criminal justice and criminology based on publications in prestigious peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Engel currently serves as a governor-appointed member of the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board, co-chair of the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Research Advisory Committee, and member of the National Policing Institute’s Council on Policing Reforms and Race. Dr. Engel currently leads research teams implementing and evaluating violence reduction, police training, and police reform initiatives across dozens of cities, along with a large-scale evaluation of state-mandated police reforms.
“I am honored to join the Institute’s remarkable team working every day to enhance the efficacy of policing and bring safety to communities,” said Dr. Engel.
“As a top scholar and a trusted, leading authority in police science, Dr. Engel brings valuable expertise, strategy, and thought leadership to the Institute, further enabling us to bring about positive and evidence-informed changes and improvements to policing and public safety in communities nationwide. On behalf of the Institute’s Board of Directors and staff, we are proud to welcome Dr. Engel and her team to the Institute,” said James Burch, the Institute’s President. The Institute’s Board Chair, Ronal Serpas, PhD of Loyola University, added, “we are proud to welcome such a prestigious scholar to the Institute who will help us to lead the way in advancing policing in an independent and non-partisan manner as our mission requires.”
Dr. Engel will lead the transition of her work and her team into the National Policing Institute over the next several months. As the Senior Vice President for the Institute, Dr. Engel will provide leadership and oversight of the Institute’s scientific investments and strategy and the Institute’s work to translate and integrate research into practices.
Established in 1970, the National Policing Institute (formerly the National Police Foundation) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to pursuing excellence in policing through science and innovation. The Institute has researched all aspects of policing and is leading the way in promoting and sharing evidence-based practices and innovation among law enforcement. The Institute works with policing organizations, public safety agencies and communities nationwide and internationally, providing research, translation, training, technical assistance, and modern technology implementation. The Institute has long been a highly respected leader in conducting rigorous, high-quality scientific experiments in policing.
