John Jay MagazineSPRING 2010EDUCATING FOR JUSTICE

John Jay CollegeT h e C i T y U n i v e r s i T y o f n e w y o r k

of Criminal Justice

TERRORISMFAVELAS

CALL-INS

SACRED VALUES

AL QAEDA

MILICIAS

SUICIDE BOMBERS

GANG VIOLENCE

TORTURERACIAL RECONCILIATION

SUBVERSIVE LEARNING

REENTRY THROUGH THE ARTSCRISIS INTERVENTION

OPEN-AIR DRUG MARKETS

John Jay CollegeT H E C I T Y U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K

of Criminal Justice

PRESIDENT

Jeremy travis

8 N E W Y O R K , N Y 1 0 0 1 9 T . 2 1 2 . 2 3 7 . 8 6 0 0 F. 2 1 2 . 2 3 7 . 8 6 0 7 J T R A V I S @ J J A Y. C U N Y. E D U

President’s Letter

Multifaceted PhenomenonTERRORISM—Like the John Jay Researchers Studying It— Has Many Faces

For Reducing Violence, It Takes a NETWORK

CRIMINAL JUSTICE & THE THEATERAt John Jay, A Perfect Fit

RIO’S FAVELASField Notes of a Fulbright Scholar

ALUMNI WORTH NOTING

ALUMNI CLASS NOTES

1

2

5

8

11

26

28

CONTENTS

John Jay MagazineEDUCATING FOR JUSTICE

Dear Friends:

As we complete the 2009 – 2010 academic year, we can proudly say that the changes at John Jay are simply breathtaking.What’s more, we are continuing to garner more public and private recognition for our scholarship and our ability to shape practice.

This past year alone, our faculty scholars received more than $10 million in grants from a broad array of agencies, includingthe National Institutes of Health, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Education, the National ScienceFoundation, the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Such recognition is due in large part to the revitalization of the College. Highlights of these accomplishments include:

Improving Student SuccessFive years ago, John Jay’s entering freshman class consisted of 1,182 baccalaureate students. This fall we enrolled 1,657baccalaureate freshmen, a 40 percent increase. Based on this success, the College has officially closed associate degreeprograms and will seek senior college designation next fall. Simultaneously, working with the six CUNY community colleges,John Jay has created joint degree programs in criminal justice, forensic science and forensic financial analysis. These educationalpartnerships, collectively called the CUNY Justice Academy, will enable us to expand access to criminal justice programs acrossthe university.

Reinvigorating FacultyThis fall the College welcomed 36 new full-time faculty members. With their arrival John Jay reached another milestone — since2004, our ranks of full-time faculty have grown from 335 to 449, a 33 percent increase. Fully 50 percent of the College’s full-timefaculty have been hired over the past five years. These new faculty come from premier doctoral programs around the world,committed to excellence in scholarship and teaching, and eager to join the John Jay community. They are a critical building blockof a revitalized John Jay College.

Retooling Core Academic ProgramsJohn Jay has added liberal arts majors in English, Economics, Gender Studies and Global History, with Philosophy, Law andSociety, American Studies, Anthropology, Latin American and Latina/o Studies and Sociology in the pipeline. These new majorsare receiving positive reviews from academic colleagues around the country and willdistinguish the John Jay undergraduate education in the coming decades. The College is alsoexpanding options at the graduate level with two new master’s programs — one in ForensicMental Health Counseling and another in International Crime and Justice and certificates inForensic Psychology and Forensic Accounting. In addition, this fall, the College launched itsfirst online degree program — the MPA-Inspector General Program.

In the next few months, we will complete work on our Master Plan titled “John Jay @ 50,”which will address questions surrounding the core issue of how John Jay when celebratingits 50th birthday in 2014 will be different, while remaining true to its mission of “educatingfor justice.”

At this moment in our history, we particularly appreciate the encouragement we receive fromour alumni, friends and supporters. And, with the wealth of exciting developments andaccomplishments we are now witnessing, there has never been a better time to be part ofthe John Jay community.

John Jay Magazine is a publication of Marketing and Development, published twice a year and distributedfree to alumni and friends of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

8 9 9 T E N T H A V E N U E N E W Y O R K , N Y 1 0 0 1 9 T . 2 1 2 . 2 3 7 . 8 6 0 0 F. 2 1 2 . 2 3 7 . 8 6 0 7 J T R A V I S @ J J A Y. C U N Y. E D U

PresidentJeremy Travis

Vice President for Marketing and DevelopmentVivien Hoexter

Executive Director of Communications & EditorChristine Godek

Senior WriterJennifer Nislow

Contributing WritersPeter DodenhoffMarie Rosen

Photography CoordinatorDoreen Viñas Pineda

Alumni ContributorSharice Conway

Production CoordinatorKathy Willis

DesignerJRenacia

Scott Atran, a Presidential Scholar inSociology and research fellow at the Centerwho developed the hypothesis, these intrinsicbeliefs form the moral frame by which asociety functions. It is because of thissignificance that they may hold a key toresolving seemingly intractable disputes inthe Middle East.

Atran became interested in thepossibility that these conflicts werenot being resolved becausenegotiators were making the mistakeof attaching material wealth to whatboth sides viewed as their people’s“sacred values.”

“You give something and I give something inreturn — quid pro quo,” said Atran. “In thestandard negotiation, you leave the valuequestions for last….I find that that doesn’tseem to work. So the idea was to try tosystematically explore this in the world’sconflict zones, especially Palestine and Israel,which is the world’s symbolic knot at thisparticular moment in world history.”

In 2007, Atran and his colleagues beganinterviewing government and political leadersin the Middle East, pushing them to see howfar they would go in negotiations andlistening to their reasons for accepting or notaccepting a deal. Many of their subjects, henoted, had surprisingly personal reasons forsaying “no.”

Prior to September 11, 2001, the Collegewas one of a handful of institutions in theUnited States addressing the question ofwhat compelled individuals to committerrorist acts. John Jay in the interveningyears has become a home for scholarswhose work examines the subject throughthe lenses of sociology, law enforcement,psychology and history, and a research hubfor the investigation of the phenomenonthrough its Center on Terrorism.

The Center, created in the wake of theattacks, serves as an extension of John Jay’smission by making the knowledge it gathersserve a useful public purpose. To that end, itoffers an interdisciplinary MA certificate

program in the study of terrorism that drawsstudents from all over the world, a FridaySeminar Series that examines a differentaspect of terrorism each week, and researchfellowships to scholars investigating itsvarious elements.

According to Professor Charles B. Strozier,the Center’s director, “Terrorism is not a field,it’s not a discipline. It’s a problem in theworld.”

SociologyThe most deeply held values we have aboutour relationships with other human beings,particularly in our own society, can be calledour “sacred values.” According to Professor

32

Professor Scott Atran

Transfiguration by GN MillerWorld Trade Center, NYC after terrorist attack

Terrorismis not a field,

it’s nota discipline.

It’s a problemin the world.

Terrorist crimes committed in the United States and abroad are perpetrated by manydifferent actors with diverse ethnicities, nationalities, religions and motivations. They

range from right-wing extremists to Islamic jihadists to separatists, among others.The multifaceted nature of the problem has

long caught the attention of researchers at John Jay.

The most deeply

held values

we have about

our

relationships

with other

human beings,

particularly in

our own society,

can be called

our “sacred

values.”

World Trade Center survivors

M U L T I F A C E T E D P H E N O M E N O N

TERRORISM— LIKE THE JOHN JAY RESEARCHERS STUDYING IT—HAS MANY FACES

By Jennifer Nislow

In these areas, violence breeds violence,with young men of color usually beingboth victims and offenders. A typicalpolice response has been to send in lots ofcops, stop just about everyone, and makemany arrests. The result is that crime goesdown temporarily and resumes shortly afterthe police presence is gone. Another result isthat citizen complaints against police go upand the relationship between the police andthe minority community takes a hit. For JohnJay Professor David Kennedy, director of theCenter for Crime Prevention and Control, it isunconscionable that “one in 200 young blackmen in the most dangerous communities ismurdered each year, that one in three blackmen will go to prison in their lifetime.”

To stop this cycle of violence, the Centerestablished the National Network for SafeCommunities to promulgate the crimereduction strategies that Kennedy developed,which have demonstrated significant resultsin violence reduction — strategies that havesaved countless lives and improved therelationship between communities of colorand their law enforcement agencies. Thesestrategies target gang violence and open-airdrug markets and are being usedsuccessfully in 75 jurisdictions across thecountry. According to Kennedy, who isco-chair of the Network, the strategies havesome variance in the places using them, butall the projects have three fundamentalcomponents: law enforcement, communityparticipation and focused social services.

4 5

FAR-RIGHTISTS

HAVE SINCE 1990

COMMITTED OVER

250 HOMICIDES —

INCLUDING THE

BOMBING OF THE

ALFRED P. MURRAH

BUILDING IN

OKLAHOMA CITY —

THAT HAVE

KILLED 520 PEOPLE.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,for instance, said he rejected Israel’soffer to “swap on the Golan.”“His response was basically‘When I was a kid, my dad took meto barbecue on the shores ofLake Tiberius and I want to do thatagain.’ I thought, ‘That’s not the usualthing you hear in negotiations.’”

Atran has been experimenting withreinterpretations and reframings that wouldallow actual breakthroughs.

What holds the most promise isif both sides first recognize eachother’s “sacred values,” and thenmake a gesture by giving up oneof their own, explained Atran. For example, Article 32 of Hamas’ charterstates that Israel’s plans for the Palestiniansare well described in the Protocols of theElders of Zion. A forged text, first publishedin Russia in 1903, the Protocols of the Eldersof Zion purports to describe an internationalJewish conspiracy set on global dominationand the enslavement of non-Jews. Althoughit has been debunked countless times,the text is still used as a justification for

anti-Semitism. Israel has its statement thatsays Palestine was a land of no people for apeople with no land — “both completenonsense,” said Atran.

Though each side has told him that they donot believe these assertions, they have stillbeen unwilling to relinquish them.

“We’ve been negotiating two years to getthem to make these no-cost moves,” Atransaid. “The only people who can do it arepeople like [Nelson] Mandela or [Anwar]Sadat, who have the power and are greatenough so that their people won’t believethey’re selling out.” While much of the focuson terrorism has been on the Middle East,the United States has its own brand ofdangerous extremists. According toProfessor Joshua Freilich, a member of theDepartment of Criminal Justice and deputydirector of the criminal justice doctoralprogram, far-rightists have since 1990committed over 250 homicides — includingthe bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah buildingin Oklahoma City — that have killed 520people. Of those victims, 28 were lawenforcement agents who were killed in theline of duty.

With more than $500,000 in funding from theDepartment of Homeland Security and grantsfrom START, a consortium of scholars

The façade of thedestroyed Murrah Federal Building

in Oklahoma City

it isunconscionablethat “one in 200young black menin the mostdangerouscommunities ismurderedeach year,that one in threeblack men will goto prison in theirlifetime.”

FOR REDUCING VIOLENCE, IT TAKES A

NETW RKBy Marie Rosen

Call-in in High Point, NC

At first glance, the news is good.

The FBI is reporting that murder declined 10 percent nationwide during the first half of 2009.

But, despite the fact that crime in the United States is declining, there remain all too many neighborhoods where violence is a way of life,

where residents live in constant fear and intimidation, where open-air drug markets flourish, where illegally obtained guns are prevalent, and where gangs dominate the landscape.

continued on page 15

7

The Network, which currently comprises 45jurisdictions, is designed to be a communityof practice where these strategies can bedisseminated to those using them and thosewho are considering them. For John JayPresident Jeremy Travis, co-chair of theNetwork, “these strategies, developed overthe past 15 years, will reduce the level ofviolence, reduce drug markets, reduceincarceration, start the process of racialreconciliation between police and minoritycommunities” and lead “to a change in thedirection, a new standard of practice, forcrime policy in America.”

“tension between police andcommunities of color are at adangerously unacceptable level…the death of a young man,particularly a young man of color,at the hands of the police willgenerate dramatic and emotionalcommunity response regardless ofthe specific facts. But very often, thedeaths of a dozen young men at thehands of other young men producenothing but an ominous silence,which hangs over the community likea blanket. All those deaths aresignificant and they must stop.”And in the jurisdictions wherethese methods are used,violence significantly declinedand race relations haveimproved.

Becoming a Believer

Although the process sounds simple, itrequires intensive coordination amongnumerous players in law enforcement,community stakeholders, social services andacademia. As Ted Heinrich, the assistantUnited States attorney for Boston noted, thestrategies are “partnership rich.” Thesegroups often have different agendas andresources. In California, which has had morethan 16,000 gang-related homicides since1981, the strategies are being employed inseven cities. Paul Seave, director of theGovernor’s Office of Gang and Youth ViolencePolicy in Sacramento, CA, told the audience,“You’re asking everyone to do businessdifferently. Bureaucracies that are used todoing things in certain ways have to changeto some degree in order to work with peoplethey haven’t worked with before.” Anotheressential ingredient is that it takes acommitment from all the parties to focus onthe common goal of violence reduction andnot get sidetracked by other concerns.

For both Melekian and Police Chief JamesFealy of High Point, NC, talking to gangmembers and “banking” cases for drugdealers can initially leave some with

continued on page 23

all the

projects have

three

fundamental

components:

lawenforcement,

communityparticipation

and

focusedsocial

services.

6

The Work

For the drug market strategy, all dealers areidentified, criminal investigations areconducted and drug cases are made againsteach. Violent offenders are arrested. For theothers, the cases are “banked” — held insuspension. Offenders are told that if theysell drugs again, the “banked” case will beused and they will be arrested right away.Kennedy notes, “Drug dealers usually deal allday long and they may or may not bearrested. This lets the dealer know that thereis a certainty that they will be prosecutedimmediately without new evidence, without anew criminal investigation.” In the gangstrategy, the gangs in the city are identified.Members who are on probation or parole aregiven the message that if anybody in theirgang kills someone, the criminal justicesystem will come down hard on everyone inthe gang for any and all crimes beingcommitted.

Both strategies require a concertedeffort on the part of numerous lawenforcement agencies — police,probation officers, prosecutors,federal agents from DEA and otheragencies. Members of thecommunity who mean something

to the offenders, like mothers,children, neighbors, pastors are alsobrought together. In both strategies,offenders receive a notice toappear at a call-in, the heart andsoul of the strategy. As importantas the message, is the manner inwhich it is delivered.

At the call-in, law enforcement officials tell theoffenders what awaits them if their criminalbehavior doesn’t stop. Also in attendance arecommunity members, who provide the moralvoice that is so critical to the strategies.They let the offenders know how the violenceand drug dealing damages the community,but also that the community wants them tosucceed. Offenders are given privilegedaccess to special social services, which havebeen prearranged.

Last December, the Network convened itsfirst annual conference that for two daysbrought together more than 300 people from24 states and 5 foreign countries. Police,prosecutors, federal officials, youth workers,pastors, correction officers, social serviceproviders, academics and communityactivists shared information about thesegroundbreaking strategies that reduce violentcrime and improve police/minority relations.

Bernard K. Melekian,Director, Office of

Community OrientedPolicing Services,

President Jeremy Travis,Professor David Kennedy

For John Jay President Jeremy Travis, co-chair of the Network, “these strategies,developed over the past 15 years, will reduce the levelof violence, reduce drug markets, reduce incarceration,start the process of racial reconciliation between policeand minority communities” and lead “to a change inthe direction, a new standard of practice, for crime policyin America.”

At the call-in, law enforcement officials tell the offenderswhat awaits them if their criminal behavior doesn’t stop.Also in attendance are community members, who providethe moral voice that is so critical to the strategies.

Current NationalNetwork Jurisdictions

1. Baltimore, MD 2. Boston, MA 3. California4. Canton, OH 5. Chicago, IL 6. Cincinnati, OH 7. Cleveland, OH 8. Columbus, OH 9. Concord, NC 10. Dallas, TX 11. Dayton, OH 12. Durham, NC 13. East Palo Alto, CA 14. Graham, NC 15. Greensboro, NC 16. Greenville, NC 17. Hempstead, NY 18. High Point, NC 19. Hillsborough, NC 20. Lancaster, PA 21. Long Beach, CA 22. Los Angeles, CA 23. Mesa, AZ 24. Middletown, OH 25. Milwaukee, WI 26. Mineola, NY 27. Mount Vernon, NY 28. North Carolina 29. Oakland, CA30. Ocala, FL 31. Omaha, NE 32. Peoria, IL 33. Pittsburgh, PA 34. Providence, RI 35. Richmond, VA 36. Rockford, IL 37. Sacramento, CA 38. Salisbury, NC 39. Seattle, WA 40. Shelby, NC 41. Snow Hill, MD 42. Stockton, CA 43. White Plains, NY 44. Winston-Salem, NC 45. Yonkers, NY

Bernard Melekian, the recently appointeddirector of the Office of Community OrientedPolicing Services of the U.S Department ofJustice, was the keynote speaker and hadused these strategies while police chief inPasadena, CA. He told the participants

Police Chief James Fealy of High Point, NC

Lt. Schrank & Jets in the 2007 production of West Side Story

the studenttheatrical

club atJohn Jay

is one theoldest

continuouslyactive campus

organizations.

98

youth-gang spectacle West Side Story, in anauthorized 50th-anniversary production. In2008, Tarantino’s colleague ProfessorLorraine Moller directed the taut militarycourt-martial drama A Few Good (wo)Men.Rashomon, the quintessential tale ofeyewitness evidence gone awry, has beenproduced twice at John Jay, as hasThe Crucible, Arthur Miller’s poignant allegoryof 1950s anti-Communist fervor, set in thecontext of the Salem witch trials more thantwo centuries earlier.

These diverse and powerful plays representjust a sampling of the many criminaljustice-relevant works that have beenproduced under John Jay’s auspices, in adramatic arc that can be traced to theCollege’s very beginning. (See p.10.) In fact,theatrical efforts were instrumental in firstputting John Jay on the map.

“The vehicle chosen for John Jay’smaiden theatrical effort in 1966 was‘nothing simple,’— Franz Kafka’s TheTrial…. In the audience we had the

police commissioner, all of thebrass, and on the stage were all thecops who had been taking thecourse.” Jerry Tallmer, theinfluential theater critic,reviewed the production forThe New York Post, calling it“extraordinary in the history ofWestern civilization, not tomention Eastern civilization.”That production, along with the followingyear’s staging of Aristophanes’ The Birds,would later be cited in the EncyclopediaAmericana as major events in policeeducation, Termine noted.

Detective Story, in 1968, continued theCollege’s string of successful productions,and earned John Jay front-page coverage inthe theater section of The New York Times.Termine recalled how rehearsals were notoften easy for his cast of police studentactors. As the show’s opening nightapproached, one rehearsal was abruptly cutshort when the cast members were deployedto break up a student demonstration on theColumbia University campus. The show wenton, to laudatory reviews, and even had PoliceCommissioner Michael Murphy take a turn on

The notion of combining criminaljustice themes and drama is as oldas the ancient Greeks and as new asthe latest “ripped from the headlines”episode of Law & Order. At John Jay,criminal justice and the theater haveenjoyed a happy, fruitful partnershipthat is as old as the College itself.

Over the years, that partnership has playedout in a variety of ways: in stagedproductions from classical as well ascontemporary repertory; in coursecurriculums and classroom teaching; and inoutreach to criminal justice agencies andinstitutions, to name just a few applications.Two John Jay alumni have built a long andsuccessful career for themselves in public-and private-sector training based ontheatrical techniques they first learned at theCollege. And, in one telling bit of testimony,the student theatrical club at John Jay is oneof the oldest continuously active campusorganizations.

The variety of criminal justice themes thathave been dramatized at John Jay is nothingshort of staggering. Audiences have seencorruption, drug abuse and gangs; explored

false confessions and problematiceyewitness evidence; considered the nuancesof revenge killings and justifiable homicide,and gotten riveting behind-the-scenes looksat jury deliberations and military justice.Equally impressive, these themes representthe creative output of an A-list of theatricaltalent: Leonard Bernstein and StephenSondheim; Aristophanes and Aeschylus;Arthur Miller and Aaron Sorkin; BrendanBehan and David Guare, to name but a few.

Putting John Jay on the Map

John Jay’s Gerald W. Lynch Theater, whichopened in 1988, has provided aprofessional-quality venue for a wide range ofproductions, and recent shows bear witnessto the continuing influence of criminal justicethemes. In the spring of 2009, ProfessorDana Tarantino of the Department ofCommunication and Theatre Arts directed thedaring play The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, acourtroom thriller about an imagined trialinvolving the Bible’s most notorious sinner.Two years earlier, Tarantino staged the

Audiences have seen corruption, drug abuse and gangs;explored false confessions and problematic eyewitness evidence; considered

the nuances of revenge killings and justifiable homicide, and gotten rivetingbehind-the-scenes looks at jury deliberations and military justice.

As Ben Termine, a charter member of thefaculty and former chairman of the speechand theater department, recalled in a recentinterview:

CriminalJustice

& The TheaterAt John Jay, A Perfect Fit

By Peter Dodenhoff

CURTAIN UP!A non-inclusive listing of justice-themed plays that have been staged at John Jay over the years.

And, coming in December 2010, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

10

Just six months earlier, one of themilícias — some call them criminalprotection rackets — that arepushing the drug gangs out of theshantytowns kidnapped severaljournalists. The reporters werebeaten, made to play Russianroulette, nearly suffocated withplastic bags and given electricshocks. A female captive wasthreatened with rape; all were toldthey would be killed.

To the estimated two million residents ofthese neighborhoods, whose daily lives arecircumscribed by these two well-armedfactions, it begs the question: Which areworse, the drug gangs or the milícias fightingto take their place?

An analysis of these groups is central to thework of Enrique Desmond Arias, an associateprofessor in the Department of PoliticalScience who spent seven months in Brazil asa 2008 Fulbright Scholar and as the recipientof a grant from the American Council ofLearned Societies. Arias is not so muchconcerned with deciding which is the lesserof two evils, but rather exploring thedifferences between the gangs and the

Which areworse,the druggangs orthe milíciasfighting totake theirplace?

Rio’s FavelasFIELD NOTES OF A FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR

By Jennifer Nislow

In the days following Rio de Janeiro’s successful bid last October to host the 2016Olympic Games, violence broke out among the rival drug gangs who dominate the city’s

slums, or favelas. The turf-war resulted in the deaths of an estimated 40 people,including three police officers who were killed when their helicopter was shot down.

11

A follow-up studyof police responseto domestic crises

found that thenew drama-based

training approachsignificantlyreduced the

number of injuriesassociated with

such calls.

stage in a walk-on part as a small-time conartist and police impersonator.

“All of that helped to get people to sit up andtake notice of this new college,” saidTermine, who retired in 1986.

As important, however, Detective Story wouldprove to be the bridge to another synergy ofcriminal justice and theater: the use of dramain police training.

Crisis Intervention and“Subversive Learning”

Evidence showed at that time that morepeople had been seriously injured or killed inthe line of duty from intervening in a domesticdispute than from any other kind of policeaction. Termine, who had studiedpsychodrama with its originator, Jacob L.Moreno, organized the first course in whichprinciples of drama were used to teach policehow to intervene in a family crisis.

Police students from the cast of DetectiveStory — Bob Burke (BA ’65), head ofprogramming at the Police Academy; EdPowers (BS ’71) and Ethel Breslin (MA ’74) —became the vanguard of this new approach,employing it not only in classes at the

New York Police Academy but in policedepartments throughout the area. A follow-upstudy of police response to domestic crisesfound that the new drama-based trainingapproach significantly reduced the number ofinjuries associated with such calls.

Joyce St. George (BA ’74) a young civilianstudent at John Jay, became enthralled bywhat she saw in the new training approachand in Termine’s class on family crisisintervention, and her fascination with it wouldultimately become a calling. “After playingwith it for a little while and seeing the lightbulbs go on above the heads of participants,I knew there was something really specialabout this,” she said. Along with severalfellow students, and mentored by Termineand other speech and theater faculty, shehelped spin off the Police Academy’s crisisintervention training into an independentgroup, the Criminal Justice RepertoryCompany (CJs). “It was really just to bringsome of the ideas we had at the academyinto school,” St. George explained. “Westarted working with professors and cominginto their classes to do different things —scenes from Detective Story, Short Eyes,I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and

continued on page 20

As the show’s opening night approached, one rehearsal was abruptly cut shortwhen the cast members were deployed to break up a student demonstrationon the Columbia University campus. The show went on, to laudatory reviews, andeven had Police Commissioner Michael Murphy take a turn on stage in a walk-on partas a small-time con artist and police impersonator.

The TrialThe BirdsDetective StoryThe HostageCorruption in the Palace of JusticeRiot ActDoes the Tiger Wear a Necktie?Landscape of the Body

RashomonThe Crucible12 Angry Men (and Women)Il Furioso (Eumenides)La Medea

For Colored Girls Who HaveConsidered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf

MacbethArabian NightsMetamorphosesWest Side StoryA Few Good (wo)MenThe Last Days of Judas Iscariot

1312

See excerpt on page 22

The milíciasare sort of like

mafias…who push out all

of the othercriminals in theneighborhoods.

Theirreputation

is firstclean up the

neighborhood.If you breaktheir rules,

they will driveyou out of

the communityor kill you...

And everythingthat happens inthe community

once thesegroups run it

involves a littlepayment.

certain factionsof the “urbanpoliticalspectrum,”especially thoseon the rightwho wereconcerned withdrug gangs,viewed milíciasas legitimategroups thatsuppliedparamilitarystrength to Rio.

milícias, how each affects the communities inwhich they operate, and what part they playin Rio’s political system.

In his 2006 book, Drugs and Democracy inRio de Janeiro: Trafficking, Social Networks,and Public Security, Arias examined the roledrug gangs play in the lives of theseimpoverished communities. He planned tostudy them more explicitly, particularly thegangs’ political aspirations, when he returnedto Rio in 2008. What Arias discovered,however, was that during the interveningyears there had been an “explosion” in thenumber of milícias.

These vigilante groups first emerged in thecity’s western zone as a counterforce to thedrug gangs. The milícias grew and developeduntil the 1990s, when they changed into aprotection racket, according to Arias. Manyof these groups include the city’s poorly paidpolice and firefighters, who moonlight asmembers, he noted.

“The milícias are sort of like mafias…whopush out all of the other criminals in theneighborhoods,” said Arias. “They develop alot of their reputation by pushing drug gangs

out of certain parts of the city, although manypeople would say they also collaborate withdrug gangs. Their reputation is first clean upthe neighborhood. If you break their rules,they will drive you out of the community or killyou, all kinds of bad things. And everythingthat happens in the community once thesegroups run it involves a little payment.”

Eventually, milícias began receivingsupport from the state and citygovernment who wanted a share ofthe money that these organizationsproduced. For every businesstransaction, the milícias collect a tax.In addition to making businesses payfor protection, the milícias also makeresidents pay fees on theirtransactions, like the buying orselling of a house.

One particularly lucrative area for them hasbeen their control of the means oftransportation for residents seeking to travelfrom the shantytowns to the city’s downtown.According to an article that Arias wrote for

Professor Desmond Ariasin his classroom

American Quarterly last year, Rio’s major buscompanies have historically balked atproviding service to outlying areas. When localentrepreneurs began developing unlicensedvan services, the milícias bribed police tominimize the inconvenience to van drivers.

This, according to Arias, allowedthe milícias to develop a strongeconomic base that they use tocontrol a great number of legaland illegal activities, and dominatea significant portion of Rio’s poorerneighborhoods. They holdmonopolies on cooking gas, statelottery offices, Internet, cable andother services that operate withinthe favelas.

Politicians, he observed, also sought thevotes that these groups brought in fromfast-growing parts of the city. In fact, Ariasnoted, certain factions of the “urban politicalspectrum,” especially those on the right whowere concerned with drug gangs, viewed

milícias as legitimate groups that suppliedparamilitary strength to Rio.

“Some people even say the governmentallowed milícias to expand in the monthsbefore Rio hosted the [2007] Pan-AmericanGames, so they would keep the drug activitytamped down in certain parts of the city,” hesaid.

Rio drew international attention last year whendays after being awarded the 2016 OlympicGames on October 2, gang warfare broke outin an area close to the Maracana stadiumwhere the Games opening and closingceremonies will be held. In the days after theclash, police and gang members engaged infirefights that sent hundreds of residentsfleeing from their homes, according to areport by the Associated Press.

Arias’ research focused on two favelas: Onethat was run by a drug gang and the other bya milícia. Last year, the drug gang-runcommunity was finally successful in getting itsown candidate elected to the City Council.The candidate was a local businessman, witha long-term personal connection to the gang.

The milícias grew and developed until the 1990s, whenthey changed into a protection racket, according to Arias.Many of these groups include the city’s poorly paid policeand firefighters, who moonlight as members, he noted.

“Some people even say the government allowed milícias toexpand in the months before Rio hosted the [2007]Pan-American Games, so they would keep the drug activitytamped down in certain parts of the city,” he said.

1514

with themilícia’sviolenceagainst

representativesof Rio’s

middle classincreasing,

“the politicalpendulum

began to swingdramatically.”

That’s apersonalgrudge thatmight have ledto anideologicalmotivation.

Thisinformationis very usefulto lawenforcementin terms ofprioritizingresourceallocations,areas thatcould be ofinterest.

The milícia-run community was alsosuccessful in electing its candidate to the CityCouncil in 2008, a high-ranking police officerwith no formal ties to the organization. Fouryears earlier, a senior member of the milíciawon a seat on the City Council. Subsequently,another member of the milícia, a policeinvestigator from an opposing political party,was murdered. Many in the communitybelieved that the council member had beenresponsible for the investigator’s death,according to Arias.

“Both groups had a distinct influence onpolitics and secured the election of arepresentative…to the City Council,” he said.“They actually have representatives very closeto the milícia and these gangs that hold publicoffice….The question is what differencesthere are in terms of the electoral practice.”

Despite the inherent danger in asking toomany questions about a criminal organization,Arias initially did not fear for his safety.However, he became more concerned afterthe incident involving a group of journalists inthe milícia-run neighborhood of Batan.

On May 14, 2008, a 28-year-oldfemale reporter for the dailynewspaper O Dia, a newsphotographer and a driver werekidnapped. The journalists wereworking undercover on an articleabout daily life in the favela.According to a New York Timesreport, they were tortured for morethan six hours before being released.

Police arrested one man who wasbelieved to be the No. 2 in thehierarchy of the local milícia. Thegroup’s leader was also identified bythe victims, but fled before policecould capture him. Among thetormentors, the reporter recognizedthe voice of an assistant to a stateassemblyman whom she had met ata Batan restaurant.

According to Arias’ American Quarterly article,with the milícia’s violence againstrepresentatives of Rio’s middle classincreasing, “the political pendulum began toswing dramatically.”

On June 11, 2008, the state legislativeassembly approved a proposed investigationinto the milícia. On that same day, amilícia-linked bomb was exploded at a policestation. Nevertheless, a Committee ofParliamentary Inquiry (CPI) was opened and itsdetailed report found that milícias dominate171 neighborhoods in Rio’s metropolitan area.Moreover, the CPI identified two statedeputies and five city councilmen as membersof milícias.

“I was studying two different neighborhoods inthe city that were run by different types ofarmed groups…I wasn’t really seeking tolearn about criminal activities,” said Arias. “Iwas more interested in the question of howpolitics works, how they decide who tosupport and those kinds of things. People arealways a bit more willing to talk about that.”

Jennifer Nislow is a senior writer at John Jay Collegeof Criminal Justice.

studying different aspects of terrorism,Freilich and his collaborator, Steven Cermakat Michigan State University, have beencollecting data on all violent and non-violentcrimes committed by those who espouse afar-right ideology. This Extremist CrimeDatabase (ECDB) holds information onextremists who have refused to pay taxes,supplied material support, or committed othercrimes that did not involve force.

“It’s interesting to examine whetherthere is any type of relationshipbetween ideological andnon-ideological crimes,” said Freilich,who is also a research fellow at theCenter on Terrorism. In NorthernIreland, he noted, there isanecdotal evidence thatideological groups like theIRA have begun to morph intoorganized crime groups sincethe ceasefire. There are alsowhite supremacist groups inthe United States that began asnon-ideological organizationsand then grew into ones basedon extremism.“It’s an open question whether or not you canuncover particular contexts which would makethe evolution between one type and the othertype more or less likely,” said Freilich. “Onlyby having both types of crime in front of youcan you examine whether or not therelationship exists.”

What Freilich and his colleagues have found isthat in many cases, there is no “bright line”between ideological and non-ideologicalcases. Eric Rudolph, who was notorious forblowing up abortion clinics, was racist,anti-Semitic and anti-government, he noted.Yet, there were allegations that when Rudolphwas a child, his stepfather died because of alack of healthcare for which Rudolph blamedthe government.

“That’s a personal grudge that might have ledto an ideological motivation,” said Freilich.

The findings have multiple practicalimplications, he observed. One examplewould be the way homicides are unevenlydistributed across the nation. Twelve states,he noted, have not had a single murderattributed to right-wing extremists.Conversely, three states — Texas, Californiaand Florida — account for 40 percent of suchcrimes.

What Freilich and his colleagues have foundis that in many cases, there is no “bright line”between ideological and non-ideologicalcases.

Professor Joshua Freilich

A favela in Rio de Janeiro

M U L T I F A C E T E D P H E N O M E N O N

TERRORISM— LIKE THE JOHN JAY RESEARCHERS STUDYING IT—HAS MANY FACES

continued from page 4

1716

“This information is very useful to lawenforcement in terms of prioritizing resourceallocations, areas that could be of interest,”said Freilich.

Law Enforcement

Terrorism has two faces, contends ProfessorMaria R. Haberfeld, a member of theDepartment of Law, Police Science andCriminal Justice Administration, and theco-editor/co-author of three books oncounterterrorism.

“It’s context,” she said. “You talk topeople who are in law enforcementlike the [Cuerpo] Nacional de Policíaof Spain, and you’re talking aboutETA as a terrorist threat there.But when you talk to communitymembers who support theBasque separatists, they saythey are freedom fighters.”This contradiction makes it exceedinglydifficult for police engaged incounterterrorism to penetrate terrorist groups

and even make headway with theirsympathizers — particularly when those whosupport the group are law-abiding citizenswho just have a different understanding ofwhat is right for the community.

Haberfeld and her colleagues, ProfessorsJoseph King and Charles Lieberman, madethis finding during a research project that tookthem to seven countries and resulted in thebook Counterterrorism within ComparativeInternational Contexts.

The type of circumstance she describesmakes it virtually impossible to get thecommunity on board with a counterterrorismplan. Instead of being able to appeal tosomeone’s loyalty or good citizenship,explained Haberfeld, law enforcement has tobuy their cooperation with monetaryincentives.

“I think it corrupts law enforcement to acertain degree,” she said. “It corrupts fromthe moral sense…but that’s the reality of it.”

Haberfeld’s latest book is on maritimeterrorism, a problem that made headlines in2009 when Somali pirates hijacked theU.S.-registered Maersk Alabama cargo ship.

Instead of being able to appeal to someone’s loyalty or goodcitizenship, explained Haberfeld, law enforcement has to buy theircooperation with monetary incentives.

“I think it corrupts law enforcement to a certain degree,” she said.“It corrupts from the moral sense…but that’s the reality of it.”

USS Coleshows the damage to

the U.S. destroyerafter a terrorist attack

The consequences andrepercussions of maritimeterrorism would be dramatic,according to Haberfeld. Inaddition to the economicmisfortune that would affectconsumers as ships are forced tocarry more costly insurance,there is also the chance of amajor disaster.“They could hijack a ship that is capable ofcoming here with weapons of massdestruction,” she said.

Professor Peter Romaniuk, a research fellowat the Center and member of the Departmentof Political Science, is also involved incounterterrorism research, although hisspecific focus differs from that of Haberfeld.In his recent book MultilateralCounterterrorism: The Global Politics ofCooperation and Contestation, Romaniukfocuses on the ways in which countriescooperate with each other to thwart terroristactivities and the conditions under whichthey do so.

Romaniuk also examines the financialunderpinnings of terrorist activities,following the activities of the U.N.Security Council, which has the

power to impose multilateral financialsanctions such as those imposed onSaddam Hussein in the 1990s.

“I sort of conform to the view that there is nosuch thing as a purely domestic terrorist,” hesaid.

Many of the right-wing groups in this country,noted Romaniuk, share an affinity withright-wing Nazis abroad, as well as a penchantfor gang violence.

“Whether it is through a material connection, adirect connection or an ideologicalconnection,” a domestic terrorist is unlikely tobe “purely motivated by things within the U.S.borders or fund his activities from resourcesobtained within the U.S. borders,” he said.

They couldhijack a ship

that is capableof cominghere with

weapons ofmass

destruction.

Many of theright-winggroups inthis countryshare anaffinity withright-wingNazis abroad,as well as apenchant forgangviolence.

Professor Maria R. Haberfeld

Professor Peter Romaniuk

Search and rescue activityat the Oklahoma Citybombing site

19

Professor Charles B. Stozier

Men of Stone by GW Miller

Professor Shuki Cohen

WhileSeptember 11, 2001was a terrible,tragic event,it was notapocalyptic in theliteral sense ofthat word.

Yet that was howthe publicexperienced it,especially those atthe World TradeCenter.

They believed theywere the victims ofa nuclear attack.

“But anything that has to do with words andassociations between words, we don’t see.The computer can see that.”

Through this close reading of the documentsand the creation of a “thematic map of theconcerns” stated by suicide bombers in theirlast words, Cohen found that vengeanceplayed little part in their thinking. Moreimportant was the fear of forgetfulness andthe preservation of memory in the face ofwhat they believe is Israel’s goal “of erasingthe memory of the Palestinians,” he said.

“Basically, what you see is exactly what thePalestinian conflict is about,” said Cohen. “It’sa war of memory...once you put it as a war ofmemory, you suddenly see exactly what ishappening.” He added, “You also start tounderstand and appreciate the committeeson truth and reconciliation. You understandwhy that has arisen as a way to end aconflict. It’s like when you are going through adivorce. We will live so much better if wehave a compromised narrative that we bothagree on.”

While September 11, 2001 was a terrible,tragic event, it was not apocalyptic in theliteral sense of that word. Yet that was howthe public experienced it, especially those atthe World Trade Center. They believed theywere the victims of a nuclear attack.According to the Center on Terrorism’sStrozier, people imposed a nuclear templateon the event so that when the first buildingcame down, they saw mushroom clouds.

A member of the Department of History anda psychoanalyst, Strozier’s scholarly interestand research has long focused on nuclearweapons and apocalyptic thinking. Since2001, he has turned his attention to religionand Christian fundamentalism.

“You really can’t begin toappreciate the enormous politicalconsequences of 9/11, the culturaland spiritual consequences, unlessyou grasp how much of it was felt tobe apocalyptic,” said Strozier.

In a book he is writing based on interviewsconducted with witnesses in the daysfollowing the attacks, Strozier divides theseindividuals into four “zones of sadness,” withthe first zone including survivors who sawpeople die. The second zone is made up ofwitnesses who saw the whole event happen— as Strozier did from the West Village. Thethird zone is composed of people who werecaught up in the confusion, on closed bridgesand in tunnels. The last group is theonlookers, who saw it on television.

“What I try to do is tell the story of this majorterrorist attack from within the experience ofsurvivors,” he said. “I think that gives you anappreciation of what it means, in a way thatyou can never have when you look at it fromthe outside.”

Jennifer Nislow is a senior writer at John Jay Collegeof Criminal Justice.

18

Sneh’sresearch ison how toapproach

terrorism in“a policy way,”

one thatdoes notinclude

the use oftorture.

Professor Itai Sneh

History

Torture is a sign that a regime isillegitimate and about to fall,according to Professor Itai Sneh,a member of the Department ofHistory who is writing a book onterrorism through the ages.

Torture, he explained, is a sign of weakness,not a sign of strength. It means that agovernment can no longer persuade ordissuade others.

“It basically says, ‘We can’t win any otherway,” said Sneh. “Empires that are about tocrash torture the most. The Inquisitiontortured the most when Catholicism waslosing from within, or later on, toProtestantism.”

The reason for the attacks on theUnited States is that the country makesan easy target for terrorists whose rageis stoked by issues in their owncountries, such as Egypt, Jordan,Pakistan and Afghanistan, he explained.Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’ssecond-in- command, noted Sneh, hadbeen a doctor. He became radicalizedafter being tortured in Egypt in the wakeof Anwar Sadat’s assassination in 1981.

Sneh’s research is on how to approachterrorism in “a policy way,” one that does notinclude the use of torture, he explained.

“Let’s not roll over, but touch theraw materials, the coreissues...the core groups may notbe persuaded, but the vastmajority of those who supportthem with money, they can bepersuaded.” Psychology

What can be learned about suicide bombersfrom the last will and testaments that theyleave with their families? That perhaps theyare not fueled by vengeance, as is commonlybelieved, but rather by what Professor ShukiCohen calls “the imperative of memory.”

Wills have a long tradition in the Muslimreligion, said Cohen, a member of theDepartment of Psychology and researchfellow at the Center. By poring over theInternet, reading personal blogs and chatroom discussions, he has been able tocollect nearly 90 of them. Cohen then utilizesthe methodology of content analysis touncover meanings that the writer might nothave consciously intended. For this, he usesa computer program he developedspecifically for this purpose.

“I look for subtle differences that we may notpick up because our brain is designed toextract the gist of what we are saying,” saidCohen, who has a background inneuroscience as well as clinical psychology.

Torture, he explained, is a sign of weakness, not a sign ofstrength. It means that a government can no longerpersuade or dissuade others.

Cohen found that vengeance played little part in their[suicide bomber’s] thinking. More important was the fear offorgetfulness and the preservation of memory....

2120

continued from page 10

Rape Crisis Response, a training session conducted in the 1970s by the Criminal Justice Repertory Group (CJs) Bayview 1, a prison-based drama production by Professor Lorraine Moller at Bayview Correctional Facility Photo: Richard Moller

Criminal Justice & The TheaterAt John Jay, A Perfect Fit

several other plays. We would holddiscussions with the classes and talk abouthow issues in criminal justice were reflected inthe plays.”

As so often happens, one thing led to another.Word spread, and the CJs began to receiveinvitations to do their “structuredimprovisations” — a term St. George coined— for police, corrections, probation andparole agencies. Through the CJs, shealso met (and later married) cast mateFrank Canavan (BS ’78), who brought theperspective of a private security industryveteran and saw that the training approachcould be applied to a much wider audiencethan just criminal justice professionals.“There’s an incredibly wide application of thislearning technique,” Canavan said, and his

and St. George’s career path have borne outthe truth of that. St. George and Canavanwent on to attend graduate school at NewYork University, studying learning theory,educational theater and related subjects.Their respective master’s degrees served asthe foundation for what would become PACTTraining [www.pacttraining.com], their wildlyinventive and wholly original training firm, theessence of which is the structuredimprovisation.

“It’s learning by osmosis — subversivelearning,” St. George observed. “With thesetraining exercises we help to redirect peopletoward other choices that they have, so theycan choose different paths.” This process ofself-discovery, Canavan added, is part of theessence of adult learning.

Reentry through the Arts

Professor Moller has seen the truth ofCanavan and St. George’s assessment mostvividly through her theater work withincarcerated women at the medium-securityBayview Correctional Facility in Manhattan,and with male inmates at Sing Sing Prison.“Prisoners are role-deprived,” said Moller.“Drama-based activities allow prisoners toresume rehearsing and playing real-life roles infictive settings, which has a resocializingeffect, and allows the actor to observe theconsequences of behavior.” Moller’s Bayviewproduction of Metamorphoses, using a cast ofinmates and John Jay actors, won an awardfrom the American College Theater Festivalfor its contribution to theater outreach.

Moller said studies by her and others haveshown that prisoners engaged in theateractivities have reduced levels of anger. “Itteaches emotion management and control,”she observed. Theater has also been shownto improve discipline and behavior, promote

empathy and coping skills; and foster a senseof community and mutual responsibility.

“Going one step further,” Moller said, “it givesdisadvantaged people cultural capital, afeeling that one owns a piece of what‘educated’ people have.” Providing access tothis kind of cultural wealth can enhance one’sself-esteem, she observed.

Another member of the Department,Professor Greg Donaldson, who has workedwith Moller in Bayview productions, needs noconvincing as to the power of theater as aneducational tool. “There’s nothing quite liketheater work in prison,” he said. “You can’timagine what it’s like to work with 25 womenwho are serious felons. Theater is highlytherapeutic, and through it prisoners can learnabout things in ways we can’t begin tounderstand.”

A similar effect can be seen in the classroomsof John Jay. “Dramatic things happen in myclassroom,” Donaldson said. “They never

“It’s learning by osmosis — subversive learning,” St. Georgeobserved. “With these training exercises we help to redirect peopletoward other choices that they have, so they can choose differentpaths.” This process of self-discovery, Canavan added,is part of the essence of adult learning.

Moller said studies by her and others have shown that prisoners engagedin theater activities have reduced levels of anger. “It teaches emotionmanagement and control,” she observed.

Theater has also been shown to improve discipline and behavior, promoteempathy and coping skills, and foster a sense of community and mutualresponsibility.

the CJs beganto receive

invitations todo their

“structuredimprovisations”

— a termSt. Georgecoined —

for police,corrections,

probation andparole agencies.

“Prisoners arerole-deprived,”said Moller.“Drama-basedactivities allowprisoners toresume rehearsingand playingreal-life roles infictive settings,which has aresocializingeffect, and allowsthe actor toobserve theconsequences ofbehavior.”

FOR REDUCING VIOLENCE, IT TAKES A

NETW RKcontinued from page 7

23

Assistant District

Attorney Risco

Mention-Lewis was

also skeptical at

first. She thought

to herself

“what are you

white folk

thinking of now.”

The drugmarket hasessentiallydisappearedas a result ofKennedy’sstrategies.

22

“There’s nothing quite like theater work in prison,” he said.“You can’t imagine what it’s like to work with 25 women who areserious felons. Theater is highly therapeutic, and through it prisonerscan learn about things in ways we can’t begin to understand.”

This isn’tprofessionaltheater, but

we’re trying toprepare students

for theprofessional

world.

There arestudents whohave so muchinside them

that’s untapped,and theater

can help bringthat out.

When you do,it’s a

beautifulthing.

A scene from A Few Good woMen

Nassau County Assistant District Attorney Risco Mention-Lewis

misgivings. Fealy, whose jurisdiction hasused Kennedy’s strategies successfully since1997, noted, “This is usually outside thecomfort zone for prosecutors, police andeven members of the community” who arenew to this approach. Police Chief ThomasStreicher of Cincinnati was at first skepticalof these methods. In 2001, his city was thescene of the country’s last race riot. In 2006,the city had 89 homicides, the highest in thehistory of the department. “We met withDavid and I thought ‘what’s he talking about,this can’t possibly work.’ Our homicides arenow at the lowest point they have been in 10years.” Using Kennedy’s gang strategy, theInternational Association of Chiefs of Policeawarded the Cincinnati Police Department thecoveted Weber Seavey Award for 2008.

In Nassau County, District Attorney KathleenRice took the lead. One six-block area inHempstead was responsible for 15 percentof the drug arrests in the county. AssistantDistrict Attorney Risco Mention-Lewis wasalso skeptical at first. She thought to herself

“what are you white folk thinking of now.” Thedrug market has essentially disappeared asa result of Kennedy’s strategies and shecurrently runs an innovative program inHempstead called the Council of Thought andAction where 300 ex-offenders meet twice aweek — a process that, she says, providesindividuals with a sense of integrity.Letting offenders know that thecommunity values them is essential.But just as important, is an honestdialogue that must occur between lawenforcement and the minoritycommunity. For Lewis, “everyone in thisprocess — the police, the DA, and theservice providers — had to come in anddo some truth telling about the way theyhad been treating the population.”

The Call-In: A Process of Revelation

For Kennedy, “the work has been a processof revelation.” The call-in, which began as atool of the strategies, has now become itscenterpiece. A carefully orchestrated event,there is always worry among all concerned— the law enforcement members, thecommunity members, even the offenders —that each of the others will not appear. But asKennedy points out, “comes the day andeverybody shows up. The call-in becomes aplace where they can say things that theydon’t seem to be able to say anywhere else.It’s where the mother of a dead child can saywhat this had done to her.” Kennedy alsopointed out that the call-in allows thecommunity to see that law enforcementofficers are not the predators that somebelieve them to be. Conversely, it allows thelaw enforcement community to see that the

know what’s going to happen next.For me, the performance is in the serviceof the teaching.”

An Ancient Teaching Tool

Added Professor Tarantino, who likeDonaldson teaches a criminal justice andtheater course: “Theater unifies acrossdisciplines. For example, what better wayto teach criminology than to explore themind of a criminal?” The use of theater toteach is ancient, she observed. “The Greeksknew this, and the Bible is just filled withtheater,” said Tarantino. “Theater is simply abetter teaching tool.” In a college like JohnJay, the effect is enhanced, since “there isn’ta play written that’s not about justice,”according to Tarantino. “If there’s no conflict,there’s no play.”

As if to ensure that the educationalvalue of theater is optimized,

Tarantino typically accompanies herJohn Jay productions with a one-daysymposium on a relevant topic:street gangs for West Side Story,justice and theology for The LastDays of Judas Iscariot and, for theforthcoming production of SweeneyTodd, a discussion of vigilantejustice.

“The play’s the thing,” Shakespeare observedin Hamlet, and Tarantino would likely be quickto concur. “This isn’t professional theater, butwe’re trying to prepare students for theprofessional world. There are students whohave so much inside them that’s untapped,and theater can help bring that out. When youdo, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Peter Dodenhoff is editor of @John Jay.

“We met with David and I thought ‘what’s he talking about, thiscan’t possibly work.’ Our homicides are now at the lowestpoint they have been in 10 years.” Using Kennedy’s gangstrategy, the International Association of Chiefs of Police awardedthe Cincinnati Police Department the coveted Weber SeaveyAward for 2008.

2524

The call-inbecomes a

place wherethey can saythings thatthey don’t

seemto be able to

sayanywhere

else.

community is neither complacent norcomplicit about the violence it is experiencing.

Dante Ingram and Clarence Williams wentthrough the process and now function asstreet outreach workers in Cincinnati whowork with (not for) police to help mitigatecircumstances that can lead to outbreaks ofviolence. For Ingram, the process began witha knock on the door from his probationofficer. “It was particularly scary. I had my gunand my drugs on the table.” He was awaitinghis “lick” — a drug buyer — and had 10 years“on the shelf” — the sentence that awaitedhim with the next arrest. Instead of cominginto the house, his probation officer handedhim the notice to attend a call-in. It turned hislife around. For Williams, the community’smoral voice made the difference. “The call-insaved my life,” he says. Williams had beendealing drugs since he was 13 and wasaddicted to the life style — the street life.“When you hear from people who have avested interest in the neighborhood, themother that lost her kid — that really hit me.

Hearing from the policechief saying that they havebeen doing things thewrong way…that was alsoa big step.”

The “wrong way” that Williams referred to isthe practice of conducting police sweeps,sometimes called zero tolerance, that oftentake place in such neighborhoods, wherealmost everyone is stopped and numerousarrests are made for all kinds of offensesgreat and small. In High Point, Fealy says thatusing sweeps was ultimately making thingsworse. “We had the community up in armswith our tactics, well intentioned though theywere.” According to Yale Law School’s DeputyDean Tracey Meares and Professor WaltonHale Hamilton, these arrest-intensive methodscan often embolden gangs, “but police alsolose the assistance of their primary partner inthe suppression of violence — thecommunity.”

Meares believes that thestrategies not only reduceviolence, but that theyalso “produce a sense ofjustice.” She is workingwith the Chicago team,which recently reported a37 percent reduction in thehomicide rate in its highestcrime police districts wherethese strategies are beingused. One of the fears Fealy had at first wasengaging in a truth-telling dialogue in theminority community. Pastor William ShermanMason recalled, “When Chief Fealy came to ameeting in our community and launched hisspeech with ‘We failed you, we let you down,’there was pin-drop silence. People were sofired up to blow folks out of the water. Hedisarmed them. It set the stage for change.”In High Point, violent crime has substantiallydecreased and in 2007 the department won

the prestigious Innovations in AmericanGovernment Award from Harvard’s John F.Kennedy School of Government, the secondtime Kennedy’s strategies were given thehonor — the first time was for his work inBoston in 1997.

That’s not to say that these methodsare “soft” on really bad offenders.Referring to an arrest of a drugdealer who had been plaguing hisneighborhood, Mason noted,“I believe in prison…there aresome folks that need a reality check,so I had no problem with seeing himcarried off and neither did thecommunity.” In criminology circles,it is generally accepted that a smallpercentage of offenders areresponsible for a disproportionateamount of violence.

According to Striecher, “our law enforcementefforts are now focused on the worst of theworst.” He likens the process in military termsto the difference between carpet bombing andclinical strikes, where collateral damage isreduced. Fealy pointed out that thecommunity is involved with decisionsregarding who will be arrested. “When we satdown initially, we made the decisions of thosewho would get prosecution and those whowould not with the community at the table...we’re all in it together.” For many of theconference participants, these strategiesrepresent not just a successful program, but a“movement” that can fundamentally changethe way police do business in neighborhoodsthat are beset by violence. From numerousreports coming in from around the countryand abroad, Kennedy’s innovative strategiesare proving to be the most effective since theintroduction of community policing.

Marie Rosen is a senior editor at John Jay Collegeof Criminal Justice.

For Kennedy, “the work has been a process ofrevelation.” The call-in, which began as a toolof the strategies, has now become itscenterpiece.

“When Chief Fealy came to a meeting in our community andlaunched his speech with ‘We failed you, we let you down,’there was pin-drop silence. People were so fired up to blowfolks out of the water. He disarmed them. It set the stage forchange.”

Professor David Kennedy

Tracey Meares, Deputy Dean,Yale Law School Pastor William Sherman Mason

For many of the conference participants, these strategiesrepresent not just a successful program, but a “movement” thatcan fundamentally change the way police do business inneighborhoods that are beset by violence.

According to

Yale Law School’s

Deputy Dean

Tracey Meares

and Professor

Walton Hale

Hamilton,

arrest-intensive

methods can

often embolden

gangs, “but police

also lose the

assistance of their

primary partner in

the suppression of

violence —

the community.”

2726

Alumni Worth Noting

“Here at CUNY,

we truly

transform lives.

People come to

CUNY and they

become successful.

That’s our mission

and I can’t think

of any mission

that is better

than that.”

Clark is the

acting executive

director of

CUNY’s Office of

Business and

Industry

Relations.

John B. Clark (MPA ’77)

When the Vietnam War kept him frompursuing his dream of teaching, John Jayalumnus John B. Clark (MPA ’77), redirectedhis passion for higher education by using hisfinancial acumen to help students have thesame transformational experience that hehad in college.

“The irony of my life is that I always wantedto be in the university as a professor andthings kept getting in the way,” said Clark,the newly appointed acting executive directorof CUNY’s Office of Business and IndustryRelations. “When I graduated from college Iwas an honors student in history, but theU.S. Army intervened. By the time I got out, Iwas advised that history jobs — forget it.”

So, Clark went to work. After holdingpositions at a number of municipal agencies,including the New York City Housing Authorityand the New York City Health and HospitalsCorporation, he became involved in municipalbonds and public finance. Clark spent 18years as a Wall Street analyst and investmentbanker who specialized in healthcare andhigher education financing.

It was during those years that he furtheredhis education. Clark has three master’sdegrees and a doctorate. In addition to a BAin history from Providence College, he alsoholds an MPA from John Jay; an MA ineconomics from Fordham University; an MSin philosophy from New York University; anda doctorate in politics and education fromTeachers College, Columbia University. Evenhis dissertation, Clark points out, was on oneof the most well known classical works onthe University, The Idea of University by JohnHenry Cardinal Newman.

“My wife said, ‘What’s up with this?’ I saidsome guys go fishing, some guys gobowling, your husband goes up to the attic towrite his dissertation,” said Clark.

In addition to encouraging New York City’sbusiness community to hire more CUNYgraduates, he will also work at creatingcloser, more direct links between theUniversity and that community.

“CUNY’s Chancellor Matthew Goldstein feltthat we are in New York City, which is thefinancial capital of the world, and we havethis wonderful faculty…there is a natural linkbetween investment wealth in New York andthe ideas that our faculty generate where wecan form collaborations, start-up companies,patent ideas….”

Besides bringing his business expertise toCUNY, Clark also brings a deepunderstanding of higher education from theadministration side. He served as interimchancellor for the State University ofNew York (SUNY) and as interim president atthe SUNY colleges at Plattsburgh, AlfredState, Brockport and the College ofOptometry before joining CUNY. He alsoserved as SUNY’s interim vice chancellor forenrollment management and university life.

“What kept me going on all the campuseswhere I have worked, are the students,” saidClark. “On Wall Street, you’re there for onereason — to make money and support yourfamily. When you’re in higher education,particularly public higher education, you notonly can support your family but you’re therefor a noble cause,” he said. “Here at CUNY,we truly transform lives. People come toCUNY and they become successful. That’sour mission and I can’t think of any missionthat is better than that.”

“A successful and

satisfying career

begins with a first

step,” he says.

“For me attending

John Jay was that

first step. I would

not have had

my first

opportunity in

law enforcement

if it weren’t for

the College.

John Jay and

the people I met

there opened

the door for me.”

Gimlett is

Senior Vice

President for

Global Security

for the New York

Stock Exchange.

Alumni Worth Noting

Brian Gimlett (BS ’75)

When Brian Gimlett began his studies at JohnJay in 1972, he was working as a messengeron the trading floor at the New York StockExchange (NYSE). As fate would have it,some 34 years later in 2006 he was namedSenior Vice President for Global Security forthat same Exchange, which now includesLondon, Paris, Brussels, Lisbon, Amsterdamand an interest in Doha, Quatar. He alsoserves as the Exchange’s primary liaison withlocal, state, federal and international lawenforcement agencies. At the time of Brian’sappointment, former NYSE CEO John Thainnoted, “Brian brings a level of knowledge andexperience that make him an outstandingaddition to our organization.”

That “knowledge and experience” began atJohn Jay. He initially wanted to follow in hisbrother’s footsteps and join the NYPD.However, at John Jay he met a number ofpeople who encouraged him to look intoother types of law enforcement positions.At the time, the late Governor NelsonRockefeller had just set up the Office of theSpecial Prosecutor to investigate corruptionin the criminal justice system. Gimlett, like anumber of John Jay students and alumni,became a part of that effort. He started as aconfidential clerk. Once he received hisdegree in criminal justice in 1975, he workedas a special investigator. From there it wason to the Secret Service.

Brian spent 22 years with the Service,starting with assignments in Philadelphia,Atlantic City and Washington, DC. Hereturned to New York and eventuallybecame the Special Agent in Charge, thetop job in the New York Office. In the SecretService, “I had two main responsibilities —investigations and protection.” This proactiveand reactive background is important in thecorporate world, says Gimlett, who workedfor Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and MBNAbefore joining the NYSE. “When you work in acorporation, many times you have to wearmultiple hats.”

A big difference between public lawenforcement and corporate security, hepoints out, is that there is more emphasis oncustomer service. “You have to buildconsensus with your customers, themanagers who are responsible for thebusiness. You have to show you are providingvalue to the company.”

There’s no question that corporate securitytook on new importance after 9/11. And it’sno secret that the Exchange is a terroristtarget. Dealing with the terrorist threat is oneof Gimlett’s primary duties. He, like a numberof John Jay alumni, is a member of Bankersand Brokers — former law enforcementexecutives who have security clearance andshare information. “We work hand-in-handwith the NYPD Counterterrorism Division, theFBI and a number of federal agencies thatprovide us with intelligence information.” Atthe Exchange, the “primary boots on theground” in addition to his own armed securitypeople, “are the NYPD that are here 24/7 for365 days a year. It’s an unbelievablepartnership.”

Gimlett is quick to credit the College forproviding that critical first step in his career.“A successful and satisfying career beginswith a first step,” he says. “For me attendingJohn Jay was that first step. I would not havehad my first opportunity in law enforcement ifit weren’t for the College. John Jay and thepeople I met there opened the door for me.”

28

Farrell M. Adams, BA ’83, retired from the U.S. Department of HomelandSecurity Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in May 2009 as asenior special agent with over 21 years of federal law enforcementexperience.

Tyberius D. Asante, BA ’96, was promoted to project manager withUniversity Behavioral Associates (UBA), a behavioral care and substanceabuse managed care company affiliated with Montefiore Medical Center.

Lissette Barrios-Reyes, BA ’05, held several positions since graduation,including that of a case manager/court liaison for the New York StateCourts, where she worked with the elderly and provided alcohol andsubstance abuse counseling. She now holds a position with the Town ofIslip, NY, working with teen parents and members of the community.

Shantal M. Carter, MA ’07, quickly got her “dream job” as a correctionscounselor for the New York State Department of Correctional Services“thanks to [her] degree from John Jay.”

Salvatore J. Cassano, BS ’76, was appointed as New York City’s 32ndfire commissioner by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on December 21, 2009.

Wendy E. Chavez, MPA ’04, is the national academic director of theUniversidad del Pacifico in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

David E. Chong, BS ’80, was named commissioner of public safety inMount Vernon, NY.

Carrie V. David, BA ’06, was offered a position as a budget manager atNew York University and is also pursuing a MPA in public finance at theRobert F. Wagner School of Public Service. She says, “I am foreverdevoted to John Jay.”

Yvonne Segar Davis, BS ’97, received a MPA from Savannah StateUniversity.

Richard Goff, BS ’74, a former NYPD detective 3rd grade, is currently aprofessor of criminal justice and criminology at Ventura College in Ventura, CA.

Camille A. Gould, BS ’08, is in her second year of law school.

Timothy J. Horohoe, MPA ’07, is an adjunct faculty member in theDepartment of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration atJohn Jay.

Natasha M. (Iheme) Henry, BS ’00, completed a master’s degree in2008 and owns a driving school in Baltimore, MD. She also works for Ernst& Young.

Connie Jones-Hairston, BA ’01, is a legal assistant with the UnitedStates Attorney’s Office.

Sedeke M. Kamara, BA ’04, is working as a law enforcement officer withthe New York City Department of Correction at Rikers Island. She is marriedwith two beautiful daughters. ages 3 and 2 years.

Robert J. MacMaster, BS ’08, became a deputy U.S. marshal in theDistrict of Wyoming. With members of a number of agencies, he recentlyhelped support law enforcement and drug intervention operations for the69th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, SD.

John McCormack, BA ’05, was promoted to the position of nationalimport specialist associate within the Office of International Trade underU.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Joshua A. McElroy, BA ’07, was hired as a Connecticut state trooper.

Yessenia Mendez, BA ’06, is currently taking the paralegal certificatecourse through the Continuing Education program at John Jay College.

Tamara A. Monell, BA ’00 & MS ’04, is CEO of her private practice,Peaceful Minds Inc., which she began in 2007 in Miami Beach, FL. Inaddition to individual, family and couples counseling, she works as apsychotherapist with therapeutic and educational groups at communitymental health centers and online. She is also a premarital course providerregistered with Miami-Dade County.

Amar R. Moody, BA ’02, has been a child protective specialist forNew York City Children Services (ACS) for over three years.

Angelo L. Morales, BA ’08, a detective with the NYPD, is currentlyenrolled in John Jay’s graduate program in protection management.

Rebecca E. Paul, BA ’07, was recently employed by the New York StateUnified Court System, working with the Rockland County Drug Court as acase manager to monitor clients who have committed crimes due to theirdrug and/or alcohol addiction. She notes, “This job is very rewardingbecause I can help people change their lives and live as law-abiding,productive members of society.”

Lisa D. Peay, BA ‘99, is currently working at Create, Inc. as a CredentialedAlcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC).

Michael E. Ruggiero, MA ’09, is teaching as an adjunct professor in theDepartment of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration atJohn Jay.

Frank Straub, MA ’90, stepped down as commissioner of public safety inWhite Plains, NY and was subsequently named public safety director inIndianapolis, IN.

John F.Timoney, BA ’74, stepped down as police chief of Miami, FL andis now senior vice president of Business Development, Consulting andInvestigations for Andrews International, the largest privately ownedfull-service provider of security and risk mitigation services in the UnitedStates.

Benjamin B. Tucker, BS ’77, was nominated by President Barack Obamaas deputy director for state, local and tribal affairs at the Office of NationalDrug Control Policy. He currently serves as a professor of criminal justiceat Pace University.

Elyse Y. Warner-Lyons, BS ’00, obtained a Certificate in HR Benefits andCompensation from Cornell University in 2008 and a Certificate in EarlyIntervention from the New York State Health Department in 2009.

Scott C. Weems, BA ’95, started working for the Immigration andNaturalization Service in 1997 as a detention enforcement officer.He later was promoted to an immigration enforcement agent and thena deportation officer. In 2009 he was again promoted to detention anddeportation officer at ICE Immigration and Customs EnforcementHeadquarters in Washington, DC as the residential facilities coordinator forthe Juvenile and Family Residential Management Unit, where he is currentlyassigned. “None of this would have been possible without obtaining mydegree from John Jay,” he notes.

Beatrice Wilkinson Welters, MA ’78, was nominated by President BarackObama as Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. She iscurrently president and chairperson of the AnBryce Foundation.

Mark Zarbailov, BS ’00, has been director of database services for theEthical Culture Fieldston School since 2005. In 2008, he established afundraising technology consultant company, Datawebflex, which helpseducational institutions, non-profit organizations and small to mid-sizedbusinesses achieve maximum outcome from their information systems.

Alumni Class Notes

29

PLANNED GIVINGEveryone can play a part in the future of the College, especially in ensuring the success of future programsand activities.

A bequest to the John Jay College Foundation, Inc. will contribute significantly and forever, either toward theJohn Jay Endowment Fund or in support of a particular program, lectureship or scholarship fund.

When formulating your bequest, the following wording is suggested:

I give and bequeath to John Jay College Foundation, Inc., New York, NY,$____________ to be added to the principal of the John Jay Endowment Fund, theincome to be credited each year in my name.

It is as simple as that, and just imagine what your gift will provide for future generations of students who followin your footsteps.

John Jay CollegeT h e C i T y U n i v e r s i T y o f n e w y o r k

of Criminal Justice899 TenTh AvenUe new york, ny 10019 www.jjay.cuny.edu

Campus expansion project (Phase II) construction site on February 1, 2010