Myah I. Grimm

            Myah I. Grimm is an undergradute student pursuing a dual major in Criminology and Criminal Justice and Political Science at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2022. Upon graduation, she intends to further her studies and attend law school. Myah serves as the Vice President of Lindenwood University’s chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success. Myah’s research interest include social injustice, women’s rights, and the over representation of certain groups in the justice system.

Sgt. Raj Jaswal

            Sergeant Raj Jaswal has worked within the criminal justice system for the last 15 years in a frontline and investigative capacity as a member of the Vancouver Police Department. Raj has extensive experience in intelligence gathering along with gang enforcement, intervention and suppression. In 2014, he was recognized for his work with a Deputy Chief Constable commendation for developing strategies to curb gang violence in South Vancouver. In 2021, he was recognized for his superior accomplishments in gang investigations by the National Gang Crime Research Center in Chicago, Illinois, with the Frederick Milton Thrasher Award. In 2022, he was recognized for demonstrating outstanding professionalism and profound dedication to the safety of the communities he serves by the Ontario Gang Investigators Association with the Jim Aspiotis Memorial Award.

            Raj is part of a select cadre of Police Officers across Canada who are certified instructors in criminal vehicle interdiction training. Raj provides training and education to Canadian law enforcement o current and emerging trends related to the “travelling criminal”. Raj is also a recognized instructor for the U.S. Drug Interdiction Assistance Program that trains and educates law enforcement officers across the United States.

            Raj has a genuine passion for combining his practical experiences with his educational training. Raj serves as a guest lecturer for post-secondary criminology departments. Raj’s dedication to his community has resulted in him being the recipient of community service awards from within the City of Vancouver for his commitment to the communities he has worked in.

Reginald Jeffries 

            Reginald Jeffries is a Youth and Gang Prevention Outreach Worker for the City of Danville where he facilitates the Sports-Based Youth Diversion and developmental program. He is the CEO and Head Coach of the Virginia Dream, a Professional Men’s Basketball Team based out of Martinsville, Virginia. He was a fall 2018 charter member of the Phi Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated at Radford University.

Dr. Ternae T. Jordan, Sr.

            Dr. Ternae Jordan is a highly respected leader and inspirational speaker. He is one of the world’s leaders in spiritual enlightenment, community engagement, and leadership. He is a pastor, mentor, father, and a worldwide transformational and inspirational speaker. For more than 40 years, Dr. Jordan created and shaped community and national initiatives. He is known for his passion and enthusiastic style of delivery and his ability to connect and translate his skills and knowledge into transformational ideas. His passion for serving God and compassion for reaching people extends far and wide. In 1992, he created the award-winning Stop the Madness program. He has received numerous awards, recognitions, and honors including the Jefferson Award from the American Institute for Public Service recognizing him for outstanding public service. Indiana Governor Joseph E. Kernan awarded him the Sagamore of the Wabash Award, the highest honor bestowed on a citizen in the State of Indiana. The word “Sagamore” was a leadership word used by American Indian tribes to describe a great person among the tribe to whom the existing chief would consult for wisdom and advice. Sagamore also means “respected chief” and first appeared in reference to Chingachgook in the classic book The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.

Janice Joseph, Ph.D.

            Janice Joseph, Ph.D. is a professor of the Criminal Justice Program at Stockton University, in Pomona, New Jersey. She is the Editor for Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice. She earned her Ph.D. degree from York University in Toronto, Canada. She is the author of the book: Black Youths, Delinquency, and Juvenile Justice; and she co-edited the book With Justice for All: Minorities and Women in Criminal Justice; and she has published numerous articles on delinquency, gangs, violence against women, and minorities and crime. She has earned a Frederic Thrasher Award for her research on gangs and has successfully completed several gang specialist training programs at the National Gang Crime Research Center. She was elected to be the president of the World Society of Victimology (WSV) and gives her presidential speech during the 17^th International Symposium of the WSV being held in San Sebastian, Spain in June, 2023.

Deputy Joe Kajy

            Deputy Joe Kajy has three years of law enforcement investigative experience with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan where he is assigned to the Gang Intelligence Unit. Prior to that, he has a combined eleven years of experience in network administration, management of information systems and open-source intelligence. Being a fresh technical face in law enforcement, he has been the recipient of three awards during his career. Specializing in open-source intelligence gathering and internet investigations, he strives to provide streamlined methods for gathering information in criminal investigations.

George W. Knox, Ph.D.

            George Knox earned his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago. He has extensive field experience with gangs, including interviewing gang members, gang leaders, and gang victims. He has taught in the field of criminal justice and sociology. He serves as the Executive Director of the National Gang Crime Research Center. He was the author of the first full textbook on gangs (An Introduction to Gangs) and other books and monographs on gang topics. His research interests include how to deal with gang problems in probation/parole, juvenile corrections, adult corrections, and gang threat analysis — examining the gang as a unit of social organization.

Maggie E. Koch, JD

            Maggie E. Koch JD is an assistant prosecutor with the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office, in Toledo, OH. She is responsible for the prosecution of all levels of felony offenses in the adult criminal division, both as first and second chair.

Lawrence Lujan

            Lawrence Lujan has led a distinguished (33) year career with the El Paso Police Department (EPD) since 1990. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy (Class 274), and a past Chief Judge, Pueblo at National American Indian Court Judges Association. Lawrence served as Gang Unit Lieutenant, Gang Unit field officer, and tactical team experience with EPD SWAT, Mountain Rescue, and Anti-Burglary. Lawrence has worked alongside the Policia National Civil with ITTA’s ongoing Officer Survival Project ‘Uso Tactica de la Fuerza y Sobrevivencia Policial’. 

Keiron McConnell, Ph.D.

            Keiron holds a Doctorate Degree in Policing, Security and Community Safety from Metropolitan London University, a Masters of Science Degree in Policing and Public Order Studies from the University of Leicester, a Bachelor of General Studies Degree from the Open University of British Columbia, a Diploma in Police Leadership from Dalhousie University and a Certificate in Public Sector Leadership from Royal Roads University. This academic achievement come with 29 years of operational experience with the last 15 years exclusively in gang suppression with a variety of police gang units. Keiron has provided consulting services that included the Royal Saudi Arabian Police and the Peoples Republic of China Police. He has instructed at the JIBC-Police Academy for three years in Professional Patrol Tactics and continues as a guest lecturer. In addition, he is a faculty member at Kwantlen Polytechnic University where he teaches Organized Crime. He is a regular guest instructor for the policing program at Simon Fraser University and is the author of the textbook “Legal and Regulatory Influences for Public Safety Communications”.

Luis Flores-Montalvo

            Luis Flores-Montalvo is a decorated 29 year veteran of El Salvador’s Policia National Civil including ten years with the Grupo Maritimo Policial (GMP) where he conducted interagency work with DEA. Luis is an accomplished in-service training instructor with long term roles in specialized training. He is currently involved in an Officer Survival training project with El Salvador’s Policia Nacional Civil (PNC). He is also a recipient of the Frederic Milton Thrasher Award from the NGCRC.

Cpl. Wilmer Moran

            CPL Wilmer Moran is the Military Liaison for the Office of Constable Alan Rosen, Harris County Constables Office Precinct 1. CPL Moran is a prior service U.S. Army veteran with multiple tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom with both the regular and National Guard components of the Army. After achieving Non-Commissioned Officer status, CPL Moran attended Army Basic Instructor and Small Group Instructor training. As a police officer, CPL Moran is a TCOLE Mental Health Officer who has been assigned to the Mental Health Special Operations and Patrol Crisis Intervention Team. CPL Moral is a Field Training Officer and an instructor with his agency for the Mental Health Officer, 40 Hour Crisis Intervention, Cultural Diversity, De-Escalation, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Trauma Affected Veterans courses.

Todd D. Negola, Psy.D.

            Todd D. Negola is a clinical/forensic psychologist who has worked with the National Gang Crime Research Center for over 20 years. He also serves as the Acting President of the Pennsylvania Gang Investigator’s Association. He has been studying and researching gangs and criminal mindedness for over 25 years. He has worked with and studied juvenile and adult criminal populations, in and out of prison, both at the state and federal levels. He conducts training and consults with federal, state and local law enforcement as well as public and private educational institutions, community programs and mental health personnel. He has published research in the Journal of Gang Research, Addiction and Research, The Journal and co-authored a chapter in the book, Treating the Juvenile Offender. He has multiple television appearances, participated in nationally syndicated and local radio programs, teaches college courses and has consulted in gang documentaries. Lastly, he is a recipient of the Frederic Milton Thrasher Award for Superior Research and Exemplary Scholarship in the Psychology of Gangs and is a Reviewing Editor for the National Gang Crime Research Center’s Journal of Gang Research.

AUSA Steve Nelson

            Steve Nelson is an Assistant United States Attorney and currently serves as the Anti-Gang Coordinator for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah. He earned his J.D. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Utah and serves as an Associate Instructor of Political Science at the University of Utah, and has taught over 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students in his teaching career. 

P. Neal Oldham, JD

            P. Neal Oldham has been a prosecutor for 18 years. He spent his first five years in rural Tennessee as an Assistant District Attorney. He then moved to the Shelby County DA’s office which prosecutes cases arising out of Memphis, TN, staying for eight and one-half years spending most time in the Gang Unit prosecuting gang homicides. While in the Shelby County DA’s Gang Unit he and other ADA’s along with local and federal law enforcement reconstituted the Shelby County Multi-Agency Gang Unit “MGU”. In 2018 he moved to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee where he is assigned to the Organized/Violence Groups Unit. He earned his Juris Doctor in 2004 from the Cecil Humphrey School of Law in Memphis, TN. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Memphis in 1999. He was the 2008 Tennessee District Attorney General’s Conference President’s Award Winner which recognizes the state prosecutor of the year. He is a member of the Tennessee State Bar.

Lt. Vincent Perillo

            Lt. Vincent Perillo has worked for the Will County Sheriff’s Office since 2004. Started gang documentation in 2006, and became the Will County Adult Detention Facility’s first intelligence Unit Supervisor in 2011. Member of the Midwest Cycle Intelligence Organization (MCIO) since 2012. Member of the International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association (IOMGIA) in 2017. Conducted street gang training since 2012 and motorcycle club training since 2017. Presented at Midwest Gang Investigator’s Association (MGIA), Police Training Institute (PTI), National Gang Crime Research Center (NGCRC), several schools in Will County, St. Joseph’s Hospital staff in Joliet, and all new Will County Patrol Deputies since 2015.

Ricky Pickens

            Ricky Pickens is a professional gang intervention specialist/consultant in Los Angeles County. Raised in Pasadena, CA, a city claimed by one of the oldest blood gangs in Southern California. Ricky grew up in the 1980's during the crack cocaine epidemic, and during the height of gang and gun warfare. Living in a gang-impacted community as a young person, Ricky witnessed many of his friends and family die due to gang violence or serve long prison stints due to violent crimes. Ricky was resilient and determined not to find himself dead, in prison, or on drugs. For 23 years and counting, Ricky has committed his life to serving gang-impacted youth. Recognized for his involvement on the syndicated television programs Gangland One Blood sharing his knowledge of gangs, Ricky’s experience, leadership, and advocacy efforts in the gang intervention arena have placed him in high demand. Ricky’s services have transformed the lives of many high-risk youth.

 Deputy Joe Polan 

            Deputy Joe Polan has seventeen years of law enforcement investigative experience in two different states. He started his career in the State of Florida with the City of Fort Lauderdale Police Department where he worked for 10 ½ years. Deputy Polan for the past six and a half years has been employed with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in the State of Michigan where he is assigned to the Gang Intelligence Unit. Deputy Polan has received over fifty agency and public commendations along with being the recipient of the Employee of the Month and Employee of the Year for outstanding work performance.

Detective Danny Polo

            Bachelor’s degree Psychology. Law enforcement for 30 years. Detective 2016-present, Broward County units in chronological order) Tactical Deployment, Crime Suppression, Organized Crime, Gang Investigations. Task Force Officer, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives. Advanced Gang Specialist with the Florida Gang Investigators Association, hundreds of hours of training in criminal gangs, organized crime, and money laundering. Presenter at the 2019 Attorney General’s FCPT program. Presenter at Broward College Institute of Public Safety, trained State Attorney’s Office prosecutors in Career Criminal and 10-20-life Units. Received the Florida Gang Investigators Association Investigator of the Year Award, and DEA Miami Field Division Task Force Officer Award for local impact. Testified in a Bloods gang member attempt murder trial as a Subject Matter Expert and got conviction for Gang Enhancement proving the crime was committed in furtherance of the gang. Selected as Subject Matter Expert on high profile rapper and bloods gang member Jarnell Demons “YNW MELLY” double homicide trial.

John J. Rodriguez, Ph.D.

            Dr. Rodriguez’s interests in academia include but are not limited to gangs, transnationalism, immigration, police issues, and Latinos in the criminal justice system. However, I am most interested in gangs, security threat groups and extremist groups. I have been studying, researching, and writing on these groups and their activity for over almost two decades. I have published and presented much of this work in the U.S. and abroad. I have also consulted and testified as an expert witness in multiple cases, which include deportation of gang members, organized crime, and various homicide cases.

Abril Romero 

            Abril Romero, BA (expected 2023) is an undergraduate student at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. She is pursuing a major in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and a minor in Sociology. She is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, Alpha Chi National College of Honor Society and obtained the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Her future endeavors will pertain to the juvenile justice system, particularly the administration of child welfare services or youth care service.

Mitchel P. Roth, Ph.D.

            Mitchel P. Roth, Ph.D. is Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University. His areas of interest include global organized crime and gangs, history of crime and punishment, mass murder and serial homicide. His many books include, Power on the Inside: A Global History of Prison Gangs (2020), Fire in the Big House: The Worst Prison Disaster in American History (2019), The Illicit Economy in Turkey (with Mahmut Cengiz)(2019), An Eye for An Eye: A Global History of Crime and Punishment (2015) and Convict Cowboys: The Untold History of the Texas Prison Rodeo (2016). His books have been translated into Chinese, Persian, Croatian and Turkish. He has been an instructor at the Zhejiang Police College from 2009 to 2019 and at the International Law Enforcement Academy (Roswell) from 2001-2009. In 2020, Dr. Roth was awarded the Frederic Milton Thrasher Award for Excellence in Gang Research.

Tom Schneider, M.S.

            Tom Schneider retired from the Cook County Illinois Juvenile Probation Department in January of 2013 after forty years on the street as a juvenile probation officer. He holds a BA degree from the University of Illinois Chicago in the Administration of Criminal Justice and a M.S. degree from Chicago State University in Correction and Criminal Justice. He is currently conducting Anger Management/Violence Prevention groups for juvenile probationers and is the Director of Project Lifeline, the Cook County Juvenile Court scholarship program.

Grant Shostak, EdD, JD

            Grant Shostak, EdD, JD is an associate professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. Grant’s extensive experience defending persons accused of criminal offenses and as a law clerk to the late Judge Paul J. Simon at the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, provides a unique viewpoint on criminal justice issues. His research interests are varied and reflect his interdisciplinary educational background.

Elvis Slaughter, MS

            Criminologist Elvis Slaughter served as a fire and police commissioner, and is a retired Cook County Sheriff’s Superintendent with more than thirty years’ experience in criminal justice, corrections, and law enforcement. Slaughter holds a Master’s in Criminal Justice and Corrections. He has authored several articles and ten books, which include Safer Jail and Prison Matters, Mentally Ill Inmates and Corrections, and Preschool to Prison. Elvis is a speaker, security consultant, and correctional auditor. He is also a member of the American Jail Association, American Correctional Association, Hammond Police Citizen Advisory Commission, National Sheriff’s Association, Illinois Sheriff’s Association, and former president of he Illinois Academy of Criminology. Elvis taught criminal justice at the college level.

Grant Smith

            Mr. Grant Smith is a member of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) National Crime Information Center (NCIC) external training staff. Mr. Smith is a retired police officer with twenty-two years of law enforcement experience. For twelve of the twenty-two years, he was assigned to a multi-jurisdiction and multi-agency narcotics and violence crime task force as a task force agent and supervisor. Other law enforcement experience includes time in the Patrol Division, Investigations Division, and as a Special Response Team as a team leader. He also served as an investigator on the county’s Child Sexual Abuse Task Force. Additionally, he was a member of the department’s Counter Drug Reaction Team, and the department’s Police Honor Guard. Immediately upon retirement from the police department, Mr. Smith served as a member of a forensic team with the Combined Explosive Exploitation Cell (CEXC) in Baghdad, Iraq. As an FBI training instructor, Mr. Smith conducts training for municipal, county, state and federal agencies. He is also part of the FBI’s New Agent Training Team in Quantico, VA and participates in CJIS internal training. In 2015, Mr. Smith was the recipient of the Frederic Thrasher Award for Superior Service in Law Enforcement Training. Mr. Smith is a United States Navy Veteran.

Detective James Sutphin

            James Sutphin is a Detective with the Toledo Police Department in Toledo, Ohio. He has been assigned to the Toledo Police Gang Task Force since 2017, and has been a full time TFO with the FBI Safe Streets Task Force since 2018. He concentrates his search warrants and arrests, in both federal and local jurisdictions while working closely with both the Lucas County Prosecutors Office, as well as the AUSA’s office in Toledo, Ohio. He has been involved in numerous gang investigations at both the state and federal level.

Detective Tyler Sutherland

            Detective Tyler Sutherland has been a police officer for the Battle Creek Police Department for over 13 years. He is currently assigned to the Battle Creek Police Detective Bureau, and was previously assigned to the Gang Suppression Unit for over 6 years. As a member of the Gang Unit, Detective Sutherland was directly involved as the lead investigator in a number of gang, and violent crime, cases that resulted in courtroom trials and jury convictions. While participating in all aspects of gang investigations and court room prosecution, Detective Sutherland has been qualified as, and testified as, a gang expert in the U.S. District court and Michigan State Circuit and District Court, more than 15 times in the last five years. One of these gang cases, was the first criminal gang enhancement jury conviction in the State of Michigan since the state statute was created. He is also recognized in circuit and district court as an expert in Drug Trafficking and Drug Investigations. A Defensive Tactics Instructor, and Patrol Training Officer, he has also received Instructor certification for Active Shooter Response for Civilians, through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University.

Philip J. Swift, Ph.D.

            Mr. Swift, Ph.D. is a husband, father, and a 22-year law enforcement veteran. Since April of 2018, Mr. Swift has served as the Fort Worth City Marshal. Prior to becoming the City Marshal, Mr. Swift rose to the rank of Captain in the Denver Sheriff Department. During his law enforcement career he served as a City Marshal, Director of Security, Watch Commander, FTO Commander, Gang/Intelligence Unit Commander, K-9 Unit Commander, Internal Affairs Bureau Investigator, Conduct Review Office Sergeant, Emergency Response Unit member and Sergeant, Court Services Sergeant, and as Adjunct Training Academy Instructor. Mr. Swift holds a MS and Ph.D. in Forensic Psychology from Walden University and has also received dual MBA’s and a BS in Criminal Justice from American International University. Mr. Swift is a published author (Gangs, Outlaw Bikers, Organized Crime & Extremists; Looseleaf Law Publishing), a contributor to Inside Police Psychology: policepsychologyblog.com, and is frequently asked to speak locally and nationally on topics related to gang, criminal, inmate, and law enforcement culture, forensic psychology, and jail gang investigations.

Michael Tabarrok

            Michael Tabarrok is the Assistant Attorney General 3, Office of Attorney General Chris Barr, Prosecution Division, Gangs, Atlanta, Georgia. Having been a prosecutor for 24 years around the State of Georgia and Guam, (with a brief stint as a criminal defense attorney in the middle of his career for 3 years), he specializes in the prosecution of gangs, murders, and drugs, as well as asset forfeitures and special prosecutions. Using RICO, gang statutes, forfeitures, and Federal referrals, he brings novel approaches to attacking gang problems.

Sherry Torres

            Sherry Torres served 19 years at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in Florida, where she started her career in patrol, then five years in narcotics as an undercover detective for organized crime, and finished the last 10 years as a digital forensics examiner investigating internet-facilitated crimes. She worked as a consultant for the United Nations, delivering training worldwide to law enforcement on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for investigations. She is now the Training Manager for Griffeye and an instructor for the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC) of Fox Valley Technical College. In her free time, she volunteers as a trainer for the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS) and oversees the Digital Forensics Scholarship for Women in Law Enforcement. Sherry has a Master of Science in Digital Forensics, a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Martha Wall-Whitfield, Ph.D.

            Dr. Martha Wall-Whitfield is an educator from Little Rock, Arkansas where she is currently the Principal at the state’s largest juvenile facility for incarcerated youth. During her time in Arkansas, she also has been the District Principal for Rite of Passage, overseeing all correctional education in the state. She taught for six years at the University level as an Assistant Professor for Averett University. She currently serves as an Adjunct for Arkansas State University, teaching in the school leadership program. Dr. Whitfield is a mom of five and a Mimi to three. She has been active in both her church as a Sunday School teacher and the community as a foster parent and foster parent trainer for the state.

Major David Whitley, MA

            Major David Whitley has 20 years experience working for the Danville Police Department, spending the first five in patrol, becoming sergeant in 2017 working on street crimes and gang homicide. He served as commander of the Civil Disturbance Unit and the Hostage Negotiations Team. He holds a Master of Arts degree. He has had a number of different special recognitions (Award for Lifesaving, VGIA Gang Investigator of the Year Team Award, Distinguished Service medal, Homicide Investigator of the Year Award, and more).

Mackenzie Williams

            Ms. Mackenzie Williams is a graduate student in the accelerated master’s program in Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Central Missouri. Her undergraduate studies involved a dual major in criminal justice and sociology. Mackenzie is a member of Lambda Alpha Epsilon-Gamma Epsilon Delta (LAE-GED), Alpha Phi Sigma (APS), National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS), and is a criminal justice student ambassador. Ms. Williams is employed with the Department of Homeland Security with the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a National Preparedness Directorates Action Office.

AUSA Stewart M. Young

            Stewart M. Young is an Assistant United States Attorney and currently serves as Senior Litigation Counsel for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah. He previously served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. He earned his J.D. from Stanford University, clerked for judges on the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Federal District Court for the District of Utah, and was a full-time faculty member at the University of Wyoming College of Law.