Juvenile Justice

Robert W. Taylor is professor and director of the Justice Administration and Leadership Program in the Department of Criminology at the University of Texas at Dallas. Prior to assuming this position, he was the founding director of the Caruth Police Institute. The Institute was established through a $9.5 million grant from the Communities Foundation of North Texas in January 2008, and is located within the Dallas Police Department as a part of the University of North Texas at Dallas. For nearly 15 years, Dr. Taylor was professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas at Denton. He has an extensive background in academic and professional criminal justice, having served as a sworn police officer and major crimes detective (in Portland, Oregon) and as an active consultant tovarious U.S. and international criminal justice agencies. He has authored or coauthored over one hundred andfifty articles, books, and manuscripts focusing on police administration, contemporary police problems, internationaland domestic terrorism, human and drug trafficking, computer fraud, and criminal justice policy and has been the recipient of nearly $15 million in external funding. Dr. Taylor was awarded the University of NorthTexas Regents Lecture Award for 2003 for his work in the Middle East, and in 2008, the Academy of Criminal JusticeSciences presented Dr. Taylor with the O.W. Wilson Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution topolice education, research and practice. He is an active member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the American Society of Criminology. Eric J. Fritsch is professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. He has authored and coauthored several books, journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports. Many of his publications focus on juvenile justice, in particular juvenile violence. He is the founding editor of Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice: An Interdisciplinary Journal. His areas of interest include juvenile justice and delinquency, gangs, criminological theory, law enforcement, criminal procedure, research methods, and organizational assessment. Prior to attending graduate school, he was a police officer and a substance abuse counselor.