Our Team

Body-Worn Camera Training and Technical Assistance Team

The Body-Worn Camera Training and Technical Assistance team includes staff from BJA, CNA, and Arizona State University (ASU). 

                                  

BJA Project Staff 

John Markovic joined the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in October of 2016 and assumed oversight of the Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Project (BWCPIP). He has managed changes in the direction and scope of the BWCPIP grant program in response to federal legislative priorities and to evolving practices and research. In addition to this role at BJA, he provides support for the National Public Safety Partnership violence reduction initiative, technology forecasting, predictive analytics, and national technology standards development. Prior to BJA, John was a Senior Social Science Analyst for the DOJ Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), where he managed community policy partnership grants, focusing on projects related to urban violence; crime mapping and analysis; and police communications and interoperability. Previous career work focused on development of justice information systems and applied criminal justice research. As a Program Manager at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), he oversaw national projects assessing civil rights consent decree implementation and geographic information system (GIS) development. While working for the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City, he managed development of an early prototype web-based cross-jurisdictional crime mapping for New York State and provided training on crime mapping and analysis in New York State, Brazil, and Colombia. Throughout his career, John has worked collaboratively with a diverse array of police agencies supporting applied research, geospatial analysis, data-sharing, and data-quality improvement projects. John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology/Criminal Justice from Northern Illinois University and Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

John Markovic - Senior Policy Advisor, Bureau of Justice Assistance

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BJA Body-Worn Camera Training and Technical Assistance Partner: CNA Project Staff

James "Chip" Coldren, Ph.D - Project Director

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Dr. James R. “Chip” Coldren, Jr., is the Project Director on BWC TTA and is a Managing Director for the Safety and Security Division at CNA Corporation. He has more than 35 years of experience with research; program and policy evaluation; policy development; advocacy; development, coordination, and delivery of training and technical assistance; and justice system reform. In addition to serving as the Project Director on BWC TTA, Dr. Coldren is also the National Project Director for the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Strategies for Policing Innovation program and BJA National Public Safety Partnership. He also serves as Principal Investigator on two National Institute of Justice–funded research projects: a national study of equipment modalities and correctional officer safety, and a randomized experiment with body-worn cameras in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Dr. Brittany Cunningham is a Research Scientist with CNA's Institute of Public Research. Dr. Cunningham is an expert in scientific research and analysis and has more than a decade of experience designing, implementing, and managing rigorous research studies and evaluations at the local-, state- and national-level. Dr. Cunningham has led and supported grants and projects from several federal agencies including the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation. Additionally, Dr. Cunningham is experienced using evidence-based approaches, and quantitative and qualitative analysis to support law enforcement agency operations and organizational reform.

Brittany C. Cunningham, Ph.D. - Project Manager

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M. Carrie Shelton, Ph.D. - Deputy Project Manager

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Dr. Carrie Shelton is the Project Manager for the BWC TTA project and is a Research Scientist for the Safety and Security Division at CNA. She has over 16 years of experience in scientific research and analysis. Her areas of expertise include program and process analysis, evaluation, and improvement; operational research and analysis; delivery of training and technical assistance; exercise and real-world event analysis; data and statistical analysis; systems analysis and engineering; and project management. In addition to the BWC TTA project, Dr. Shelton supports the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) and has supported the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Microgrants Initiative. She works directly with law enforcement agencies and their stakeholders to coordinate and deliver TTA, share and document best practices, and evaluate program effectiveness.

Tom Woodmansee is a Senior Advisor at CNA, working on BWC TTA. Prior to joining CNA, he worked for the Madison, WI Police Department for 25 years. Mr. Woodmansee's experience includes: Patrol Officer, Undercover Narcotics Officer, and 13-years as a Detective. He also served on the SWAT team as a tactical operator, later as a Negotiator and then a Commander and oversaw the police Academy and several specialized investigative units. Mr. Woodmansee has worked with many agencies around the country on a variety of projects and systems improvements through BJA Strategies for Policing Innovation program and BJA National Public Safety Partnership.

Tom Woodmansee - Senior Advisor

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Charles Stephenson - Senior Advisor

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Charles Stephenson is a senior advisor for the BWC TTA and is currently a public safety technologist for CNA. For the past 15 years, he has assisted public safety agencies in   addressing their technology needs and challenges while supporting the Department of   Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance along with various Office of Justice Programs   such as the National Institute of Justice and the National Law Enforcement and   Corrections Technology Centers. Some of his more notable work has involved the   implementation of body-worn cameras, the use of situational awareness tools, the development of dynamic open architecture radios, gunshot detection technologies, and methods to combat the illicit use of cell phones in correctional facilities. Mr. Stephenson is a retired Army Officer who served in the Signal and Ordnance Corps. Mr. Stephenson   holds an MBA in project management from Columbia Southern University and a BS Degree from the University of Maryland.


Retired Public Safety Director Geoff Smith is an expert on law enforcement and fire policies, operations, and oversight. He served as the Public Safety Director of the City of Sturgis from 2013 to 2020 and served in law enforcement for more than 26 years and firefighting for more than 10 years. Director (ret.) Smith has substantial expertise in technology, including deployment of in-car and body worn camera systems, cell phone forensic, as well as active shooter training. Currently, he Director (ret.) Smith holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management & Organizational Development from Spring Arbor University and is a certified instructor and specialist in various disciplines including computer and cell phone forensics. He has served as President of Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police and of the Western Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. He was a former member of L.E.A.F, a group of chiefs, litigation attorneys and the Michigan Municipal League, that develops “Best Practices” policies for law enforcement agencies across the State.

Geoff Smith - Senior Advisor

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Elliot Harkavy - BWC TTA Technology Advisor

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Elliot Harkavy has nearly 30 years’ experience in homeland security, strategic planning, market strategy, competitive intelligence, IT planning and operations improvement. Mr. Harkavy spent 4 years with the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments (MWCOG) coordinating law enforcement across the National Capital Region (NCR) and 8 years with the Department of Homeland Security as part of FEMA’s Operations directorate and Office of Disability Integration and Coordination. In his capacity with MWCOG, he worked with over 1700 public safety officials across the NCR to identify, plan for, respond to and recover from public safety threats.  He convened over 27 regional public safety committees, subcommittees and working groups, including the Regional Police Chiefs and Corrections Chiefs Committees and subcommittees addressing training, special operations units, technologies, including Communications, Body Worn Cameras, Drones and numerous other issues central to modern law enforcement.

Quin Patterson is a BWC TTA analyst and a research assistant for Arizona State University. Mr. Patterson has worked as a TTA analyst since 2018 and has both a bachelor's and master's degree in criminology from Arizona State University. His past research has focused on policing, including de-escalation tactics, officer perceptions of body-worn cameras, and the effect of BWCs on officer and citizen behavior.

Quin Patterson - Resource and Outreach Lead

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Allie Land - Deputy Resource and Outreach Lead

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Allie Land is an Associate Research Analyst with a background in criminal justice research and evaluation. She works in CNA's Center for Justice Research and Innovation where she provides training and technical assistance to law enforcement agencies under the National Public Safety Partnership (PSP), Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI), the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), and the Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program (BWC PIP). Mrs. Land is an experienced researcher with involvement in several nationally funded program evaluations, including NIJ and BJA sponsored programs. Her background in criminal justice research includes process and impact evaluations of crime gun intelligence centers, body-worn cameras, automated license plate readers, and assessments of prosecutor offices. Mrs. Land has a Master of Science degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Criminal Justice and Sociology.

 

CNA's Body-Worn Camera Training and Technical Assistance Partner: ASU Project Staff 

Dr. Michael D. White serves as the Co-Director on BWC TTA and is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University (ASU). He is Associate Director of ASU’s Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. Dr. White has commented extensively in the media on body-worn cameras (BWCs), including in Scientific American, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, TIME Magazine, and NPR. He also testified about body-worn cameras before the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Dr. White recently completed a multi-site randomized controlled trial testing the impact of police officer body-worn cameras in Tempe, Arizona and Spokane, Washington (funded by Arnold Ventures), and he is currently a co-PI on a National Institute of Justice-funded project evaluating BWCs in a county jail. He is one of the primary authors of the U.S. Department of Justice Body-Worn Camera Toolkit, and he is author of a 2014 U.S. Department of Justice report titled, Police officer body-worn cameras: Assessing the evidence. Dr. White has published numerous articles on police BWCs, and he co-authored Cops, cameras, and crisis: The potential and perils of police body-worn cameras (with Dr. Aili Malm; 2020, New York University Press).

Michael White, Ph.D - Co- Director

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Charles Katz, Ph.D - Senior Advisor

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Charles Katz is a Professor and the Watts Endowed Family Chair of the School of Criminology and Arizona State University.  His research involves collaborating with agencies to increase their organizational capacity to identify and respond to crime effecting local communities. He currently serves as a research partner to the Phoenix Police Department to evaluate their BJA sponsored projects related to SMART policing and Crime Gun Intelligence.  He served as one of two primary authors of the US Department of Justice Body-Worn Camera Toolkit and currently serves as a senior advisor to the Bureau of Justice Assistance on its Body-Worn Camera Training and Technical Assistance Team.