phd international crime and justice fiu

Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice

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The Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs houses the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. We hold several rankings and our Ph.D. in International Crime and Justice and Online and Onsite MS in Criminal Justice degrees are the only ones affiliated with the prestigious Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA). The department is well-known nationally and internationally for its cutting-edge research, scholarship, and teaching on critical issues in crime and justice.

PhD in International Crime and Justice

The Ph.D. in International Crime and Justice focuses on international areas of study within the criminology and criminal justice field.

Master of Science in Criminal Justice

The M.S. in Criminal Justice is aimed toward preparing students for varied career paths, as well as readying students for future doctoral studies.

Bachelor of Science Degrees

Our B.S. Degrees are designed to meet your goals. The B.S. in crime science combines forensics and computer science with traditional criminology and criminal justice courses. The B.S. in Criminal Justice provides a conventional, yet comprehensive and broad, understanding of the discipline.

Law Enforcement Advancement Program

LEAP combines classroom instruction with specialized police training and workplace experience to produce successful law enforcement professionals and future leaders in the field.

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The Prosecutorial Performance Indicators

Several CCJ faculty members are working on a multi-year grant project focused on developing a suite of modern indicators for prosecutors to better measure their effectiveness, efficiency & fairness.

In the News:

Congratulations to Allison Matulli, adjunct faculty member of the Dept. of Criminology & Criminal Justice, who recently secured funding from the Fulbright Program for research and guest lecturing in 3 nations over 2 years! Read On...    

Learn more about FIU's other Fulbright scholars, including our very own Rob T. Guerette!  Read On...

Public Meetings:

First graduate of international crime and justice program researches trust in police

By Gisela Valencia

August 23, 2019 at 12:00pm

Candice Ammons-Blanfort ’19 is a champion of having a global perspective. If you don’t know what people in other countries are doing, how can you learn from them, she asks.

When she discovered FIU’s Ph.D. in International Crime and Justice – a new program focusing on the global aspect within the criminology and criminal justice field – she knew it was the right fit for her. 

Ammons-Blanfort began at FIU in the fall of 2015 as part of the program’s first class.

The degree, offered through the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice (CCJ), under the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs , is one that speaks directly to FIU’s mission to provide an international education, says CCJ Chair Lisa Stolzenberg.

“With its innovative specialization, the international crime and justice program prepares students for academic careers and professional life in public and private justice organizations,” Stolzenberg explains. “This degree, unlike traditional criminal justice degrees, fosters research on criminology and criminal justice from a comparative and international perspective.

"Not only does this program bring in people from all over the world to think about crime from a global perspective, but it also caters to local practitioners who want to earn a doctorate degree and lead their agencies. It fits perfectly with our university’s global learning initiative.”

 While in the program, Ammons-Blanfort conducted research on an increasingly pressing topic: the distrust of law enforcement officers by communities of color. She studied this by analyzing the level of “self-help” or “vigilante justice” – taking the law into their own hands because of distrust of police – present in black communities across the country. 

She found that blacks were less likely to use firearms in areas with diverse police departments. This finding, she says, helps point to a crucial idea: people are more likely to trust law enforcement officers who look like them.

This forms the basis for her future goal – to help diversify police departments as a way to help increase trust in law enforcement for communities who have a deep fear of police officers.

Now a visiting instructor at FIU, she’s ready to help students – many of whom hope to one day become police officers – learn about the importance of diversity and cultural sensitivity in criminal justice.

“I want my students to be able to connect what they’re learning and make it practical, so they can use it. They can change the perception of law enforcement, start to tear down those walls of division, really encourage community engagement and rebuild citizen trust.”

This summer, Ammons-Blanfort became the first student to graduate from the program. She did it in an impressive four years – all while juggling a hectic family life and giving birth to two baby boys.

“It was a matter of focusing and being really determined,” she explains. “For me it really boiled down to just knowing that no matter what, I’m going to keep moving. Having faculty support also made a world of difference. I’m eternally grateful for that.”

Ammons-Blanfort says various faculty members – including Carleen Vincent, senior instructor and associate chair for the department – helped her keep her eye on the prize and were there to comfort her when she needed it the most.

When her father-in-law suffered an accident that left him paralyzed, Vincent went to the hospital to support her.

When Ammons-Blanfort found out she was pregnant with her first child – the same semester she began the program – she was intimidated by the prospect of balancing both her schoolwork and growing family. Vincent assured her she was up to the challenge.

“I can’t tell you the number of times I felt like giving up,” Ammons-Blanfort says. “And the entire time, Dr. Vincent was telling me, ‘Candice you can do this.’”

Vincent notes, “Having walked in her shoes, I was well aware of the support and strength required to cross the stage with the degree in hand. It was Candice’s grace under fire — her ability to remain even-tempered in stressful situations — as well as her strength of mind and character that caught my attention.

"She was and continues to be an amalgamation of passion, talent, curiosity, integrity and grit — all of which are moderated by her humility and unassuming nature. I am excited for the students who will be graced by her presence this fall and I look forward to welcoming her into the department as my friend and colleague.”

Ammons-Blanfort will speak about gun violence on campus during the “How to Understand and Deal with Gun Violence: Memorial and Teach-in,” which will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus, Graham Center 243. To RSVP for this event, click here .

Moscow police chief, who oversaw University of Idaho killings case, to retire and run for sheriff

The man who guided the Moscow Police Department through the University of Idaho killings and the national spotlight that accompanied them is retiring this spring to run for Latah County sheriff.

Police Chief James Fry, 54, will retire May 1 after three decades with the department, including the last eight years as chief, to focus on his bid for sheriff. The primary election is May, and the general election is November.

Fry said he still wants to be involved in law enforcement, still has energy and wants a new challenge.

“Although it’s similar, it’s still new and I think it will be a good challenge,” Fry said. “And if I don’t get elected for some reason, then I will go look for something else.”

Sheriff Richie Skiles said he learned Wednesday of Fry’s intention to run against him. Skiles will seek a third term in November.

He said Fry did a good job as police chief and wished him the best in his retirement.

Fry started as a reserve officer in 1993 and was hired as a patrol officer in 1995. He rose through the ranks before becoming chief in 2016.

Fry graduated from the University of Idaho with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice, according to a city of Moscow news release.

He graduated in 2019 from a 10-week training course at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Fry told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News at the time the opportunity is presented to 1% of law enforcement personnel in the U.S.

In November 2022, Fry was thrust into the national limelight after four UI students – Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin – were stabbed to death at the women’s rental home just off the university’s campus.

Fry provided updates on the case at news conferences packed with national and local media and was watched across the country. He and his department, which has over 30 officers, faced criticism by some who said Fry did not provide enough information, and that his department was not equipped to handle a quadruple homicide investigation.

Seven weeks after the killings, police arrested Washington State University graduate student Bryan Kohberger in Pennsylvania.

Fry said the stress that accompanied the Kohberger case played “somewhat of a role” in his decision to retire.

“We moved through that whole process even though it was stressful; we got the job done and we did it right,” Fry said of the homicides investigation. “So, no matter how people think of me, the ultimate thing is we held the integrity of the case at the highest level just like we still are today until it’s completed.”

Moscow Mayor Art Bettge said the harsh criticism Fry and his department received nationally weighed on Fry.

“The chief had to take a lot of that stress on himself because he had to keep the rest of the force focused and working on the case and solving the case,” Bettge said.

The narrative changed drastically when Kohberger was arrested, he said.

“Suddenly, Moscow police and Chief Fry are looking like geniuses,” Bettge said. “That had to be gratifying, but the stress leading up to it had to be blood-pressure raising and just horrific to endure.”

Bettge said Fry handled the chaos as professionally as anyone could have.

“I would say he handled that very professional in the face of some very negative headwinds that went on, and that’s the acme of a professional, is your ability to do your job regardless of what’s been thrown at you by outside entities and people who don’t know the full story,” Bettge said.

Bettge described Fry as a “nice, quiet leader.”

“He preferred to be a little more on the quiet side and just lead by example and make the hard decisions as necessary, but it wasn’t about him,” Bettge said of Fry’s tenure as chief.

Fry lives in Troy, Idaho, with his wife of 32 years, Julie. They have four grown children. Julie Fry was elected as the Latah County Clerk in 2022.

Fry and Bettge said they’re proud of the community policing philosophy Fry has helped maintain where protecting and serving residents trumps enforcement.

“We really do work hard with the community and try to build relationships with the community, and I think that has been fostered over the years,” Fry said.

Bettge said, “Community policing was an ideal to which the chief held himself to a high standard, and that percolated throughout the department and has left us with a police department that the citizens of Moscow respect and appreciate what they do.”

Fry said law enforcement changed in several ways in his 30 years.

Moscow police has seen changes of its own during Fry’s tenure as chief. The department got a new police station, brought in its first drug dog and implemented body cameras on officers in the last few years.

The city will start the process for the selection and appointment of the next police chief over the next few weeks, the city said. Bettge said the goal is to hire a new chief by the time Fry retires. Fry said he expects he’ll be involved in the hiring process.

Fry said he wants to be remembered as a chief who did his job to the best of his ability, worked hard to build relationships in the community and made the city safer and better for everyone.

“It’s been a great honor to actually be able to serve this community and work with the officers that we have,” Fry said. “We have a phenomenal group of men and women who do a great job, and I’m very proud of the fact I got to be a part of that.”

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