Dr. Myrstol and Dr. Wood interviewed for Alaska Dispatch article on "Alaska's failed war on booze"

Dr. Brad Myrstol, Justice faculty and director of the Alaska Justice Statistical Analysis Center, and Dr. Darryl Wood, Justice affiliate faculty, Washington State University Vancouver, were interviewed for the Alaska Dispatch article by Craig Medred, "Perils of Prohibition: Alaska's failed war on booze," posted online on September 4.

Dr. Myrstol discussed his research on "The Alcohol-Related Workload of Patrol Officers" which examined police perceptions of time-spent on alcohol-related incidents and actual time spent on those incidents.  Dr. Wood described his studies on on alcohol prohibitions in rural Alaska and their outcomes, and noted that there was not a long enough follow-up period on the alcohol interdiction project which he studied to determine if it had had an effect.

Both faculty members point out that other factors, not just alcohol, need to be examined when researching the problems in rural areas of Alaska.

Research by Dr. Myrstol and Dr. Wood on the issue of alcohol includes:

Drug and Alcohol-Related Workload of Anchorage Patrol Officers: Results From Two Patrol Officer Surveys by Brad A. Myrstol, N. E. Schafer, and Matthew J. Giblin (2003).
The Police Alcohol-Related Services Study (PASS): A Study of the Intersection of Public Alcohol Use and Routine Police Patrol by Brad A. Myrstol and Robert H. Langworthy (2004).
Police Alcohol-Related Services Study (PASS), Phase II: A Description of the Beliefs, Perceptions and Attitudes of Anchorage Police Department Employees by Brad A. Myrstol and Robert H. Langworthy (2005).
"Measures of Outcomes Associated With Alcohol Abuse in Alaska" by Darryl S. Wood, Alaska Justice Forum 21(1) (Spring 2004).
"Local Alcohol Prohibition, Police Presence and Serious Injury in Isolated Alaska Native Villages" By Darryl S. Wood and Paul J. Gruenewald, Addiction 101: 393-403 (Mar 2006). (Contact Dr. Wood for a copy of the report - darrylwood@vancouver.wsu.edu)
Evaluation of the Rural Alaska Alcohol Interdiction, Investigation, and Prosecution Program by Michael Shively, Darryl Wood,  Lauren Olsho, William Rhodes, and Meg Chapman (2009).

Justice Center affiliate faculty Dr. Wood interviewed by Anchorage Daily News about village public safety officers

Dr. Darryl Wood, Justice Center affiliate faculty, and faculty at Washington State University Vancouver, was interviewed for the recent Anchorage Daily News article, "Officials eye new ways to add to safety officers." The article by Becky Bohrer, published in hard copy February 11 and online February 15, discusses Governor Parnell's efforts to increase safety in rural Alaska, and looks at some of the issues involving recruitment and retention of Village Public Safety Officers (VPSOs).

Dr. Wood has researched a number of aspects of the VPSO program.  His work includes includes:

•  "Police Presence, Isolation, and Sexual Assault Prosecution." Criminal Justice Policy Review, 22(3), 330-349. Darryl S. Wood, André B. Rosay, Greg Postle, and Katherine TePas. (2011)
• "Alcohol Availability, Police Presence and Serious Injury in Isolated Alaska Native Villages." Darryl S. Wood and Paul J. Gruenewald. Addiction,101, 393-403. (2006)
•  "Officer Turnover in the Village Public Safety Officer Program."   Alaska Justice Forum, 17(2). Darryl S. Wood. (2000).
• Turnover Among Alaska Village Public Safety Officers: An Examination of the Factors Associated With Attrition. Darryl S. Wood. (2000).

For a copy of the research above, you can also contact Dr. Wood at darrylwood@wsu.edu

Dr. Gover of University of Colorado Denver joins Justice Center as affiliate faculty

Dr. Angela Gover

Dr. Angela Gover, Professor and  Director of the Undergraduate Program in Criminal Justice at the University of Colorado Denver - School of Public Affairs, has joined the Justice Center as Affiliate Professor of Justice.

Dr. Gover received her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland. Her research interests include policy relevant family violence issues, violence against women, and gender and crime.

She will be working with Dr. André Rosay on publications related to violence against women.

Dr. Lu discusses child labor in China

Dr. Lu De-ping, Professor at Tianjin Foreign Studies University, and Justice Center affiliate faculty, presents "Child Labor Issues in China" on Thursday, February 24, 7:00 p.m. in Rasmuson Hall 101.

Dr. Lu is the former Deputy Director for Academy of Youth Development at the China Youth University for Political Science in Beijing. On behalf of the organization, Save the Children, he has researched child labor and the economic factors and social implications of this global issue.

This program is co-sponsored by the UAA College of Arts & Sciences and the UAA Confucius Institute.

Justice Center welcomes new affiliate faculty member – Dr. Darryl Wood

Dr. Darryl Wood, Assistant Professor in the Criminal Justice Department at Washington State University Vancouver, has recently been appointed an affiliate faculty member of the Justice Center. He served on the Justice Center faculty from 1995 to 2007 prior to his move to Washington, and he has been co-author of a number of Justice Center research reports and Alaska Justice Forum articles. While at the Justice Center, he completed the first comprehensive study of turnover in the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program in the largely Alaska Native villages of rural Alaska.

Dr. Wood has conducted research both at the Justice Center and at Washington State University Vancouver on alcohol consumption and prohibition, crime, and policing in the indigenous communities of Alaska and the Canadian Arctic, and on violence against women in rural and urban Alaska. He received his Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University.