Brian Rizzo

Dr. Rizzo's areas of interest include police organizational culture, use of force, and administration. His research focus is the confluence of the local political culture and police behavior. Professor Rizzo, a retired New York City Police Department Sergeant, and 9/11 first responder, held a variety of assignments during his twenty year career including; beat cop in Times Square, Police Academy instructor, and patrol supervisor and desk officer in Manhattan’s East Village. He spent many years detailed to Police Headquarters where he served in various administrative posts. Professor Rizzo ended his career in the newly created Counterterrorism Division post 9/11. He served as an intelligence specialist with the US Naval Reserve assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters (DIA) Unit. Professor Rizzo, who on occasion has been sought by local media to comment on police incidents, is a member of the following organizations; American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association (MCOPA), the American Society of Criminology (ASC), and the American Criminal Justice Society (ACJS).

Dr. Rizzo lives in an upstate NY hamlet with his wife and 8 cats. He yearns to one day hold in perpetuity the G.J. Bickerstaff Chair of Reading, Coffee Drinking, Garden Tending, and Puttering at the Catmandu Institute. He is a founding member of the equally fictitious Munk Abbey Golf Club.

• Ph.D., Criminal Justice, The Graduate Center, City University of New York 

• M.P.A., Human Resource Management, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• M.A., Criminal Justice, University at Albany, State University of New York

• A.B., Psychology, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA