Long before John Jay College was charted as an independent institution, some of the core subjects were taught to local police officers at advanced levels. In 1954, a Department of Police Science was established at Baruch College's School of Business and Public Administration. (At the time Baruch itself was a school of the City College.) Educating police officers in this manner was the first endeavor of its sort in the United States. Officers from the police academy taught police science courses and Baruch faculty members taught the balance of the curriculum. In 1956, a Master's in Public Administration degree was added to the program.
With the success of the programs, a committee was established in the early 1960s to assess the need for a separate college of police science. The College of Police Science of the City University of New York was established as a result in June, 1964. In the fall of 1965, the College opened its doors to its first freshmen class. Michael J. Murphy was named acting president and James W. Herlihy served as chair of the Division of Police Science, one of the four academic units. In the following decade, programs in law, corrections administration, criminal justice, and security management were added to the Department. The importance of attracting an outstanding faculty has always been a characteristic of the Department. In June, 1986, Donal E. J. MacNamara was appointed University Distinguished Professor of Correction Administration, the first full-time member of the John Jay faculty to achieve this rank. Today the faculty includes scholars with national and international reputations from their publications and research. The Department will continue to evolve in the years ahead to conduct research and to provide educated citizens who are passionate about criminal justice and public service. Their goals are to serve the City, the tri-state area, and the world beyond.
Some Highlights of John Jay & the Department
1954 Department of
Police Science established at Baruch College 1956 MPA degree
program begun 1964 Board of
Higher Education establishes the College of Police
Science of the City University ofNew York (CUNY)
1965 First freshmen
class. Police Science made one of four divisions 1966 Current name of
the College adopted 1971 Faculty exchange
program with the Police Staff College in Bramshill,
England begins 1972 Majors in
Corrections Administration and Criminal Justice
Administration begun 1981 Doctoral program
in Criminal Justice developed in conjunction with the
Graduate School of CUNY 1983 Study compiled
by the Joint Commission of Criminology and Criminal
Justice Education and Standards ranks
John Jay's graduate program first among 71 institutions
with such programs 1986 B.S. in
Security Management major introduced 1988 Department
moves to the original site of DeWitt Clinton High School
1989 Public service
executive training programs expanded 1996 MS in
Protection Management degree introduced 1999 Satellite
program at Riker's Island begins 2001 Friday and
Saturday Police Studies program start Chairs of the
Department
1965-66 James
W. Herlihy, Division of Police Science
1966-72 Leo C.
Loughrey, Division of Law and Police Science
1972-74 John J.
Sullivan, Division of Law, Police Science and Criminal
Justice Administration (hereafter
LPS
& CJA)
1974-79 Lloyd
W. McCorkle, Department of LPS & CJA et seq.
1979-85 Lloyd
George Sealy
1985-88 Leo C.
Loughrey
1988-97 T.
Kenneth Moran
1997- 2003
Robert D. McCrie
2003- Maria Haberfeld
Sources: Gerald Markowitz, Educating for Justice, New York: John Jay Press, 1990; Department records. Research by Michael Vega.
