International Criminal Justice Scholar David Bayley Bids Farewell to University at Albany and Albany Area

International Criminal Justice Scholar David Bayley

ALBANY, N.Y. (December 18, 2015) – David Bayley, one of the most prominent American scholars in the field of criminal justice, is preparing for the next chapter in his life after devoting almost three decades to teaching generations of University at Albany students.

Bayley officially retired in 2010 from the University as a distinguished research professor of criminal justice. Since then, the former dean of criminal justice has spent much of his time developing a new book scheduled to come out in March 2016 entitled Governing the Police: Experience in Six Democracies (Transaction Press). Written along with Philip Stenning of Griffith University in Australia, the books details the relations between chiefs of police and their supervising politicians.

School of Criminal Justice Dean William Alex Pridemore, a Ph.D. alumnus of the School, calls Bayley a force of nature. “David is an international research leader who played an integral role in the School and in the field of criminal justice for decades,” said Pridemore. “He had a genuinely remarkable career and his presence around the School will be missed. David was Dean during most of my time here as a Ph.D. student, he was on my dissertation committee, and I have great personal admiration for him.”

Bayley is moving in mid-January to Ohio to live near his alma mater, Denison University, where he serves as a trustee and gave both the 2011 commencement address and the 2013 inaugural address for Denison’s 20th president.

A specialist in international criminal justice, with particular interest in policing, Bayley has done extensive research in India, Japan, Australia, Canada, Britain, Singapore, and the United States. His work has focused on police reform, accountability, foreign assistance to police agencies, and crime-prevention strategies. This past fall, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, by the Japanese government.

Some of his most notable achievements include:

• A Fellow of the American Society of Criminology

• Published in several of the top-tier journals in criminology and related disciplines, including Criminology, Criminology and Public Policy, and Law and Society Review

• Recipient of the Bruce Smith Award for outstanding scholarship in the field of criminal justice from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences

• Changing the Guard: Developing Democratic Police Abroad earned the 2007 Distinguished Book of the Year Award from the American Society of Criminology, Division of International Criminology

• The Police in War: Fighting Insurgency, Terrorism, and Violent Crime was purchased by the U.S. military to distribute copies to every military police officer serving at home and abroad

• Integral roles in the reform and restructuring of police agencies in Singapore, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland and consulted on policing practice and policy in Australia, India, and South Africa

• Served on the U.N. International Police Task Force, the United Nations’ International Police Advisory Council, and the U.N. Global Police Policy Community

• Member of the Second Harvard Executive Session on the Police and Public Safety, a group of American and foreign police officials and academic scholars who plan and implement the future of policing

A Respected Tenure

Bayley was drawn to study international policing because of the decolonization that was unfolding around the world when he was in graduate school in Oxford and later Princeton. He wanted to find out what institutions were needed to make newly emerging nations stable.

He joined the UAlbany Criminal Justice faculty in 1985, became the School’s Dean in 1995, and was among the criminal justice scholars who publicized community policing in the 1980s.

Former SUNY Chancellor John Ryan noted, in his recommendation to the SUNY Board of Trustees that Bayley be appointed Distinguished Professor, “Professor Bayley is considered a superlative teacher, setting the highest academic standards for his students. . . An exemplary scholar, he has provided important service at all levels at the University at Albany.”

An active participant in life outside of academia, Bayley parachuted out of an airplane at the age of 63, and only gave up skiing a few years ago.

Assistant Dean of Criminal Justice Diana Mancini added, “David is an impressive scholar. He is also possibly the nicest person I have ever met.” UAlbany will certainly miss him. Best of luck David.

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