Dr. Irwin Cohen has taken up the role of RCMP Senior Research Chair in Crime Reduction at the University of the Fraser Valley, effective Sept. 1.
Cohen, who was most recently director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at UFV, is filling a gap created when Dr. Darryl Plecas left UFV to become the MLA for the Abbotsford South riding and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Crime Reduction.
Dr. Amy Prevost replaces Cohen as director of the school.
Cohen has been at UFV for 10 years, first as a faculty member in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, then as director. He earned his doctorate in criminology at Simon Fraser University, and master’s degrees at both the University of Ottawa and the University of Toronto.
The RCMP Senior Research Chair in Crime Reduction was created in 2006. The position is a partnership between UFV and the RCMP, and is designed to serve as a research resource for police departments throughout British Columbia.
The holder of the chair works closely with E Division of the RCMP, which is the administrative home of the police force in B.C. The chair also works closely with individual police detachments.
Some of the many research topics that the chair has facilitated projects on over the past few years include an analysis of the security for the Vancouver Olympics, the harms associated with marijuana and grow ops, evidence-based solutions to information sharing between agencies of criminal justice, the criminal histories of prolific offenders, police effectiveness and efficiency, analyses of calls for service, and public safety surveys.
With Cohen moving to the RCMP research chair position, Dr. Amy Prevost will oversee the administration of the school as she takes over the director role. Prevost, who earned her BA, MA, and PhD in criminology at Simon Fraser University, has been a full-time faculty member at UFV since 2006.
“I recognize the transition from high school to university, or coming back to university, comes with many challenges for some students, so I will continue to develop strategies to make that first-year experience outstanding,” she says.