Charlotte Gill
How long have you been at George Mason University and what was your path like to get here?
This is my 16th year at George Mason. I had a bit of an unusual path to get here! I was a first-generation college student who, through a series of unexpected twists and turns, left the UK to get my PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. When I graduated I had an opportunity to come and work with the then newly-established Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Weisburd. I fell in love with the center, department, and university, and after working as a researcher for a few years, I eventually obtained a tenure-track position. My research position was hard work because I had to earn my own salary by getting grants, but it taught me so much about how to conceptualize new research projects, apply for funding, and implement field studies and really set me up for success on the tenure track.
Can you share a little bit about your current research?
My research broadly focuses on how communities, local organizations, and justice agencies like the police co-produce public safety. I am interested in community-led crime prevention, how the police engage with vulnerable populations such as unhoused people and people experiencing a mental health crisis, and how the social and physical dynamics of places shape crime opportunities, especially in rural areas. I especially enjoy translating research into policy and practice and collaborating with community groups and police departments to develop and evaluate innovative approaches to crime prevention.
What skills or experiences can students gain while working with you?
One of my favorite things about my research is getting to collaborate with justice agencies and communities, and whenever I have the opportunity to do so I try to bring my students with me on field visits, ride-alongs, and community meetings so that they can see how the concepts they read about in the abstract translate to the “real world.” Recently I traveled with a student to visit a police department that was looking to improve its responses to unhoused people. We got to go on patrol with their homeless outreach team; meet with local service agencies, community groups, and government officials; visit a service center; and drive around encampments to see some of the challenges this population and those that support them are dealing with.
What graduate classes do you teach?
In the PhD program I have most recently taught CRIM 760: Evidence-Based Crime Policy and CRIM 781: Justice Program Evaluation. I love both of these classes because they allow me to draw on my own experiences of conducting field research with communities and justice agencies to engage students in broad discussions about both what works in the criminal justice system and how we know. I also direct our MS in Criminal Justice program and I teach similar classes to our MS students, many of whom are interested in working on the front lines of criminal justice and want to learn how to implement and sustain evidence-based practices.
What’s your favorite thing about being in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society or at George Mason University more broadly?
One of the things I love most about our department is the collegial and supportive environment among our faculty, staff, and students. I enjoy all the opportunities we have to engage with each other both intellectually and socially, whether it’s guest speakers, workshops, writing days, or my personal favorite (as a multiple-time champion)—trivia night!