Cynthia Lum

Distinguished University Professor

Evidence-based policing, police organizations, patrol and investigations, police technologies, evidence-based crime policy, and translational criminology

Dr. Cynthia Lum is a Distinguished University Professor of Criminology, Law and Society and Director of George Mason University’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. She is a leading authority on evidence-based policing, an approach that advocates that research, evaluation, and scientific processes should have “a seat at the table” in law enforcement policymaking and practice. Prof. Lum has studied and written extensively about patrol operations and police crime prevention activities, police technology, investigations and detective work, and evidence-based crime policy. Additionally, she has developed numerous tools and strategies to translate and institutionalize research into everyday law enforcement operations. Her and Professor Christopher Koper's foundational book on these topics--Evidence-Based Policing: Translating Research Into Practice (Oxford University Press)--received the American Society of Criminology Division of Policing 2020 Outstanding Book Award.

Professor Lum is an elected Fellow of the American Society of Criminology (ASC) and the 2023 recipient of ASC's Herbert Bloch Award and the Distinguished Scholar Award for the Division of Policing. She was an appointed member of the Committee on Law and Justice (CLAJ) for the National Academies of Sciences (NAS), and has served on the NAS’s ad hoc committees on Proactive Policing and Evidence to Advance Reform in the Global Security and Justice Sectors. She is a Board Trustee of the Council on Criminal Justice and a Board Director for the National Policing Institute. Prof. Lum is the founding editor of Translational Criminology Magazine and was Editor-in Chief (with Professor Christopher Koper) of Criminology & Public Policy, the flagship policy journal of the American Society of Criminology from 2019 to 2024.

Professor Lum is the recipient of the 2017 inaugural Mason Presidential Medal for Excellence in Social Impact and the 2020 Virginia State Council for Higher Education Outstanding Faculty Award.

Selected Publications

Only select publications from 2024-2025 are listed. For full publication list, see Cynthia Lum's C.V.

Petersen, K., Lum, C., & Koper, C.S. (2025). Assessing proactive policing tendencies in an agency seeking to be more evidence-based. Police Quarterly. DOI: 10.1177/10986111251353521.

Lum, C., Sumwalt, J., Koper, C.S., Petersen, K. (2025). Institutionalizing Evidence-Based Policing through a Case of Place Approach in Suffolk County, New York. Justice Evaluation Journal, DOI: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24751979.2025.2474099

Uding, C.V., Moon, H., & Lum, C. (2025). The status of co-responders in law enforcement: findings from a national survey of law enforcement agencies. Policing: An International Journal (of Police Strategies & Management), 48(1), 69-97.

Lum, C., Koper, C.S., & Khatchatourian, H. (2025). Do community views of local police agencies change during “crises of legitimacy”? Results of a multi-wave random sample community survey in a large suburban jurisdiction. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 50, 35-57.

Koper, C.S., Lum, C., Wu, H.X., & Khatchatourian, H. (2024). Opening the black box of police operations and crime during the COVID-19 pandemic. Police Quarterly, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10986111241297933

Lum, C., Koper, C.S., Goodier, M., Johnson, W. and Krause, J. (2024). A multi-method case study of a police agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Policing: An International Journal (of Police Strategies and Management), 47(2), 285-305.

Lum, C., Wellford, C., Scott., T., Vovak, H., Scherer, J.A., & Goodier, M. (2024). Differences between high and low performing police agencies in clearing robberies, aggravated assaults, and burglaries: Findings from an eight-agency case study. Police Quarterly, 27(2), 135-157.

Lum, C., & Koper, C.S. (2024). Operational Guidance for Enhancing Hot Spot “Koper” Patrols. Translational Criminology Magazine, Spring (2024), 4-6.

Lum, C., & Koper, C.S. (2024). Evidence-Based Policing. In B. Welsh, S. Zane, & D. Mears, The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Crime and Justice Policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Expanded Publication List

See Curriculum Vitae.

Grants and Fellowships

(Active grants only; for full grant list, see Cynthia Lum's CV)

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (with Koper, C.S., also PI; CoPI: Kimbrell, S.C.). Improving Clearance Rates and Victim Satisfaction for High-Volume Crimes through Follow-Ups: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Arnold Ventures ($839,520).

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (with Koper, C.S., also PI; CoPI: Kimbrell, S.C.). Enhancing Safety and Security at Northern Virginia Airports and Associated Metro Stations. Bureau of Justice Assistance ($296,000).

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Co-PI: Dong, B.; with NPI PI Burch, J.). Understanding the Application, Recruitment, Retention, and Careers of Police Officers: A Longitudinal Study. National Policing Institute ($186,401).

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (with Koper, C.S., also PI). Institutionalizing and Sustaining an Evidence-Based and Problem-Oriented Approach in Suffolk County Police Department. Bureau of Justice Assistance (via Suffolk County Police Department) Grant # 15PBJA-21-GG-04371-SMTP (GMU portion: $397,846).

CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (PI: Jeff Beeson). GMU-HIDTA. Office of National Drug Control Policy. (Total funding as of 2023: $25,089,714).

Courses Taught

CRIM 100 Introduction to Criminal Justice
CRIM 401 Policing in America
CRIM 405 Law and Justice Around the World
CRIM 491/492 Honors Seminar in Criminology, Law and Society
CRIM 510 Policing/Evidence-Based Policing
CRIM 746 Evidence-Based Policing
CRIM 760 Evidence-Based Crime Policy (formerly Crime and Crime Policy)
CRIM 795 Research Advancing Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing
CPET 0100-D74 Evidence-Based Policing: A Course for Practitioners (GMU Continuing Education Program)
OLLI Courses on Policing, Crime Prevention, Criminological Theory, and Contemporary Criminal Justice Issues
International Summer School for Policing Scholarship

Education

Ph.D., Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland (2003)
MSc., Criminology, London School of Economics (1996)
B.A., Political Science, University of California Los Angeles (1995)
B.A., Economics, University of California Los Angeles (1995)

Recent Presentations

See Curriculum Vitae.

In the Media

See CEBCP IN THE NEWS

Dissertations Supervised

Michael Goodier, Managing Mental Health Calls For Service: An Evaluability Assessment of Co-Located Behavioral Health Specialists within a Public Safety Call Center (2024)

Heather Prince, Are Those Teenagers Really Up to No Good? Developing a Predictive Model of Juvenile Crime (2022)

Sang Jun Park, Examining the "Law of Crime Concentrations" Across Multiple Jurisdictions (2019)

Jacqueline Amber Scherer, Identifying Effective Strategies for Robbery Investigations: An Examination of Organizational, Procedural, and Individual Characteristics (2019)

Gregory Jones, Enhancing Patrol Deployment Strategy and Deployment Efficiency of Police Managers by Utilizing Automated Vehicle Locator Technology (2018)

Heather Vovak, Examining the Relationship between Crime Rates and Clearance Rates Using Dual Trajectory Analysis (2016)

Julie Grieco, Attitudinal Dimensions and Openness to Evidence-Based Policing: Perspectives of Academy Recruits (2016)

Ajima Olaghere, The Everyday Activities That Bind for Crime: Investigating the Process of Routine Activities at Specific Places (2015)