James L. Carr
James L. Carr
Adjunct Faculty
Captain James L. Carr, Ed.D., DTM, DL (Retired)
Retiring Command Assignment:
Prince William County Police Department
Police Personnel Bureau Commander
9540 Center Street, Suite 101
Manassas, VA 20109
https://joinpwcpd.org/
Dr. Carr is currently teaching Criminal Justice courses for George Mason University and New England College. Dr. Carr retired from the Prince William County Police Department in June of 2021, with over 35 years of service within law enforcement. In his last command, he served as the Commander for the Prince William County Police Department's Personnel Bureau. This Bureau is comprised of sworn and civilian employees responsible for recruitment, selection, and hiring of police officers and civilian staff who desire to work for the Police Department. In this capacity, Dr. Carr had direct leadership and oversight of hiring sworn and professional personnel.
In addition, Dr. Carr supervised Police Recruiters, Background Investigators, Polygraph Examiners, and other support personnel assigned to the Personnel Bureau. Furthermore, Dr. Carr supervised the Police Department's Co-Responder Unit. This specialized unit is comprised of sworn Officers and certified Clinicians from the county's Community Services Agency. Officers and Clinicians assigned to the unit are trained and certified in Crisis Intervention techniques, with a focus on mental health calls. More importantly, Officers are paired with a Clinician and together they handle calls for service involving mental health consumers. The unit has been very successful regarding the service they provide and is a model for other law enforcement organizations to emulate.
Dr. Carr previously served the Department as the Central District Commander. In addition, he is a graduate of the prestigious FBI National Academy, 214th Session where he served as a Leadership Challenge Student, Section-2 Class Representative, and the Class Spokesman. Dr. Carr also graduated from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) Senior Management Institute at Boston University. Prior to coming aboard with the Department of Criminology, Law & Society, Dr. Carr served as a guest lecturer at George Mason University in Manassas regarding Policing in America. Dr. Carr is a member of the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing (ASEBP) and collaborated on a National Academies of Sciences project with Dr. Cynthia Lum, Director for the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy and Dr. Christopher Koper: Translating, Communicating, and Institutionalizing Research into Policing Practice: A Collaboration between the Prince William County Police Department and the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy.
As an educator and former law enforcement practitioner, Dr. Carr enjoys working with youth and college students to ensure that they achieve their educational goals and objectives. In addition, Dr. Carr is a part-time instructor for the New England College online Criminal Justice Program teaching CJ-3210: Contemporary Law Enforcement; CJ-3010: Corrections, and PS-3170: Forensic Psychology, and several other courses. Furthermore, Dr. Carr has been working with Professor Frank Jones, New England College, since 2016, coordinating visits to Washington, D.C., Quantico, and Prince William County for students taking CJ-4020, Senior Seminar and Travel Component regarding Issues in Professional Practice (Law Enforcement). Dr. Carr was promoted through the ranks within the Police Department serving in the following assignments:
- Patrol, where he served as a Patrol Officer and Crime Scene Technician.
- Investigator, working as an Undercover Operative in the Narcotics Section and assigned to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s PCP and Crack Task Force.
- Supervisory ranks within Patrol, Internal Affairs, Juvenile Bureau, Juvenile Bureau School Resource Officer Supervisor, D.A.R.E. Instructor, Watch Commander, Evening Operations Commander, and Administrative Services Bureau Commander. Dr. Carr was Project Manager for construction of the first Forensic Services Laboratory for the Police Department, which received international accreditation recognition.
In February of 2018, Dr. Carr completed construction of the Department’s 28.6-million-dollar Charlie T. Deane Station. Officers began operating from the new station on April 18, 2018. Charlie T. Deane Station is the flagship facility for the Police Department housing the Office of the Chief, Media Relations, the Financial and Technical Services Division, Support Services Division Commander, Operations Division Commander, Criminal Investigations Division Commander, and Patrol Operations. In that capacity, Dr. Carr led 130 staff to include sworn officers, police recruits, and civilians providing full-time law enforcement service to a population of 166,647 residents within a 68-square mile area of Prince William County. https://www.pwcva.gov/department/police/patrol-service-districts
Dr. Carr also serves as a board member for several non-profit organizations in Virginia. He is a member of: FailSafe-ERA FailSafe-ERA | Virginia Reentry Services & Programs for Successful Second Chances; the Virginia ARTfactory: https://virginiaartfactory.org/staff/ in Historic Manassas (Immediate Past President), and Virginians for the Arts: https://vaforarts.org/about-us/board-staff/. He is a Distinguished Toastmaster for the Toast of Fredericksburg Toastmasters Club holding positions as Vice President of Public Relations, Sergeant at Arms, President, Immediate Past President, and Treasurer. In 2025, he taught a Youth Leadership Program in the Rappahannock Regional Juvenile Detention Center. He is currently the Team Leader for the FailSafe-ERA Crisis Response Unit. Dr. Carr is currently serving as Vice President and Scholarship Committee Chairman of the Greater Rappahannock Virginia Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). https://noblenational.org/
Courses Taught
- CRIM - 401: Policing in America
- CRIM - 425: Criminal Justice Management
- CRIM - 510: Policing in a Democratic Society
- CRIM - 513: Leadership in Justice Organizations
- CRIM - 544: Will teach Corrections in the 2026 summer semester
Education
- B.S. Business Administration, Strayer College
- M.S. Business Administration, Strayer University
- Doctorate, Higher Education Leadership with a Specialization in Organizational Leadership, Nova Southeastern University