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Professor Plans to Expand USF Polytechnic Criminology Program

Lakeland, Florida- Crime is down but interest in criminology is up, according to Dr. Paul Cromwell, professor of criminology and director of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of South Florida Polytechnic.

Cromwell recently joined the university to help expand its criminology program and brings with him a wealth of knowledge. He has served as a federal probation and parole officer, as a chief probation officer and as chairman of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. He was also appointed a part-time municipal court judge.

"The crime rate is down almost 30 percent since 1970, but right now criminology is the fastest-growing field right now in the whole country," says Cromwell.

Dr. Paul Cromwell, USF Polytechnic. Photo: Tom Hagerty,USF Polytechnic.)

Why the growth?
"It's a fascinating topic," he says. "People love to talk about it. They love to watch in on television. Most of those shows aren't very realistic, but they have helped create an incredible interest in criminology and criminal justice."

As he helps develop the criminology program at USFP, Cromwell has two key concerns: cybercrime and globalization.

"The Internet has changed everything. So much crime today is related to the Internet and the cyberworld. And someone once said, 'All politics is local.' Well today we can say, 'All crime is global.'

"Drugs are a global problem, and drugs are the core of the crime problem across the world. Eighty-five percent of the people in prison are there because of some drug or alcohol related issue. We need to think about how to deal with that problem. We need to think about where drugs come from, how they're disbursed throughout the world and how money associated with the drug business is moved around the world. The key to solving the crime problem is dealing with the globalization of drugs and money movement, so as we expand we plan to hire faculty who have global interests and who have experience in cybercrime and computer expertise. Those professors are much in demand, and we plan to bring some of them to USF Polytechnic. "

In keeping with this goal, Cromwell says that one of the new professors hired for the fall 2011 academic year is a former FBI agent with a Ph.D. and a specialty in cyber-forensics.

Aligned with the polytechnic vision, Cromwell believes in hands-on applied learning.

"I want our students getting involved and actually getting out and working in the community. I teach a class called Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design in which we study how to build or retrofit homes, neighborhoods, even whole communities to make them less vulnerable to crime. Recently a graduate student and I recently spent a day in Celebration, Florida, studying how that planned community has attempted to design crime out. Every house, for example, has a front porch. That simple design focuses daily life toward the street, not toward the back yard as in the case of most suburban housing. That creates more 'eyes on the street,' increasing legitimate activities and decreasing illegitimate behaviors. Experiences like that help students turn theory into practice.

"In my class, students learn how to go into a retail store or a home or a neighborhood and implement these crime-prevention techniques. This is the kind of thing that excites me about criminology."

Cromwell feels a similar enthusiasm for USF Polytechnic.

"I had wanted to do something innovative, something new that would stretch myself. So when I heard about USF Poly's vision it sounded really exciting. Then I came down here and talked to people I got even more excited. This is such an innovative and exciting place. It's been a wonderful experience and I wake up every day looking forward to going to work. This is a place where I'm really happy."

Cromwell earned a PhD in criminology from Florida State University. He previously taught at the University of Miami and Wichita State University.