Peter C. Moskos,
Associate Professor
Dept. of
Law & Police Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Dept. of Sociology, City University of New York Graduate Center
899 10th Ave, Room 422-41;
New York, NY 10019
pmoskos@jjay.cuny.edu;
www.petermoskos.com
BIO
Peter Moskos was born in Chicago, graduated from Evanston Township High School, and lives in New York City in Astoria, Queens. He has worked as a movie theater usher, a Chicago Cubs usher, waiter, busboy, cook, bartender, bar manager, theater technician (lights and sound), boat captain, police officer, and professor.
While enrolled as a Harvard University graduate student, Moskos worked as a Baltimore City police officer from 1999 to 2001. He patrolled midnight shift in Baltimore’s high-crime Eastern District.
Cop in the Hood (Princeton University Press, 2008), Moskos’s first book, examines policing from a first-hand police perspective, focusing on the failure of the drug war and its impact on police culture and arrest decision in the ghetto. Cop in the Hood won the 2008 PROSE Award for Best Book in Sociology.
Moskos's second book, In Defense of Flogging (Basic Books, 2011), a subversive attack on the prison-industrial complex, earned Moskos recognition as one of Atlantic Magazine's "Brave Thinkers of 2011."
EDUCATION
Ph.D. (2004) Harvard University, Sociology.
M.A. (2004) Harvard University, Sociology.
A.B. (1994) Princeton University, Sociology (Magna Cum Laude).
Evanston Township High School (1989).
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
Police patrol and crime prevention; drug violence; sociology of police culture; police/minority relations; theories of punishment; qualitative methods.
• Greek Americans: Struggle and Success (third edition). New Jersey: Transactions Book. 2013 (in preparation).
JOURNAL ARTICLES, BOOK CHAPTERS, & REVIEWS
• "Observations as Data Collection Methods" (co-authored with Lior Gideon) in Theories of Research Methodology: Readings in Methods (2nd edition). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt. 2011. • "The Interview" (co-authored with Lior Gideon) in Theories of Research Methodology: Readings in Methods (2nd edition). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt. 2011. • Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations. Review of Seven Shots: An NYPD Raid on a Terrorist Cell and Its Aftermath, by Jennifer Hunt. 2011. Vol. 11(1): 90-92. University of Chicago Press. • International Criminal Justice Review. Review of The Blue Wall of Silence: The Morris Tribunal and Police Accountability in Ireland, by Vicky Conway. 2011. Vol 21(2): 171-172. • “In Defense of Doing Nothing: The Methodological Utility of Introversion.” Ieva Zake and Michael DeCesare (eds.). New Directions in Sociology: Essays on Theory and Methodology in the 21st Century. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. 2011. • “Policing: A Sociologist’s Response to an Anthropological Account.” PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review. Vol. 33(S1): 32-35. May 2010. • American Journal of Sociology. Review of Against Prediction, by Bernard E. Harcourt. Vol. 113(5): 1464-1477. 2008. • “Two Shades Of Blue: White and Black in the Blue Brotherhood.” Law Enforcement Executive Forum. Vol. 8(5). September 2008. • “The Better Part of Valor: Court-Overtime Pay as the Main Determinant for Discretionary Police Arrests.” Law Enforcement Executive Forum. Vol. 8(4). May 2008. • “Nine-One-One and the Failure of Police Rapid Response.” Law Enforcement Executive Forum. Vol. 7(4): 137-150. May 2007. • Law Enforcement News. Review of Breaking Rank, by Norm Stamper. September 2005. • “Afro-Anglo: America’s Core Culture: A Consolidation of Peoples in the United States.” National Journal of Sociology. Vol. 9(2). 1995.
• CopintheHood.com (approximately 7,000 unique monthly visitors). Awarded "Top 50 Criminal Justice Blogs," by Criminal Justice Degree Schools. 2007-. Cited in Research Ethics (2011, Vol.7:4.120-31)
RESEARCH GRANTS
• Faculty Liaison for Faculty Development Project, part of $3.7 million U.S. Department of Education cooperative grant (John Jay College’s Allocation is $1,106,321) for Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program. • $4,000 grant from the PSC-CUNY Research Award to study the relationship between drug policy, police culture, and arrests in the Netherlands and the United States. • $18,000 grant from the Niarchos Foundation to co-author the third edition of the book Greek Americans with the author of the first two editions, Professor Charles Moskos of Northwestern University.
ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS & CONFERENCES
• Panel Discussion on "The Wire" (with Elijah Anderson). Brown University. May, 2011. • Alpha Kappa Delta (Sociology Honor Society), keynote speaker, Montclair State University. April, 2011. • "New Methods in Ethnographic Research." Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Philadelphia. March, 2010. • "The Failure of Prohibition." Baruch College. February, 2011. • “Author Meets Critics: Seven Shots." The American Society of Criminology Conference Annual Meeting. San Francisco. November, 2010. • "The Craft of Ethnography: A New Workshop on the Practice of Ethnography." Columbia University. December, 2010. • "Drug Legalizing Cop Speaks: Peter Moskos on the Failure of Prohibition." Columbia University. September, 2010. • "NYPD’s Stop & Frisk: Racial Profiling or Good Policing?" Laguardia Community College. June, 2010. • Arizona State University, Justice and Social Inquiry,
School of Social Transformation (via skype). April, 2010. • SUNY Empire State College, Staten Island. March, 2010. • "Introversion as an Ethnographic Tool." Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Boston. March, 2009. • "The Truth About Crime: How can a community deal
with anti-social behavior?" A BBC film by Roger Graef.
Panel discussion. John Jay College. February, 2010. • "It ain't about right, it's about money." Keynote Speaker. The Wire as Social Science Fiction. ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC). Leeds, UK. November, 2009. • "The Law-Enforcement Perspective." Safe Injection Facilities of New York. John Jay College. May 22, 2009. • Killadelphia: A Panel Discussion. Part of the Gerald W. Lynch Theater’s Art of Justice Series: Integrating the Arts & Issues of Justice. April, 2009. • Northwestern University. Department of Sociology Colloquium Series. April, 2009. • Cornell University Center for the Study of Inequality Colloquium Series. April, 2009. • University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. April, 2009. • Yale University Urban Ethnography Project mini-conference, "The Urban Ghetto: Then and Now." Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Baltimore. March, 2009. • "The Urban Ghetto: Then and Now." Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Baltimore. March, 2009. • SUNY Stony Brook. February, 2009. • New York University. February, 2009. • Brown University. February, 2009. • Philoctetes Society Roundtable. "Aggression." New York City. February, 2009. • University of Pennsylvania Urban Ethnography Workshop. February, 2009. • Harm Reduction Coalition. New York City. January, 2009. • New York Academy of Medicine and Drug Policy Alliance. "New Directions for New York: A Public Health and Safety Approach to Drug Policy: Harm Reduction Pillar - Coordinating Strategies." New York City. January, 2009. • “Closing Plenary: Race, Inner Cities, and the Drug War.” Students for Sensible Drug Policy Tenth Annual Conference. College Park, Maryland. November, 2008. • “The Better Part of Valor: Court-Overtime Pay as the Main Determinant for Discretionary Police Arrests.” The American Society of Criminology Conference Annual Meeting. St. Louis. November, 2008. • “The Wire: Drugs, Prison and Community Survival.” John Jay College of Criminal Justice. New York City. September, 2008.
Goldstock Criminal Law Luncheon. New York University. September, 2008. • “Police Officers' Attitude Toward Drugs and Arrest Decision: the United States and the Netherlands.” International Conference: Justice and Policing in Diverse Societies. San Juan, Puerto Rico. June, 2008. • “Rapid Response in High-Drug Areas: a misuse of police patrol.” Istanbul Conference on Democracy and Global Security. Istanbul, Turkey. June, 2007. • Bloods, Crips, and Beyond: Anti-Gang Initiatives from Cities to Suburbs. Princeton University. April, 2006. • “Hell Freezing Over: Broken Windows and Police Action Reclaiming NYC’s Port Authority Bus Terminal.” The American Society of Criminology Conference Annual Meeting. Toronto. November, 2005. • “Police Training for Effective Counter-Terrorism.” Istanbul Conference on Democracy and Global Security. Istanbul, Turkey. June, 2005. • “Participant P.O. Field Work.” Philadelphia Ethnography Conference.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. April, 2005. • “Police, Drugs, and Arrest Discretion.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting. Chicago. March, 2005. • “Police in the ’Hood.” The Millsaps Faith and Work Initiative. Sponsored by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. and the Departments of Sociology and Anthropology.
Millsaps College. Jackson, Mississippi. April, 2004. • “Public Health, Policing, and Law Enforcement: The Case of HIV/AIDS Prevention.” The Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA). Sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Yale University. November, 2003. • “Police and Race in Baltimore.” The Aage Sørensen Memorial Conference.
Stockholm University. March, 2003. • “The Failure of 911 Rapid Police Response.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting. Boston. March, 2003. • “Two Shades Of Blue: Racial Distinctions within a Common Police Identity.” The American Society of Criminology Conference Annual Meeting.
Chicago. November, 2002. • “Vaksurveillance en Ordehandhaving [Beat Patrol and Order Maintenance],”
translated into Dutch by Sjaak Aussems. Politieburo Prinsengracht.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. October, 1998. • “Community Policing and Crime Prevention in America and Holland.” The Center for Police Studies, Departments of Criminal law and Criminology of the Law,
Vrije Universiteit. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. December, 1997. • “Changes in the Racial Differential in Imprisonment in the U.S. from the 1920s to the 1990s” (with Chris Winship and Steve Morgan). IRP Summer Research Workshop: Problems of the Low-Income Population. Madison, Wisconsin. June, 1996.
TV, RADIO, & MEDIA APPEARANCES(selected)
•BBC Radio 4. January 26, 2012. •Greektown: Astoria. Documentary by Nikos Panoutsopoulos. Broadcast on NET/ERT (Greek Television). November, 2011. •Mike McConnell Show. WGN (Chicago). November 3, 2011.
•The Barry Morgan Show. CJAD (Montreal). November 2, 2011. • CJOB (Winnipeg). August 9, 2011. • Newstalk Radio (Ireland). July 19, 2011. •WUER (Salt Lake City NPR). July 19, 2011. •Época (Brazil). July 15, 2011. • KGO (Gil Gross Program, ABC News Radio). July 19, 2011. • WVON (Chicago). July 11, 2011. • CNN, "Stream Team with Fredricka Whitfield." June 30, 2011. •KWGS (Tulsas NPR). June 29, 2011. •"The C4 Show." WBAL (Baltimore). June 28, 2011. • Salon.com, "Could Flogging solve our prison crisis?" by Mandy Van Deven. June 20, 2011. • KERA (North Texas Public Radio). June 22, 2011. •Charles Adler Show, Sun News Network (Canada). June 20, 2011 • Nightside with Dan Rea, WBZ (Boston). June 17, 2011. • The Current (Canadian Broadcast Corporation). June 15, 2011. •The Joy Cardin Show (Wisconsin Public Radio/NPR). June 15, 2011. •Air Talk, hosted by Larry Mantle, KCPP (NPR). June 13, 2011. •Cultural Baggage, hosted by Dean Beaker. June 12, 2011. •David Sirota, KKZN (Denver). June 3, 2011 • Pete Conlin, WOR (New York). June 3, 2011. •The Alan Colmes Show. Fox News Radio. June 1, 2011. •Brian Lehrer, WNYC (NPR). June 1, 1011 •The Takeaway, Public Radio International. May 31, 2011. •ABC (Australian Broadcast Company), May 30, 2011. •Metro. Peter Moskos: Flogging versus Prison. May 30, 2011. •CNN Newsroom with Drew Griffin, May 29, 2011. •CNN. In the Arena. "Criminologist Peter Moskos: Give offenders a choice–prison or FLOGGING (he's serious)." May 24, 2011. • The Economist.com. "A revival of flogging?" April 25, 2011. • "The Cop Doc Radio Show." Dr. Richard Weinblatt. October 21, 2010. •"Sex, Drugs and Civil Liberties." Dan Viets. KOPN (Columbia, MO). December 22, 2009. • "The Faith Middleton Show." WNPR Connecticut Public Broadcasting. October 30, 2009. • "Lou Dobbs Tonight." CNN. October 22, 2009. • "The Moral of the Story, The Ethicist's take on the news: Good Cops, Bad Cops... and Bad Emmys." By Randy Cohen. The New York Times Sunday Magazine. September 14, 2009. • "Pete and Jan in the Afternoon." WRJN (Racine, WI). August 28, 2009. • "Montel Across America." Air America. August 27, 2009. • "Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast." WYPR (Baltimore Public Radio). Recorded August 26, 2009. • "Conversations with Carlos Watson." MSNBC. August 19, 2009 • “The Ron Smith Show.” WBAL (Baltimore). August 18, 2009. •"The John Brown Show." KTRS (St. Louis). August 18, 2009 •"The C4 Show." WBAL (Baltimore). August 3, 2009. • "Executive Order: A Mayoral Strategy for Traffic Safety." Transportation Alternatives. New York City Hall Press Conference. July 14, 2009. •"Century of Lies" with Dean Becker. KPFT (Houston). June 29, 2009 •"Extension 720" with Milt Rosenberg. Cop in the Hood. WGN (Chicago). June 19, 2009. •Oakland BART shooting. WABC (San Francisco). January 9, 2008. • "Race, Inner Cities, and the Drug War." Students for Sensible Drug Policy Tenth Annual Conference. November 2008. •Non-Motivational Speaker Series. October 23, 2008. • Cop in the Hood. CUNY TV (New York). October 15, 2008. • ACJS Today. "Cop in the Hood." Book review by Monica J. Massey. October, 2008. • "The World Famous Phil Hendrie Show" (Los Angeles). October 1, 2008. •Baltimore Book Festival. Radical Bookfair Pavilion. September 27, 2008. •Baltimore Book Festival. Literary Salon. September 27, 2008. • Baltimore Highlandtown Library. September 27, 2008. • Financial Times. "First Person: Peter Moskos." Profile by Ed Hammond. August 30, 2008. • Vanity Fair. “Q&A: The Ivy Leaguer Who Took on Prop Joe.” Profile by Jordan Heller. August 26, 2008. • CUNY radio’s “Book Beat Podcast.” August 22, 2008. • “The Drug Truth Network: Cultural Baggage.” KPFT (Houston). August 20, 2008. • “Kicking the Anthill.” KLUP (San Antonio). August 16, 2008. • "Midday with Don Rodricks.” WYPR (Baltimore Public Radio). August 11, 2008. Rebroadcast August 4, 2009. • “The Ron Smith Show.” WBAL (Baltimore). August 11, 2008. • “Jeff Farias." KPHX (Pheonix). July 30, 2008. • “Ed Norris Show.” WHFS (Baltimore.) July 29, 2008. • “Leonard Lopate Show.” WNYC (New York Public Radio). July 22, 2008. Rebroadcast October 13, 2008. •Wall Street Journal. "A Close Look at Mean Streets." Book review by Daniel Horan. July 14, 2008. • “The Ron Smith Show.” WBAL (Baltimore). June 17, 2008. • “The Ron Smith Show.” WBAL (Baltimore). May 13, 2008. • "On Point" with Tom Ashbrook. Cop in the Hood. National Public Radio. April 30, 2008. • “Talk of the Nation” with Neal Conan. Sean Bell Verdict May Deepen Mistrust of Police. National Public Radio. April 29, 2008. • “Bloggingheads TV.” Cop in the Hood. April 14, 2008. • Reading for Podcast of Randy Cohen's New York Times Magazine column, "The Ethicist." April 4, 2008. • “Fox News Live” with Jamie Colby. Fox TV. The Militarization of Police. May 12, 2007. • “Talk of the Nation” with Neal Conan. Examining the Causes of Witness Intimidation. National Public Radio. May 1, 2007. • “Brian Lehrer Show.” Stop Snitching? WNYC (New York Public Radio). February 24, 2006. • “Freedom Rings.” The Case for Drug Legalization. WRMN October 31, 2005.
TEACHING
• Issues in Criminal Justice: Corrections and Police (CRJ 711). Fall 2010, Fall 2009, Spring 2009, Fall 2008, Fall 2007, Spring 2007, Fall 2006, Fall 2005. • Seminar in Police Problems (PSC 401). Spring 2011, Fall 2010 (2 sections), Spring 2010 (2 sections), Fall 2009 (2 sections), Spring 2009 (2 section), Fall 2008 (2 sections), Spring 2008 (2 sections), Fall 2007 (2 sections), Spring 2005, Fall 2004 (2 sections). • Introduction to Policing (SSJ 203, LaGuardia Community College). Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009. • Introduction to Criminal Justice (CRJ 101). Fall 2006, Spring 2005. • Police Ethics (CRJ 742). Spring 2006. • Police and the Community (CRJ 757). Fall 2007, Fall 2005. • Introduction to Policing (PSC 101). Spring 2005, Fall 2004. • Introduction to Sociology (SOC 101), Teaching Fellow, Harvard University. Fall 1998.
COLLEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE
• Chair, Academic Council of the CUNY Justice Academy (2012–). • John Jay College / LaGuardia Community College 2+2 Faculty Teaching Exchange (2009–). • Police Studies Major Assessment (2009–). • Founder and organizer of the Department of Law and Police Science Faculty Research Salon (2009–). • Primary reader for four completed masters’ theses. Three in progress. • Departmental Committees: Grades Appeal Committee (2006–).
Reexamination and Formation of Strategic Plan for the Police Studies Program (2007).
Ad hoc subcommittee to formulate departmental bylaws (2008). • College Committees: Predictive Validity of the GRE for Admissions Subcommittee (2009).
Faculty Technology Committee (2004–).
Library Committee (2007–2008). • Police Studies Coordinator for the Department of Law & Police Science (2006–2008). • Lectures Organized: Diego Gambetta, Fall 2009.
Joseph Poss, Spring 2008.
Ad Clarijs, Fall 2007.
Derrick Parker, Fall 2006.
Barry Gibbs, Spring 2006.
David Klinger, Spring 2005. • Extensive student tutoring on fundamental English grammar (2010-). • Volunteer lecture at the Fortune Society to support successful reentry from prison (April 2011). • Volunteer speaker for LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (2002–).
• Contributing Editor for the Policing Section of ACJS (4 articles per year). • Reviewer for numerous academic journals. • Extensive tutoring to help those with need of basic grammar/writing skills. • Speaker/liaison for the New York Academy of Medicine. Authored and presented to Harlem Police Precincts on the Expanded Syringe Access Demonstration Program (ESAP). Spring 2003.
HONORS
• In Defense of Flogging:"Favorite Books of of the Year." Mother Jones. 2011.
• Atlantic Magazine's "Brave Thinkers." 2011. • In Defense of Flogging. Reviewed in The Economist. June 23, 2011. • John Jay College/Bramshill NPIA Exchange Scholar. Fall 2011. • CopintheHood.com awarded “Top 50 Criminal Justice Blogs,” by Criminal Justice Degree Schools, 2010. • Cop in the Hood: Winner of the American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence, Best Book in Sociology. 2008. • CUNY “Salute to Scholars” Certificate of Recognition. December, 2008. • CUNY Graduate Program in Anthropology Colloquia Series. October 17, 2008. • Invitation and travel grant to attend the Aage Sørensen Memorial Conference.
Stockholm, Sweden. March 2003. • Baltimore Sun op-ed cited in Petition for Rehearing (denied), submitted to US Supreme Court, 99-1408 Atwater, et al. v. Lago Vista, Texas, et al. June 2001. • Baltimore Police Department Special Service Commendation Medal. March 2001. • City of Baltimore Citizen Citation. April 2000. • Harvard University Scholarship. 1995 - 1997. • Isadore Brown Thesis Award for Best Sociology Thesis, Princeton University. 1994. • Magna Cum Laude, Princeton University. 1994. • Princeton University Hellenic Studies’ Seegar Grant for study in Greece. 1993. • Chicago Cubs Award in Recognition of Outstanding Achievement in Crowd Management. 1988.
RESEARCH AND WORK EXPERIENCE
• Associate Professor (2012–), John Jay College of Criminal Justice (2004–), Department of Law,
Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration. CUNY Doctoral Program in Sociology (2009–). • Baltimore City Police Officer. October 1999 – July 2001, Eastern District, uniformed patrol (April 2000 – July 2001). Baltimore City Police Academy (October 1999 – April 2000), Certified in Less Lethal Weaponry and as a Maryland Medical First Responder. • Vera Institute of Justice. Consultant on New York Police Department
community relations memo. December 2002. • Baltimore City Police Academy and Eastern District Police Station. Participant-observation field work, interviews, and panel-study questionnaire. August 1999 – July 2001. • Pieter Aertszstraat Police Station, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Participant-observation field work and evaluation of the program,
“Cops Without Cars” (Blauw uit Blik). October 1997 – August 1998. • Prinsengracht Police Station, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Participant-observation field work and analysis of police strategy towards controlling
weekend crowds on a busy nightlife square (Rembrantplein). May – June 1998. • Founder, boat captain. St. Nicolaas Boat Club of Amsterdam. 1997 – Present. • Bar tender, bar manager, theater technician (lights and sound). Boom Chicago (Amsterdam). 1994 – 1996. • Waiter and busboy, 1989 – 1999. Va Pensiero (Evanston), Papagus (Chicago), Terrace Club (Princeton), Salamander (Cambridge), Radius (Boston), Olé Mexican Grill (Cambridge). • Usher, Wrigley Field/Chicago Cubs. 1988. • Usher, Evanston Movie Theatres. 1986 –1988.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
• American Society of Criminology • Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences • American Sociological Association • Eastern Sociology Society • American Anthropological Association • LEAP: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
