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Laurie Robinson

Laurie Robinson Named to Co-Chair President’s Policing Task Force

Laurie O. Robinson

George Mason University professor Laurie Robinson has been appointed co-chair of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, the White House announced Monday.

Robinson, a Clarence J. Robinson Professor and a former assistant attorney general, has been involved with national criminal justice policy for more than 30 years.

The new task force is part of the White House’s response to the ongoing turmoil in Ferguson, Mo. Robinson will co-chair the task force with Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey, the former police chief of Washington, D.C.

The White House said in a statement announcing the task force appointments that the goals are “to include new ways to promote effective crime reduction while building public trust.” The task force is being asked to prepare a report within 90 days on issues including the militarization of municipal police forces, a national database to track the purchases of military equipment and the use of body cameras by members of the police. The president announced he will ask Congress for $263 million to equip police with body cameras.

As a Robinson professor of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason, Robinson teaches undergraduate, honors and capstone courses in criminal justice, including Criminal Justice Management, which details aspects of administration and management challenges facing criminal justice leaders, and Contemporary Society in Multiple Perspectives: Problem Solving in Government, which addresses creative problem-solving in government. She has been at Mason since 2012.

Robinson was twice appointed assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice office of Justice Programs, first by President Bill Clinton and then Obama. She is the longest-serving head of the agency in its 45-year history.

Write to Buzz McClain at bmcclai2@gmu.edu

This article originally appeared at the Mason Newsdesk.