Kenneth J. Peak is emeritus professor and former chair of the Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nevada, Reno, where he was named “Teacher of the Year” by the university’s Honor Society. Following four years as a municipal police officer in Kansas, he subsequently held positions as a nine-county criminal justice planner for southeast Kansas; director of a four-state technical assistance institute for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (based at Washburn University in Topeka); director of university police at Pittsburg State University (Kansas); acting director of public safety, University of Nevada, Reno; and assistant professor of criminal justice at Wichita State University. He has authored or coauthored 37 additional textbooks (relating to general policing, community policing, criminal justice administration, police supervision and management, and women in law enforcement), two historical books (on Kansas temperance and bootlegging), and more than 60 journal articles and invited book chapters. He is past chair of the Police Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and past president of the Western Association of Criminal Justice. He received two gubernatorial appointments to statewide criminal justice committees while residing in Kansas and holds a doctorate from the University of Kansas.
Tamara D. Madensen is an associate professor of criminal justice and graduate director at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She holds a doctorate from the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include crime opportunity structures, place management, and crowd violence. She is the recipient of UNLV’s Spanos Distinguished Teaching Award, Faculty Excellence Award, and Greenspun College of Urban Affairs Teaching Award. Her publications propose, extend, or test crime science theoretical models. They also help to translate research findings into practice and policy. Her work has appeared in various outlets, including Criminology and Justice Quarterly. She has published numerous practitioner-focused research papers, including two Problem-Oriented Policing Guides funded by the COPS Office and research monographs selected as Herman Goldstein Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing Award finalists. Her book Preventing Crowd Violence (co-edited with Johannes Knutsson), has been translated into two foreign languages. Dr. Madensen serves as director of UNLV’s Crowd Management Research Council, and conducts research and training for police agencies, major sports leagues, and private industries.
