Chernoh Wurie, Ph.D.

Assistant professor

EXPERTISE

• Police recruitment and requirements
• Perceptions of police officers
• Crime scene identification, processing and analysis
• Cultural diversity and inclusion in policing
• History and current practices of policing

EDUCATION

B.S., Criminal Justice, Radford University
M.A., Public Administration and Public Safety, Walden University
Ph.D., Public Policy and Administration, Walden University

TEACHING

Introduction to Policing, Principles of Criminal Investigations, Violent Crime Scenes Investigations, Race, Crime, and Justice and Criminalistics 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Basic requirements of becoming a police officer, positive and negative perceptions of police officers, immigration and policing, re-imagining the police perceptions and the communities they serve.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Dr. Wurie’s area of concentration strongly focuses on policing because he was a sworn police officer for more than 10 years with the Prince William County Police Department. During his police tenure, he was a patrol officer, crisis intervention team member, police mentor, crime scene technician and police planner. He also completed various applicable police training courses such as crisis intervention training, criminal investigations training, basic police crime scene photography, police planners training and crime scene technician. In addition to his police experience, Wurie completed his doctoral degree in 2012, which primarily focused on the impact of the immigration policy 287(g) and its impact on Salvadoran families residing in Prince William County. He also has co-authored other publications and has written and published one book, “Impact: A Compilation of Positive Police Encounters.” Wurie recently completed his first textbook titled “Introduction to policing: perceptions versus reality” revised first edition published January 2020. Currently he is also the chair of the Henrico Police chief’s advisory board wherein he is a special consultant and instructs the history and current practices of policing to both academy recruits and in-service members. His educational and professional experiences contribute greatly to his teaching and service endeavors at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Wurie, C. M. (2012). Exploring the lives of Salvadoran families after the implementation of Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 Section 287(g) (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest (ID# 12491).

Wurie, C. M. (2013). Impact: A compilation of positive police encounters. Indiana: AuthorHouse.