Bryan Vila, PhD
Room 403A, Academic Center
Phone: 509.358.7711
Fax: 509.358.7933
E-mail: vila@wsu.edu
Profile
Bryan Vila, PhD, is a professor of criminal justice at WSU Spokane. Prior to joining WSU in July of 2005, he directed the Division of Crime Control and Prevention Research at the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice. In 1990, Dr. Vila received his PhD in Ecology from the University of California, Davis.
He since has held tenured faculty positions at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Wyoming. Before he became an academic, Dr. Vila served as a law enforcement officer for 17 years—including nine years as a street cop and supervisor with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, six years as a police chief helping the emerging nations of Micronesia develop innovative law enforcement strategies, and two years in Washington, D.C., as a federal law enforcement officer.
Dr. Vila teaches courses on criminology theory, research methods, policing, crime control, human ecology, justice and human performance, and capital punishment, as well as drugs and crime.
Areas of Research Interest
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Tired Cops: Understanding and dealing with the impact of long and erratic work hours and shift work on officer performance, health and safety
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Cross-cultural police training and development
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Developing a general theory of crime and crime control
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Interdisciplinary research methods
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History and evolution of capital punishment and policing in the United States
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Using geographical information systems (GIS) to understand and control street gang crime
Syllabi
Selected Publications
The Role of Police in American Society: A Documentary History (Book)
Capital Punishment in the United States: A Documentary History (Book)
Tired Cops: The Importance of Managing Police Fatigue (Book)
- Prevention of Youth and Gang Violence
- Determining the Quality of Accelerometer Data
- Human Ecology, Crime and Crime Control
- Police Work Schedules
- Child Welfare and Lagged Crime Trends
- Tired Cops
- Human Nature and Crime Control
- Connections Between Fatigue and Performance
- Self-Control and Social Control
- Police Handgun Qualification
- Expropriative Crime and Crime Policy: An Evolutionary Ecological Analysis
Press
- "Sleep Studies Cop Stresses"
Spokane Public Radio (MP3 format) A Good Night's Sleep.
Amanda Loder's report on the latest local research, based on an interview with WSU faculty member Bryan Vila. - Fatigue a recipe for disaster in law, intelligence
- Buffalo Cardio-metabolic Occupational Police Stress (and Fatigue) Study
Research Spotlight
A sampling of upcoming public talks:
- August 8 & 9, 2008, Fatigue and officer safety, health and performance. International Union of Police Associations annual conference, Orlando
- September 3-5, 2008, Managing Fatigue Risks, Western Occupational Safety & Health Conference, Santa Barbara
- September 16 & 17, 2008, Using Science to Reduce Risks from Police Officer Fatigue, International Association of Law Enforcement Planners, Sioux City, Iowa
- November 13, 2008, Unaccountable Cops: Police Work Hours and the Abuse of Discretion, American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, St. Louis