Andrea-Headley-e1692805299595

Andrea Headley, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University

NPI Affiliated Scholars Program

Bio

Dr. Andrea M. Headley is an assistant professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and an affiliate fellow at the Center for Innovations in Community Safety at Georgetown Law.

At the heart of Dr. Headley’s research lies the question of how we can create a more effective and equitable criminal justice system. Her research has focused primarily on policing to understand how organizational-, managerial-, and individual-level factors affect outcomes, with a keen focus on racial inequities. She conducts quantitative and qualitative research, working actively with criminal justice agencies and community-based organizations to evaluate the efficacy of various interventions aimed at improving public safety and equity.

Examples of Dr. Headley’s prior research include evaluating police training, assessing police-community relations in communities of color, evaluating race and police use of force, analyzing accountability mechanisms such as police body-worn cameras and civilian oversight boards, and exploring the racial and gendered norms and cultures in policing.

Dr. Headley is a member of the Council on Criminal Justice, Campaign Zero’s Safety Research Panel, and the Research Advisory Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. She has been featured as a subject matter expert in news outlets such as ABC, CBS, NPR, and PBS News. Dr. Headley received her Ph.D. in public affairs and an M.S. in criminal justice from Florida International University and a B.S.Ed. in human and social development from the University of Miami.

Publications

Headley, A. M., & Kalesnikaite, V. (2024). Exploring the limits of collaboration and the fragility of its outcomes: The case of community policing. Public Administration Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13836

Witkowski, K., Contreras, S., Remington, C. L., Headley, A. M., & Ganapati, N. E. (2024). Organizational resilience in first-response agencies: Visual responses from first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 107, Article 104467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104467

Witkowski, K., Lofaro, R. J., Headley, A. M., Contreras, S., Remington, C. L., & Ganapati, N. E. (2024). Understanding problematic substance use among first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey of law enforcement, fire, and EMS workers in the United States. International Journal of Drug Policy, 123, Article 104261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104261

Headley, A. M., Witkowski, K., Remington, C., Ganapati, N. E., & Contreras, S. L. (2023). Trauma‐informed organizational climate and its impact on first responder burnout during COVID‐19. Public Administration Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13764

Remington, C. L., Witkowski, K., Ganapati, N. E., Headley, A. M., & Contreras, S. L. (2023). First responders and the COVID-19 pandemic: How organizational strategies can promote workforce retention. The American Review of Public Administration, 54(1), 33–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740231192968

St. John, V. J., Headley, A. M., & Blount-Hill, K. L. (2023). Police station design and intrusive police encounters: Untangling variations in emotions and behaviourally-relevant perceptions across racial groups. Policing and Society, 33(9–10), 1066–1095. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2023.2226790

Cohen, G., & Headley, A. M. (2023). Training and ‘doing’ procedural justice in the frontline of public service: Evidence from police. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 44(2), 215–239. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X221149137

Areas of Focus

  • Public management
  • Racial equity
  • Criminal justice policy