Faculty and Staff

Chair, Department of Criminal Justice

Stephanie A. Jirard, J.D.
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

Phone: (717) 477-1156
Email: sajira@ship.edu
Shippen Hall Room 323

Author: Criminal Law, Civil Procedure and the Constitution, Prentice Hall 2009

A former U.S. Navy JAG Corps Officer, Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender, and Missouri State Public Defender in the Capital Litigation Unit. 

Research interests include constitutional law and capital punishment.

Tom Austin, Ph.D.
Professor of Criminal Justice

Phone: (717) 477-1770
Email: tlaust@ship.edu
Shippen Hall Room 305

Interests and Teaching:  program planning, implementation and evaluation; research, statistics and quantitative methods; delinquency, security and crime prevention.  Authored/co-authored over 25 peer reviewed research articles. 

Former Research Director, Pennsylvania's Independent Living Project.

Todd E. Bricker, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice
Forensic Science Option Coordinator

Phone: (717) 477-1142
Email: tebric@ship.edu
Shippen Hall Room 311

Areas of Interest:  Criminal Investigation, forensic science, police policy, organizational change, and field research.  Research areas:  Policy policy and practice, public perceptions of police, evidence collection and processing, and program evaluation.

Former Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officer and Tri-County Narcotics Detective.

Donna C. Hale, Ph.D.
Professor of Criminal Justice

Phone: (717) 477-1608
Email: dchale@ship.edu
Shippen Hall Room 317

Areas of Interest: Leadership and supervision, women's studies, mass media, and crime and justice.  Research areas:  Women in Criminal Justice issues and training of police.

Past President of Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) 1996-97.

John H. Lemmon, Ph.D.
Professor of Criminal Justice

Graduate Coordinator for the Department of Criminal Justice

Phone: (717) 477-1599
Email: jhlemm@ship.edu
Shippen Hall Room 315

Areas of Interest:  Juvenile delinquency, child maltreatment, and family life.  Research Interests:  causes and correlates of deviancy, clinical and casework practice, and community organization.

Former consultant for the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges' Commission. 

E. Britt Patterson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

Phone: (717) 477-1763
Email: ebpatt@ship.edu
Shippen Hall Room 313

Editors:  Michael J. Lynch, E. Britt Patterson, and Kristina K. Childs;   Racial Divide, Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Criminal Justice System.  Criminal Justice Press 2008

Co-Editor of Race and Criminal Justice and Justice with Prejudice.

Areas of Interest:  Juvenile justice, research and quantitative methods; race, gender and crime; criminology and delinquency theories.  Research Interests:  Crime causation, racial impact on crime, criminal justice system's response to crime.

Laura A. Patterson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice

Phone: (717) 477-1355
Email: lapatt@ship.edu
Shippen Hall Room 303

Areas of Interest:  Criminology and criminal justice.  Research interests:  Juvenile delinquency and justice, victimology, white collar crime, theories of crime and deviance, community and institutional corrections and quantitative research methods.

Melissa L. Ricketts, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice Club Advisor

Phone: (717) 477-1550
Email: mlricketts@ship.edu
Shippen Hall Room 319

Areas of Interest:  Victimology, Criminological theory testing, and advanced quantitative methods.  Research Interests: Fear of crime, school violence, cybercrime, and prescription drug abuse.

Penny Stum
Clerk Typist 2, Department of Criminal Justice

Phone: (717) 477-1558
FAX: (717) 477-4087
Email: plstum@ship.edu or crimjust@ship.edu
Shippen Hall Room 321