Dr. James O’Keefe began his career in law enforcement in 1981 as
a police officer in the Houston Police Department. His ten
years with the department consisted of service as a police officer
in uniformed patrol, as an undercover investigator assigned to the
Vice Squad specifically in child pornography cases, and as a
special assistant to the chief of patrol. He was the
recipient of three “Chief of Police Commendations” for excellent
police service. During his tenure with the Houston Police
Department, Dr. O’Keefe completed his master’s degree in police
science and administration, and in 1989 was awarded a doctorate
from Sam Houston State University.
In 1991, he returned to New York City to become the associate
director of the Office of Management & Budget in the New York
City Transit Police Department. Eventually, he was promoted
to director of training and established an independent Transit
Police Academy. The Transit Police Academy went on to develop
several specialty classes expressly designed to teach and implement
the crime reduction strategies and tactics that ultimately reduced
New York City subway crime by 48.8%. Following the merger of the
New York City Police Department, the Housing Police Department, and
the Transit Police Department in 1995, Dr. O’Keefe was promoted to
director of training for the consolidated New York City Police
Department. In that capacity, he was responsible for the education
and training of 40,000 uniformed and 15,000 civilian members, with
a budget of $26.7 million. During his tenure, the New York
City Police Academy was frequently recognized for many awards and
honors, including the New York City Police Department’s “Unit
Citation Award” received during Medal Day Ceremonies from Mayor
Rudolph W. Giuliani and Police Commissioner Howard Safir for
“building a police academy characterized by educational excellence
in virtually all programs.”
Dr. James O’Keefe retired from the New York City Police
Department in 2001 to accept an appointment as an associate
professor of criminal justice at St. John’s University, where he
currently serves as the director of the graduate program in
Criminal Justice Leadership and teaches undergraduate and graduate
level police administration, public policy, and criminal justice
leadership. He has published many scholarly articles and
books, and is internationally recognized as an expert in law
enforcement training.