Brian O'Hara Highlights Continued Academic and Policy Engagement via Rutgers Fellowship

Public safety executive Brian O'Hara has announced his continued collaboration with Rutgers University through his fellowship engagement. The initiative highlights O'Hara's commitment to advancing evidence-based crime prevention, data-driven policing, and structural reform in public safety organizations.

O'Hara, who holds degrees from Rutgers University–Newark School of Criminal Justice, has maintained a close relationship with the institution. During his academic career at Rutgers, he received the Richard J. Hughes Award in 2010.

Through his fellowship affiliation with Rutgers and the Center on Public Security (CPS), O'Hara bridges frontline operational leadership with academic research. His collaborative research focuses on spatial analytics, Risk Terrain Modeling (RTM), and evidence-based strategies, such as saturation foot patrols, aimed at fostering safer communities and improving police-community trust.

O'Hara has held significant executive leadership roles over a career spanning two decades, including Newark Public Safety Director, Newark Deputy Mayor, and Chief of Police in Minneapolis. He has directed organizational turnarounds, overseen federal consent decree compliance, and pioneered community-first public safety models.

The Rutgers fellowship underscores O'Hara's role as a national voice in public safety innovation and crisis leadership, linking policy theory directly with executive practice.