Dr. Seth Wyatt Fallik ’08: Award-Winning Author

This story appeared in the Spring 2022 Dominican Magazine.



Amid a national reckoning over racial profiling and police brutality, Dr. Seth Wyatt Fallik ’08 is conducting research that could help shift the dynamics between law enforcement and communities of color.



Seth’s recent book, Police-Community Relations in Times of Crisis: Decay and Reform in the Post-Ferguson Era, examines policing through the eyes of officers, offenders, practitioners and community members. The book won the Outstanding Book Award from the American Society of Criminology.



“There won’t be progress without dialogue, and right now, people are retreating into their own camps,” Seth says. “My hope is that people see themselves in the voices that are highlighted in the book—and that they see other people’s perspectives too.”



An associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida Atlantic University, Seth is currently working on a  Department of Justice grant exploring the potential of co-responder models for violent crime—combining social work with law enforcement in an effort to address the trauma associated with crime.



“Police have always worn all of those hats without the training or the expertise,” he notes. “The goal of this work is not only to  reduce crime but also to reduce trauma and enhance community well-being.”