William Terrill is an Associate Dean in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, and a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, at Arizona State University. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Penn State Harrisburg and his Master’s degree and Ph.D. from Rutgers Newark.

Professor Terrill’s early experience as a Military Police Officer translated to an interest in policing from both a practitioner and academic perspective. Over the past 25 years, his research has centered on police attitudes and behavior with an emphasis on use of force and culture. Throughout his career, Dr. Terrill has worked with many local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, directed a variety of research studies, served as an expert witness on a number of federal civil rights cases, and has been published widely within the criminal justice field.

Professor Terrill recently completed a U.S. Department of Homeland Security project in partnership with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) examining body-worn camera video footage to help identify escalation and de-escalation in relation to police use of force behavior. Presently, Dr. Terrill is conducting several projects with the Phoenix, Arizona Police Department, including a study on officer perceptions of firearm danger, an assessment of the agency’s newly revised use of force training modules, and serves as project lead on an advisory team working to ensure use of force data are publicly accessible and transparent.

Professor Terrill is formerly the Chairperson for the American Society of Criminology Division of Policing and served on the Sub-Committee to President Barack Obama’s 2015 Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Finally, Professor Terrill is currently serving as Co-Editor for Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice.