David Carter
Professor of Criminal Justice
David L. Carter is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice and Director of the Intelligence Program at Michigan State University.
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David L. Carter is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice and Director of the Intelligence Program at Michigan State University. His expertise is in the areas of policing issues, violent crime control, law enforcement intelligence and counterterrorism. A former Kansas City, Missouri police officer, Dr. Carter was Chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas, for 9 years prior to his appointment at Michigan State in 1985. He has ... served as a trainer, consultant, and advisor to many law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia on various law enforcement issues. In addition, he has presented training sessions at the FBI National Academy, the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (LEEDS), the International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest, Hungary; the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute (UNAFEI) in Tokyo; special programs for the Royal Thai Police, Hong Kong Police, the British Police Staff College at Bramshill, several British Police Constabularies and police “command colleges” of several states. He also served at the FBI Academy’s Behavioral Sciences Unit, the first academic faculty exchange with the Bureau. Dr. Carter is an Instructor in the Bureau of Justice Assistance SLATT program, author of the COPS-funded publication, Law Enforcement Intelligence: A Guide for State, Local and Tribal Law Enforcement; served as Project Director for three multi-million dollar national intelligence training programs funded by the Department of Homeland Security and co-Project Director of a National Institute of Justice grants to do a nationwide study on best practices and efficacy of law enforcement intelligence initiatives. Dr. Carter was also Team Leader of two Department of Justice assessments of the Homicide Units at the New Orleans Police Department and Puerto Rico Police Department. He is an Academic Fellow of the Foundation for Defending Democracies wherein he studied terrorism in Israel. He is the author or co-author of five books and numerous articles and monographs on policing issues and is a member of the Editorial Boards of various professional publications. Dr. Carter is also a member of the Justice Department’s Global Intelligence Working Group Training Committee and Privacy Committee.
Read MoreEducation
Sam Houston State University: Ph.D., Criminal Justice Administration
Central Missouri State University: M.S., Criminal Justice Administration
Central Missouri State University: B.S., Criminal Justice Administration
Selected Press
Capitol rioters planned for weeks in plain sight. The police weren't ready.
Propublica | 2021-01-07
The question of how law enforcement and the national security establishment failed so spectacularly will likely be the subject of intense focus in coming days. David Carter, director of the Intelligence Program at Michigan State University, said that sometimes, the best intelligence in the world doesn't translate into adequate preparedness. Perhaps the security officials responsible for protecting the Capitol simply could not envision that a crowd of Americans would charge through a police line and shatter the glass windows that stood as the only physical barrier to entering the building. “I go back to the 9/11 commission report,” Carter said. “It was a failure of imagination. They didn't imagine something like this. Would you imagine people were going to break into the Capitol and go into the chambers? That failure of imagination sometimes makes us drop the ball.”
How U.S. police departments can clear more homicides
MSU Today | 2016-05-10
Departments that clear at least 80 percent of homicides tend to work closely with the community and other agencies such as the FBI and DEA. They adopt modern advances such as digital forensics and crime analysis. And they embrace the changing role of the homicide investigator – from one who dug for information by “beating the pavement” in the past to one who manages a wealth of information from a network of people and online sources presently.
Bottom line: There is no silver bullet to reversing the steady decline in the homicide clearance rate, said lead author David Carter, MSU professor of criminal justice.
More than half of Philly's murders go unsolved
Philly.com | 2017-02-24
David L. Carter, a professor at Michigan State University who has studied clearance rates, said the community’s willingness to trust police is a vital factor. But he took issue with claims that the new interrogation rules in Philadelphia have stifled investigators.
Real-looking toys lead to 86 shootings in two years
Investigative Reporting Workshop | 2016-12-19
"If they are told there's a person with a gun acting in a threatening manner, that's what they respond to," said David L. Carter, a professor at Michigan State University who spoke to officers in 27 law enforcement agencies for the 1990 study.