Brief Bio
Dr. Robert R. Friedmann is Founding Director of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) and Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. He was the Distinguished Chair of Public Safety Partnerships (2007-2010) and served as Chair (1989-2002) of the Criminal Justice Department at Georgia State University. Dr. Friedmann received his B.S. (Sociology, Anthropology, and Philosophy) from the University of Haifa, Israel (1974); his M.A. and Ph.D. (Sociology) from the University of Minnesota (1978); and his M.S.S.W. (Social Work) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1981).
His interest and published work focus on community policing, terrorism, public safety, and crime analysis. His books include Modern Welfare States (1987; ed.), Community Policing: Comparative Perspectives and Prospects (1992), Criminal Justice in Israel: An Annotated Bibliography of English Language Publications, 1948-1993 (1995), Crime and Criminal Justice in Israel: Assessing the Knowledge Base toward the Twenty-First Century (1998), and A Diary of Four Years of Terrorism and Anti-Semitism: 2000-2004 (2005; two volumes). He also authored numerous articles, chapters in books, and research reports on crime and criminal justice focusing on policing and public safety. He was the recipient of several federal grants to improve crime data.
Dr. Friedmann chaired the Georgia Commission to Assess State Crime Laboratory Needs into the 21st Century, and served as member of numerous blue ribbon commission and ad-hoc committees including the 1996 Olympic Park Bombing, the 2013 Fulton County Courthouse Shooting, Pursuit Report Recommendations, and Taser Report. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP), and a member the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and its Community Policing Committee (co-chaired the committee 2017-2020). He assisted in security planning and preparation for the G-8 in Sea Island (2004), the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He serves as a member of the executive committee of The International Counter-Terrorism Academic Community.
Dr. Friedmann is the recipient of four awards of excellence from Georgia State University and numerous awards from professional associations.