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Criminology

H. Otto Schweizer, Ph.D.

Professor / Law Enforcement Option Coordinator /Internship Coordinator / Off Campus Degree Program Coordinator

 

Dr. Schweizer

Dr. Schweizer continually connects with various law enforcement agencies and disseminates hiring information in all internship sections, and also through List Serve to all criminology majors. A good source of information for sworn or civilian employment with California law enforcement agencies is the PEACE OFFICER STANDARDS COMMISSION https://post.ca.gov/law-enforcement-jobs and also world-wide at https://www.indeed.com/browsejobs .  

FUTURE OR CURRENT STUDENTS INTERESTED IN THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OPTION WITHIN CRIMINOLOGY or STUDENTS IN THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OPTION DESIRING CONSULTATION

can email Dr. Schweizer, and/or  request a meeting over Zoom for most Thursday afternoons between 1200-1400, who will send out the needed Zoom link.  Other times/days as arranged. In person visits can also be arranged via email.


 
 
Office Phone Email
S2 138 559.278.8880 haralds@mail.fresnostate.edu

 

Educational Background

  • B.S. in Criminal Justice (State University College of New York-Buffalo), M.P.A. (University of Arizona)
  • Ph.D. in Criminal Justice (Sam Houston State University) 1990

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Schweizer has extensive Law Enforcement experience in the United States as a university police officer, a Deputy Sheriff, Municipal Police Officer, Field Training Officer, Detective, Corporal, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Chief of Police. Worked in his native Germany as a criminal investigator of major crimes and terrorist activities. Served in an undercover capacity investigating international narcotics trafficking & international organized crime (also in Germany). Additional experience includes that of a county correctional/detention officer, and as a research assistant with the Tucson Police Department. Also worked in private security in New York City and Tucson AZ, for a legal aid bureau (Buffalo, NY) and the Pima County (AZ) public defender's office.
He is a member of the Karlsruhe, Germany chapter of the International Police Association (IPA) and is the editor and sole author of a monthly IPA newsletter (in German) since 2008.  Dr. Schweizer is a member of the Advisory Board for the German Bund deutscher Kriminalbeamter (BdK), a national police organization that advises the national government on policies and legal issues concerning police criminal investigations.
https://www.bdk.de/der-bdk/was-wir-tun/wissenschaftlicher-beirat

Dr. Schweizer is also a police consultant and has been an expert witness in federal court in the area of police administration and police misconduct. His research interests are in international criminal justice and policing, to include international criminal laws and minimum hiring and training standards for police officers. Dr. Schweizer has lectured at Police Academies and academic institutions in Finland, Germany, South Africa, Japan, and Slovenia. He is published in Singapore, Poland, Japan, Slovenia, and the United States. Dr. Schweizer has presented research at international conferences and also in some of his publications, on diverse subjects such as Female Suicide Bombers, Financial Crimes, International Organized Crime, The Use of the Internet by Criminal Justice Organizations World-Wide, Problems in Selecting and Hiring Police Applicants, and he is currently doing research on changing hiring standards in policing.

Dr. Schweizer holds various levels of peace officer certification in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, including a police instructor license for the state of Texas. Dr. Schweizer previously taught criminal justice at the University of Central Oklahoma, and reached the rank of tenured full professor, before coming to Fresno.
Before his law enforcement and academic career, Dr. Schweizer served as an infantry squad leader with D Co. 58th Infantry and also the 1st Air Cavalry Division in the Republic of Vietnam.

His favorite pastime is physical fitness and reading the magazine CONDORITO.

Courses Taught

  • Crim 2: Administration of Justice
  • Crim 102: Criminal Justice Organization and Management
  • Crim 109: Comparative Criminal Justice
  • CRIM112: Professionalism in Criminal Justice
  • Crim 180: Internship in Law Enforcement
  • Crim 203: Criminal Justice Admin