Tracing how force, race, and law have shaped American policing
I am a Master's student in History at The Ohio State University, where my research focuses on the militarization of law enforcement in the United States. My work examines how military weapons, tactics, doctrine, and institutional culture have been transferred into civilian policing — and how that transfer has historically fallen hardest on communities of color.
I approach this subject as both a scholar and a veteran. Having served a decade in the United States Air Force, I bring an insider's understanding of military culture and institution-building to questions that are often treated as purely legal or political.
How does a democracy justify pointing the machinery of war at its own people — and whose bodies have always absorbed that force?
Before entering academia I spent nearly two decades in the tech and customer service sectors as a Support Engineer and operations leader. That background sharpened my ability to understand how systems function in practice — not just in policy — a skill that translates directly into the history of institutions.
Current work
My primary research traces the racialized militarization of American policing from its origins in colonial-era slave patrols through Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, the War on Drugs, and into the modern 1033 Program — the federal initiative that transfers surplus military equipment to local police departments. This project interrogates how the language of public order has repeatedly licensed the use of military force against Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.
A focused strand of my research examines the legislative and administrative history of equipment transfer programs, asking how bureaucratic mechanisms laundered military surplus into domestic policing with minimal public debate — and what that tells us about the relationship between the Pentagon, Congress, and local law enforcement.
Alongside my academic work I maintain Remember Them, a public memorial archive documenting unsolved homicides in Boston, Massachusetts. The project reflects my commitment to history as a practice that serves communities — not just institutions.
Military service & professional background
I served in the United States Air Force from 1989 to 1999, achieving the rank of E-4. That decade of service shaped my understanding of military culture, chain of command, and the gap between institutional policy and ground-level reality — all of which inform my scholarly work on how military norms migrate into civilian institutions.
After leaving the military I spent nearly two decades in the tech and customer service sectors as a Support Engineer and operations leader, developing expertise in systems management, team development, and strategic communication before returning to academia.
Toward a PhD in History
I intend to pursue a PhD in History, where I can deepen this research and contribute to the growing scholarly conversation about the carceral state, racial capitalism, and the history of policing. My goal is to produce work that is rigorous in its archival grounding and accessible in its public reach.
I am committed to history as a public practice — scholarship that does not stop at the seminar room but reaches the communities whose stories it tells.