The Center Stage
A spotlight on our research centers
Named for former State Senator Robert Presley, the Presley Center of Crime & Justice Studies was established by an act of the State Legislature in 1994 and specifically sited at UC Riverside’s campus. Our mission, as articulated in the penal code, is to conduct empirical research to enhance public safety, improve the practices and operations of criminal justice agencies and practitioners, and to reduce recidivism. We work with our advisory board of criminal justice leaders from Riverside and San Bernardino counties to deliver on this promise through multidisciplinary research, the education of the next generation of criminal justice practitioners through opportunities for student engagement, and the dissemination of research findings to the larger community through expert speakers and conferences that cover an array of criminal justice topics.
The Presley Center has numerous ongoing collaborative research projects underway that advance scientific knowledge and provide practical solutions to criminal justice agencies looking to inform and retool their policies. Our ongoing projects include:
- An evaluation of day reporting centers as an alternative to traditional custodial supervision (with the Riverside County Probation Department)
- A mixed methods analysis of how specific features of 911 domestic violence calls shape police-civilian outcomes and their degree of escalation
- A multi-phase project that evaluates regional employers’ willingness to hire former offenders, employment outcomes during the re-entry process, and the creation of a publically available employment map.
Please visit presleycenter.ucr.edu to learn more about the Presley Center’s research, student, and event programming or to be added to our mailing list.