Nola Joyce has over twenty-five years with the public sector, with extensive experience in the area of public safety. She joined the Philadelphia Police Department in February 2008 and is currently the Chief Administrative Officer for the Department. In that capacity she works closely with the Police Commissioner in developing strategic plans, policy and new programs. She heads the Office of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation.
From 1998 to 2007, she led the change management efforts for Chief Charles H. Ramsey as the Chief Administrative Officer for the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C. (MPDC). With her assistance the department reduced the crime rate by forty-nine percent and increased homicide closure rates from forty-nine percent to sixty-four percent. Included in Ms. Joyce's portfolio, was the expansion of MPDC's community policing model, the alignment of the budget with strategic initiatives, and the implementation of significant changes in the department's organizational structure. She restructured the department's budget into a performance-based budget. Most recently, she helped in the establishment of the homeland security function within MPDC.
Prior to MPDC, Ms. Joyce spent six years as the Deputy Director of the Research and Development Division for the Chicago Police Department. She was essential in developing and implementing the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS). CAPS was one of the most studied community policing initiatives in the country and was a nationally recognized community policing model. She also directed the development and implementation of one of the first automated crime mapping systems for police officers.
Ms. Joyce's public service career began with the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). There she managed the divisions of research, planning, and budget for IDOC for eleven years. She directed staff in the development of nearly a half-billion dollar operating budget, a capital budget and planning function that opened a new prison every year. Additionally, she worked with the research staff to develop and use an extremely accurate prison population projection model used to build budgets, determine capital planning needs, and analyze the impact of new criminal laws on the prison population. She and her staff also developed classification systems for adult and juvenile custody populations and parole populations.
Throughout her career, Ms. Joyce served as both a staff member and participant on interagency task forces, boards, and commissions. She was a member of Washington, D.C.'s Sentencing Commission, Police Officer Standards and Testing Board, and Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. In Illinois, she served as a member of the Illinois Information Authority's Subcommittees on Violence Against Women and Public Safety Research. She staffed four Governor's task forces including two on prison overcrowding, jail standards, and the parole system. She has provided assistance and advice to the National Science Foundation research group on policing, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the National Institute of Justice, the National Institute of Corrections, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Ms. Joyce holds three master's degrees and was recently accepted into Temple University's Doctor of Philosophy program in Criminal Justice. Her most current master's degree is in Homeland Defense and Security from the Naval Postgraduate School. She has two master's from Southern Illinois University were she earned an M.S. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy, with a specialization in public finance, and an M.A. in Sociology with a specialization in research methodology and statistics.
