Kym Craven, Director

Kym Craven has more than 28 years of program development experience, and has gained national recognition for her organizational assessment, facilitation, training, strategic planning, program development, grant writing, training, and management experience in policing.

During her career, she has provided assistance to over 350 municipalities and state agencies.  Her specialties include Organizational Assessments, Strategic Planning, Community Engagement, Survey Development, Data Analysis, Highway Safety, Homeland Security, Grant Writing and Management, Emergency Response Planning, Vulnerability Assessments, Technology Assessments and Leadership Training.  With this depth of experience, Ms. Craven is uniquely qualified to offer consulting services to police departments.

Ms. Craven has led multiple police and fire department organizational assessments, and for the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management coordinated the development of the Youth Violence Reduction strategy and performance dashboard for the Governor of Massachusetts, developed a strategic plan for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS), and provided technical assistance to five data analysts working on Statnet projects in 20 police departments.

Previously, Ms. Craven has provided public safety management consulting services to the City/County of San Francisco Police Department, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Highway Safety Division, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police, the State of Vermont, the Portsmouth and Hooksett New Hampshire Police Departments, the Town of Bridgton Maine, the City of Somerville Massachusetts, Harvard University and the Center for Campus Environmental Excellence (C2E2) for campus related security services.

Ms. Craven has significant experience with developing strategies to combat crime and securing funding for such initiatives.  Grants secured include community policing, multijurisdictional task force operation, gang reduction, juvenile justice delinquency prevention, substance abuse prevention, racial profiling, problem solving partnerships, police technology acquisition, COPS Ahead, COPS More, Secure our Schools, School Resource Officer program development and hiring, Community Development Block Grants and other related programs.  For five years, Ms. Craven managed training programs and conference content for the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police.

Other projects include the development of a strategic mobilization plan for the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, an in-depth study which led to a plan to integrate emergency warning and notification systems in an 85-community region, securing funding for the Central Massachusetts Chiefs’ of Police Association for Regional Training, management of a National Response Plan (NRP) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) workshop for the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Grants and Training.  Ms. Craven also conducted an Organizational Assessment and Needs and Gaps Analysis for an 18-Community Region, facilitated a Local Emergency Planning Committee, developed Community Emergency Response Plans for municipalities and health agencies and other projects related to planning, training and exercise for municipal agencies.

Ms. Craven holds certifications in Community Policing, Leadership Facilitation, Incident Command, Vulnerability Assessments, Emergency Response Planning, Terrorism Threat Assessment, and numerous other criminal justice programs.  She continues her criminal justice professional development by attending national conferences and events including the International Chiefs of Police Association Annual Conference, Police Executive Research Forum, National Institute of Justice Community Policing Programs and Department of Homeland Security Technology Conferences.

Ms. Craven holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Lowell and an M.A. in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College.  She is a former police officer with certification from the Northeast Regional Police Institute in Massachusetts.