CCJ Directory

Joel Caplan leads a team of staff who support the research, scholarship, service, and creative endeavors of faculty, students, centers/institutes, and academic programs at Rutgers University – Newark. Prior to joining the leadership team at Rutgers, Caplan was a professor at the School of Criminal Justice and director of the Rutgers Center on Public Security, where he worked with cities and towns to help prevent crime, improve community policing, and make data-informed decisions that enhance public safety. Caplan specializes in applied research utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) mapping and crime pattern analysis, and co-developed Risk Terrain Modeling (RTM). He has published extensively on these topics, appearing in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, books, and popular media outlets including TEDx, National Geographic Channel, and PBS NOVA. RTM analytics is the underlying technology behind Simsi, a company co-founded by Caplan in partnership with Rutgers University.

Prior to his career in academia, Caplan served as a police officer in New Jersey and worked as a 9-1-1 dispatcher and emergency medical technician. Since 1998, he has volunteered as a CPR, AED and first aid instructor for the American Heart Association. Caplan is a board member of the JFS of Atlantic and Cape May Counties and served as its president from 2021 to 2023. JFS is a nonprofit organization that assists people— including those who are justice involved—with food, housing, and job-related challenges. It also provides social workers to support local law enforcement with outreach and service calls involving homelessness and behavioral health issues.

Caplan holds a bachelor’s degree in law and justice from The College of New Jersey, a master’s in criminal justice from Rutgers University, and a PhD in social welfare policy from the University of Pennsylvania.