Project Staff
Alex S. Vitale - Coordinator
Alex S. Vitale is Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. He has been studying police practices for over 30 years. Prof. Vitale is the author of City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics and The End of Policing. His academic writings on policing have appeared in Policing and Society, Police Practice and Research, Mobilization, and Contemporary Sociology. He is also a frequent essayist, whose writings have been published in The NY Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Nation, Vice News, Fortune, and USA Today. He has also appeared on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, PBS, Democracy Now, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Anna Sipek - Technology Fellow
Anna is a technology professional who advises us on technology and surveillance reissues and staff's our work with the NYC Privacy Coalition.
Bénédicte Mbangala - Summer Graduate Fellow
Bénédicte Mbangala was born and raised in Belgium. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in law and european studies, a Master's degree in civil and criminal law from the Catholic University of Louvain-La-Neuve (Belgium) and an LLM in criminology from the University of Maastricht (The Netherlands). Bénédicte's main areas of interest are in both criminal justice and criminal law. More recently, she has been working alongside organizations committed to social justice and community safety and researching black resistance to policing.
Kristen Wiggins - BRESI Research Assistant
"I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I am currently finishing my bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in criminal justice. I am especially looking forward to this internship as it is directly related to the field I aspire to go into post graduation, which is community based organizations. From this internship I hope to gain an inside perspective on what it's like to be hands-on with issues that are currently effecting our community and the best ways to produce change."
Kate Dempsey- Intern
Kate is from Connecticut originally and is currently a sociology major at Brooklyn College. She has been active in efforts to end gun violence and the Justice for Steven Barrier campaign in Stanford, CT.
Josmar Trujillo - Organizer
Josmar Trujillo is a community organizer and writer who has worked around written around issues of policing, surveillance, education, disaster recovery and housing. His writings have been published in the New York Daily News, Newsday, Gothamist, Village Voice, Huffington Post, City Limits, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, amNY, Amsterdam News, Crain’s NY, Truthout, and In These Times.
Shayhan Lewis -
Administrative Assistant
Shayhan Lewis is a community activist with a BA in Sociology from Brooklyn College.
Aiyana Deliz - Research Assistant
“I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I am a Political Science major with a minor in Sociology. I am hoping that with my experience in the internship, I will gain valuable insight in community organizing. Likewise, I hope to witness our communities in New York City improve through supportive actions and advocacy.”