Cucchiara professional photo

MAJ Adam Cucchiara

Instructor of American Politics

adam.cucchiara@westpoint.edu

Biography


Major Adam Cucchiara is an Instructor of American Politics in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point. His research focuses on public sector leadership, community safety, and policing, specifically studying the performance of military veterans who continue to serve in law enforcement agencies. Adam commissioned as an Infantry officer in 2007. His past assignments include both command and staff roles in the XVIII Airborne Corps and U.S. Army Europe. He has deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Resolute Support. He is also a Ph.D. candidate in Public Administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and holds a MPP from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University and a B.S. in International/Strategic History from West Point.

Ongoing Research Projects


“Collaboration in Public Safety.” – This paper considers how collaborative governance regimes influence public safety outcomes. Drawing on data from county-level public safety collaborative organizations, we examine how the varied forms and compositions of public safety collaboratives contribute to changing crime rates across the state of Oregon. This project explores key issues at the intersection of public safety, collaborative governance, and public organizations. 

“Military Veterans and Police Use of Force.” – This paper examines the performance of military veterans who pursue careers in law enforcement with a specific focus on use-of-force events. Using a novel dataset that includes demographic and contextual information surrounding the use-of-force event, coupled with elements of the military veterans’ service history, this paper explores what elements of military service may be associated with differential uses of force by veteran officers. 

“Leadership in Policing.” – This paper examines the leadership traits of executive leaders in police organizations (Commissioners, Sheriffs, and Chiefs of Police). Using open-source content analysis of material gathered from the 50 largest law enforcement agencies in the United States, this paper explores the most common traits among law enforcement leaders. This examination also includes a specific focus on military veterans who have risen to executive leadership in police agencies and comprise approximately 18% of the sample population. 

Publications & Presentations


Conference Presentations: 

Cucchiara, Adam J. and Amanda Bankston. “Putting the Public in Public Safety: Evaluating Oregon’s Local Public Safety Coordinating Councils.” Paper presented at the American Society for Public Administration annual conference, March 21, 2023. 

Cucchiara, Adam J. and Amanda Bankston. “Putting the Public in Public Safety: Evaluating Oregon’s Local Public Safety Coordinating Councils.” Paper presented at the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Local Government Lab, March 24, 2023.