Our communities need a professional criminal justice system in place to serve and protect all. The criminal justice system needs a community that supports, trusts and respects the day to day work the system does. However, respect has to be earned. The system must hear from the community and respond to them when questioned with factual, open and honest information, even when mistakes are made.
Yavapai College
Training, dialogue, and public-safety leadership for stronger communities. The Justice Institute supports law enforcement, corrections, courts, emergency services, and related agencies through applied, real-world learning.
Purpose
The Justice Institute brings community members and justice-system professionals into structured conversations, training opportunities, and partnerships that strengthen understanding, trust, and public safety outcomes.
Featured Summit
The Safe Schools Initiative brings together national speakers, education leaders, public-safety professionals, teachers, school resource officers, and community members to examine practical strategies for safer and more supportive schools.
Preferred summit rates are available through two local hotel partners. Rates are subject to availability.
Official Summit Hotel
Call 928-778-9434 or 800-322-1927.
Reference: “NAZ School Safety Summit”
Preferred Hotel Partner
Call 928-445-3096.
Reference: Yavapai College Preferred Rate
Prescott Regional Airport (PRC) is approximately 10 minutes from the Yavapai College Prescott Campus.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is approximately two hours from Prescott.
The summit will focus on proven strategies for creating safe and supportive schools, including behavior-based approaches, prevention frameworks, and community factors that directly influence school safety and student well-being.
School safety is a shared responsibility. This summit is designed for a broad audience, including K–12 educational leaders, school resource officers, teachers, public-safety professionals, and community members.
Participants will hear from nationally recognized speakers and explore practical approaches that can support safer learning environments and stronger school communities.
Sponsorship opportunities are available.
Upcoming Training
Mental Health Tactical InterventionDe-escalation Training to Help People in Behavioral Health Crises
Dr. Dara Rampersad, Ph.D., LPC, NCC is a forensic psychologist with more than 28 years of experience in mental health and crisis intervention. He is certified in Crisis Intervention Teams and Critical Incident Stress Management, has trained FBI Crisis Negotiator Teams, helped launch multiple CIT programs, and serves as Senior Director of Crisis Services for a multi-state hospital system.
Download flyer for August 2026 Mental Health Tactical Intervention
Register for Surprise September
Download flyer for September 2026 Mental Health Tactical Intervention
Mission and Vision
To facilitate dialogue between the community at large and justice system professionals in a civil, respectful manner.
That all members of our community will understand and trust in the administration of justice.
The Institute supports training, public forums, advisory leadership, and strategic partnerships connected to public safety and justice-system understanding.
Institute Goals
The Institute’s goals are organized around dialogue, training, and public understanding.
Host open dialogue events with community members and criminal justice professionals.
Forums focus on justice-related topics identified by the Justice Institute Advisory Board and community members.
Identify training needs of criminal justice professionals and schedule training based on those needs.
Support fact-based discussion around justice-system topics, public safety, and community trust.
Message
The Justice Institute was created to support open, factual, and respectful conversation between the community and the justice system.
Through community forums, professional training, and collaborative partnerships, the Institute works to build trust, increase understanding, and create space for informed dialogue around public safety and justice-system issues.
With the significant activity and usage of social media in our world today, incidents involving the police and the criminal justice system in general are quickly judged, analyzed, and critiqued. What is unfortunate is that facts can become lost in fiction as opinions spread through posts and shared commentary.
The Yavapai College Justice Institute was created to support conversations that speak fact to fiction. By hosting and facilitating open, honest community conversations with the leadership of the criminal justice community, trust and respect can be built as understanding of system responses and areas for improvement are brought forth.
Our communities need a professional criminal justice system in place to serve and protect all. The criminal justice system needs a community that supports, trusts, and respects the day-to-day work the system does. Respect must be earned, and the system must hear from the community and respond with factual, open, and honest information.
Leadership and Guidance
The Advisory Board brings together justice-system professionals, educators, public-safety leaders, and community partners.
Dr. Brandelyn Andres has spent the past sixteen years teaching about art, writing about art, studying art, creating artwork, and working in gallery administration. Her work is informed by the ways art can speak to common human experiences, histories, and community across time and place.
This viewpoint informs her work as Chair of the Yavapai College Respect Campaign and Faculty Representative on the Yavapai College Justice Institute Advisory Board.
Amy Bonney serves as Chief of Police at the Prescott Police Department. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Northern Arizona University in Criminal Justice and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Phoenix.
She is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, 257th Session, and serves as President for the State of Arizona chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates. Chief Bonney has served with the Prescott Police Department for more than 23 years in a wide range of assignments and leadership roles.
Deb Dillon is a retired educator and president of the Prescott Unified School District Governing Board. She previously served as principal of an alternative high school in Fargo, North Dakota, where her work focused on dropout prevention.
She received the National Dropout Prevention Network’s Crystal Star Award in 2010 and holds degrees in journalism, counseling, and school administration.
Charles Husted has served in policing for more than three decades, including service as Chief of Police in Sedona and more than 30 years with the Sacramento Police Department.
His work has included community policing, procedural justice, human bias, leadership, canine program management, and community relationship building. He has also served as adjunct faculty with the Administration of Justice Studies Program at Yavapai College.
Jerald Monahan has served the public safety community for more than four decades, including leadership positions as Chief Deputy of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, Chief of Police for Apache Junction and Prescott, and Chief of Police for the Yavapai Community College District.
He serves as Program Director of the Administration of Justice Studies Program at Yavapai College and oversees the Northern Arizona Regional Training Academy.
Chief Deputy Jeff Newnum has been with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office for 26 years. He promoted through the ranks and has commanded both the Law Enforcement Services Division and Detention Services Division.
In 2020, he was promoted to Chief Deputy, where he oversees the operation of the Sheriff’s Office. He is a veteran of the United States Army and a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
Chief Tyran Payne began his law enforcement career in the United States Army Military Police Corps. His service included roles as Military Police Supervisor, Dignitary Protection Agent, and Certified Hostage Negotiator.
He later served with the Chino Valley Police Department, Prescott Valley Police Department, and Yavapai College Police Department. He has served as Chief of Police since July 2021.
Sheila Polk, County Attorney for Yavapai County, received her bachelor’s and law degrees from Arizona State University. She has served in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.
She has chaired and served on multiple state and regional justice-related organizations and is a founding member of MATFORCE, the Yavapai County substance abuse coalition.
Lisa Raygoza serves as Director of Strategic Outreach & Partnerships at Yavapai College. She brings a strong background in victim advocacy, crisis intervention, and community engagement, including 20 years of litigation service with the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.
Bilingual in English and Spanish, Lisa is committed to building trust, fostering collaboration, and strengthening relationships between organizations and the communities served. Her passion for public service and community partnerships continues to create opportunities that enhance the quality of life throughout Northern Arizona.
Professor Neil Websdale is Director of the Family Violence Center at Arizona State University and Director of the National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative.
He has published work on domestic violence, the history of crime, policing, social change, and public policy, and directs community-informed intimate partner violence risk assessment and fatality review initiatives.
Partnerships
The Justice Institute works with regional, state, and national partners connected to public safety, community violence prevention, education, and justice-system improvement.
Contact
For Justice Institute questions, training information, or partnership inquiries, contact the Institute directly.