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Biography:

Dr. Yan Zhang is a Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University. Her areas of expertise include research design and advanced quantitative methods. Since 2019, Dr. Zhang has served as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the evaluation of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) in the Southern District of Texas (SDTX), leading the project for six consecutive years. PSN in SDTX is a collaborative effort involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office, local law enforcement agencies such as the Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office, and community organizations. The initiative aims to design and implement strategies to reduce gun and gang violence.

Dr. Zhang was also the PI for the evaluation of the Houston Police Department’s Strategies for Policing Innovation: Utilizing new Social Network Analysis software and intelligence gathering to combat human trafficking and violent crime. This project, part of the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI), was sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

Dr. Zhang’s broader research interests include crime patterns and trends, policing, and hate crimes against Asian Americans. Her work has been published in prominent journals such as Sociological Perspectives, Police Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice, Crime & Delinquency, and Justice Quarterly. She has taught extensively in advanced statistics courses, as well as in crime mapping and analysis for graduate students in criminal justice and criminology. In 2022, Dr. Zhang was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Beto Fellowship in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University.

Recent Publications:

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles Since 2020:

Zhang, Yan, & Lening Zhang. (2025). Racial structural conditions and anti-Asian hate crimes. Sociological Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1177/07311214251318707.

Zhao, Jihong, & Yan Zhang. (2025). The impact of hurricane Harvey on crime in Houston, Texas: A partial test of routine activity theory at the neighborhood level. Journal of Criminal Justice, 96, January-February. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102332.

Shelfer, Davis*, & Yan Zhang. (2024). A social network analysis of chronic violent offenders. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 49: 700–722. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-024-09768-6

Nielson, Kyler*, & Yan Zhang. (2024). COVID-19’s effect on crisis intervention team calls for service in Houston, American Journal of Criminal Justice,49: 531–551. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-024-09757-9

Zhang, Yan, Jihong Zhao, Chia-Hung Lin*. (2024). A link between the George Floyd incident and de-policing: evidence from police arrests across three racial and ethnic groups, Police Quarterly, 27(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/10986111241232640

Ee, Marilyn*, & Yan Zhang. (2024). Homelessness and Crime in Neighborhoods. Crime & Delinquency, 70(8). https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221140835

Shelfer, Davis*, & Yan Zhang (2023). Crime committed by recent immigrants: characteristics and community patterns, Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 21(4): 293-317, DOI: 10.1080/15377938.2023.2256248

Kramer, K. L.*, Zhang, Y., & Franklin, T. W. (2023). The Geography of Race and Ethnicity Effects in Federal Sentencing: A Descriptive and Spatial Analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 50(10). https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231186160

Ee, M.*, & Zhang, Y. (2023), Measuring crime: a new paradigm. Policing: An International Journal, 46(2): 347-364. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM.-08-2022-0111

Zhao, Jihong Solomon, & Yan Zhang. (2023). A longitudinal study of police differential response team (DRT) impact on crime in Houston: A test of broken windows thesis. Police Quarterly, 26(2). doi:10.1177/10986111221092947

Zhang, Yan, & Jihong Solomon Zhao. (2023). Disorder oriented policing: A revealing case study of a special differential response unit in the Houston police department. Crime & Delinquency, 69(9). https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287211052444

Shelfer, Davis*, Christi Gullion*, Chris Guerra*, Yan Zhang, & Jason Ingram. (2023.) A Systematic Review of Project Safe Neighborhoods Effects. Justice Evaluation Journal, 6:1, 32-61, DOI: 10.1080/24751979.2022.2109190

Cao, L., Luo, F., Lai, YL., & Zhang, Y. (2022). In Times of Political Crisis, Why People Support the Police: Police Legitimacy in Taiwan. International Criminology 2, 387–397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43576-022-00070-1

Zhao, Jihong Solomon, & Yan Zhang. (2022). Proactive policing “embedded” in two models: a geospatial analysis of proactive activities by patrol officers and COP officers. Journal of Criminal Justice, 82, September–October. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101972

Nielson, Kyler R.*, Yan Zhang, & Jason R. Ingram. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 on police officer activities. Journal of Criminal Justice, 82, September–October. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101943

Kelley, Shamika*, Yan Zhang, Eryn O’Neal. (2022). To report or not to report? A focal concerns analysis of victim reporting decisions following victimization. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(21-22). doi:10.1177/08862605211045333.

Oh, Gyeongseok*, Yan Zhang, & Richard Greenleaf. (2022). Measuring collective attitudes toward police using social media data. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 47: 924-940. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-021-09614-z

Zhang, Yan, Lening Zhang, & Francis Benton*. (2022). Hate crimes against Asian Americans. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 47: 441-461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09602-9.

Zhang, Yan & Lening Zhang. (2021). Racial characteristics of areas and police decisions to arrest in traffic stops: Multilevel analysis of contextual racial effects. Policing: An International Journal, 44(5). https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-11-2020-0176

Luo, Fei*, Yan Zhang, & Larry Hoover. (2021). The journey to crime and victimization. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 23(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/14613557211008477

Salimbene, Nicholas*, & Yan Zhang. (2020). An examination of organizational and community-level effects on police response time. Policing: An International Journal, 43 (6): 935-946. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-04-2020-0063.

Hoppe, Susan J.*, Yan Zhang, Brittany E. Hayes, & Matthew A. Bills*. (2020). Mandatory arrest for domestic violence and repeat offending: A meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101430.