LaNina N. Cooke is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Studies Department at Farmingdale State College. She received a PhD in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Public Policy from the City University of New York Graduate Center. Her previous education was from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Morgan State University. Professionally, she served as Deputy Executive Director of ComALERT at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, a nationally recognized reentry program aimed at reducing recidivism. In her time there, she collaborated with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, and provided in-services to state correctional facilities. Prior to this, she served as a field researcher, examining rape and sexual assault at local and federal correctional facilities.

Dr. Cooke has presented in the areas of race and the criminal justice system, juvenile justice, corrections, reentry, and police and community perception. She is also an experienced researcher in the areas of drug court, substance abuse, reentry, rape and sexual assault, social ecology, and the juvenile justice system. In 2019, Dr. Cooke authored a chapter in New York's Criminal Justice System titled The Corrections System in New York State. In 2015, she authored the book Structure Matters: Predicting Juvenile Justice System Behavior. Along with this, she has contributed to academic and media publications in community policing and has sat on numerous advisory groups, panels and conferences on incarceration, reentry services, and government-community relations. Additionally, she sits on numerous academic and professional committees regarding diversity, academic policy and curriculum development.