Joe Kuhns is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Prior to his academic appointment, Joe served for eight years as a Senior Policy Analyst for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Kuhns received his A.A. in 1984 from Frederick Community College, his B.A. in 1986 and M.A. in 1990 in Criminal Justice from USF, and his Ph.D. in 2000 in Criminology from the University at Albany. Kuhns teaches courses in policing and community policing, drugs and crime, and research methods at the undergraduate and graduate levels and he trains police officers in community policing and problem solving in North Carolina and elsewhere.

Dr. Kuhns current research interests focus on the linkages between drugs, alcohol, homicide offending, and victimization, the harms associated with prostitution, community policing, situational crime prevention, and offender decision-making. From 2005-2009, Kuhn worked with a number of scholars and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Services to address violent crime and improve law enforcement services in the developing country. He recently co-edited a book about police use of force, firearms and non-lethal weapons in various countries around the world, which was later recognized in 2010 with a Choice Award.