Bridging Research and Practice: Dr. Heidi S. Bonner on Criminal Justice at East Carolina University
Written by: East Carolina University® • May 13, 2026
When Dr. Heidi S. Bonner started college, she dreamed of becoming a doctor. But as much as Bonner loves serving her community, she quickly realized medicine wasn’t exactly her preferred career path.
“Organic chemistry is when I realized I did not want to be a doctor,” she says, laughing. “I had some friends who were taking criminal justice classes, and that just sounded like a lot of fun, so I changed my major and I was hooked.”
Bonner made the jump to prelaw and landed an internship at a district attorney’s office. While this experience helped her realize she didn’t want to become an attorney, she fell in love with conducting research, analyzing cases, and exploring how laws change over time.
With her passion identified, Bonner started her journey into academia. She earned both a master’s and a doctorate in criminal justice, started teaching at East Carolina University® in 2015, and was named chair of the ECU Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology in 2020.
“That blend of opportunities for teaching and research at ECU was appealing,” she says.
However, Bonner’s research hasn’t been restricted to academic journals and conferences. Over the course of her career, she’s leveraged her expertise to have a real-world impact on public safety—and she’s helping ECU’s on-campus and online criminal justice students do the same.
Applying Research and Saving Lives
By the time Bonner arrived at ECU, she already had years of experience in turning research into policy and practice. In New York, she worked for both the John F. Finn Institute of Public Safety and the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
On behalf of both organizations, Bonner and her colleagues gathered data on antitruancy programs, community-based policing initiatives, and other practices and policies. They then shared their findings with stakeholders across the state, which helped promote transparency and fact-based decision-making.
Coming to Greenville
Since putting down roots in North Carolina, Bonner has continued to build bridges between research and practice. From 2017 to 2023, she was a member of the board of directors of the Center for Family Violence Prevention in Greenville.
“I first got to engage with them when I was part of a national study called the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative,” she says. “We were investigating what effect certain types of interventions had on reducing the instances of intimate partner violence and homicide.”
Bonner worked on the study from 2016 to 2020, evaluating the effectiveness of the Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP).
The LAP is a series of questions that can help law enforcement officers and other professionals determine whether a victim of domestic violence is at risk of being killed by a partner. High-risk individuals can then be given the proper level of care and connected to the right resources. The tool was adopted statewide in North Carolina in 2019.
More recently, Governor Josh Stein appointed Bonner to the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission, an organization that reviews sentencing laws and ensures that they’re grounded in fairness and evidence.
“That was not on my bingo card for life,” Bonner jokes. “I’m just getting started on the commission, but it’s a really fun way to apply what I’ve learned and learn something new.”
Equipping Students to Become Informed Criminal Justice Professionals
While researchers like Bonner are instrumental in bringing research-backed practices to the front line of criminal justice, they‘re only part of the equation. The success of initiatives such as the domestic violence study relies on support from informed, evidence-focused frontline practitioners.
According to Bonner, ECU’s Bachelor of Science (BS) in Criminal Justice program prepares students to become those types of professionals.
“There’s a reason why our students have to take research methods and statistics,” she says. “The goal is to allow them to appreciate and understand research because they might be asked to implement a program. Or they might want to propose something to their chief, warden, or chief judge.”
In pursuit of that goal, the core curriculum of ECU’s BS in Criminal Justice program includes courses on crime policy, special populations, and the ethical dilemmas professionals face every day. Students also have room to take electives on white-collar crime, victimology, and other topics relevant to their specific career goals.
“What we focus on is the duality of the degree,” Bonner explains of the curriculum. “We want students to understand how the systems operate—that’s criminal justice. But we also want them to appreciate why people commit crime and what the patterns are because that helps them understand how to intervene—that’s criminology.”
Bringing Criminal Justice Career Preparation Online
Now, with ECU’s online BS in Criminal Justice program, more students than ever can become the well-rounded professionals their communities need. Before the program launched, Bonner used her research skills to demonstrate demand for the program and give ECU leadership an idea of what resources would be needed for it to succeed.
“One thing I’m proud of is expanding access,” Bonner says. “People who are caregivers, people who work full time, people who are at a distance, now they can actually continue their education. I think that’s huge.”
Launch Your Criminal Justice Career Today
Like its on-campus counterpart, ECU’s online BS in Criminal Justice program prepares students for careers in corrections, law enforcement, criminal law, and more. Delivered in a convenient asynchronous format, this program is designed with working students and career changers in mind.
“Our faculty are great about just being available,” Bonner says of the support that online students receive.
To find out more about transfer credit policies, enrollment, and admission requirements, contact ECU today.
Recommended Readings
Different Types of Crime for Criminal Justice Professionals to Know
How Long Does It Take to Become a Police Officer?
The Benefits of a Criminal Justice Degree and Other Insights From Chris Harrison, PhD
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