From the onset of his undergraduate career to his service in UCF’s Department of Criminal Justice, Cory Watkins has long cemented his place in the field of criminal justice. An associate professor of criminal justice, his interest in policing evolved into developing technology and community relations with police — specifically as he began to recognize the value and intrigue in how rapidly developing technology could assist in procuring community security.
His most recent endeavors have led him to sharing his expertise overseas in Belgrade, Serbia. He has traveled three times since November 2022 to assist officials in developing a model for international security and information-sharing among various agencies. His budding international partnership with the country’s University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies (UCIPS) dates to early 2022, when they contacted UCF to learn more about mitigating national security concerns and fostering interagency operability — a crucial aspect of crime analysis.
Central Florida’s security infrastructure is among the most unique in the country, Watkins says. The region’s numerous entities and attractions, including the Space Coast, theme parks, various sports and concert venues, UCF, Central Florida Research Park and Lake Nona Medical City can all be considered potential targets for various security threats and hazards. These local- and state-owned and operated centers serve as hubs for the receipt, analysis and exchange of threat-related information among local, state and federal agencies, as well as private sector partners. Their central mission is to identify and address both immediate and emerging threats to homeland security.
“I’ve long wanted to get involved in fostering international activities and partnerships, and this one has really taken off,” he says. “Although I’m not an expert in national security, I do understand critical infrastructures and the importance of sharing information. Interagency operability involves various agencies collaborating to improve information-sharing infrastructures for data and information. That assists in developing deliverables to different audiences that lead to more secure neighborhoods, communities and regions.”
When UCIPS delegates visited Orlando in June 2022, Watkins set them up with meetings and tours of many of these key agencies. Those included the UCF Police Department, UCF Emergency Operations Center, UCF Downtown, Valencia College’s School of Public Safety, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Central Florida Intelligence Exchange (CFIX).
“That was a real eye-opening experience for [the UCIPS delegates] and is how they got the ball moving in their country to develop their version of a countrywide fusion center,” Watkins says. “They recognize that we are a unique region and are interested not only in learning how we keep it safe, but also how they can take similar principles and apply it to their region. They’re using that model built based on these information-sharing infrastructures, capacities and level of expertise among all players.”
From there, collaborative efforts accelerated. UCIPS delegates invited Watkins to Serbia for the first time in November 2022 to speak on sharing infrastructures at their Archibald Reiss Days Conference, and again in June 2023 to speak on crime analysis at the International Science Council.
In October 2023, UCIPS delegates returned to Orlando again to visit the CFIX fusion center. There, Watkins and intelligence exchange officials worked with UCIPS to assess the status of Serbia’s blossoming information-sharing infrastructure. That same week, a meeting of the Southern Shield consortium, an intelligence information-sharing network in the southeastern United States, was also taking place in Orlando. To top off their visit, Watkins and UCIPS delegates signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that, while informal, signified their commitment to continued collaboration. It also marked UCIPS’ centennial MOU.
“The world is a rapidly changing ecosystem, but we’ve seen large strides made in the development of Serbia’s security infrastructure, improvements in their analyst training and movement toward seamless operations,” he says. “They’ve got their fusion center in the course of development, and they’ve got support from the Ministry of the Interior and all the major players over there. Now, we get to focus on training the people working in the fusion center through our newest crime analysis project, which is just getting underway.”
This past February, Watkins visited Serbia again to attend UCIPS’ Police Day celebration, which marked the university’s 103rdanniversary. Being able to attend these international conferences and events has been among the most exciting aspects of this partnership because it provides the opportunity to foster connections and engage in collective sharing of knowledge, he says.
Watkins also sees these efforts as a potential segue for collaborative assistance efforts with other countries in similar positions.
“This is much bigger than just us,” Watkins says. “It’s been incredible to watch it take off, and I think this is a testament to all the people who are extremely skilled and well-placed in various academic, law enforcement, and analyst organizations both in Belgrade and here in Central Florida. The bad guys are getting better every day, and we have to be on our A-game. The importance of collaboration among agencies — law enforcement, local, state and federal agencies — is absolutely essential within the states, but collaboration internationally is vitally important, too.”
