Ryan Perlongo is the Downstate New York Advisor for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice
Services (DCJS) Law Enforcement Strategic Assistance Unit (SAU). This unit provides hands-on strategic
counsel to New York State law enforcement agencies focusing on evidence-based policing practices,
community trust building, and reform and reinvention collaboratives. Ryan’s role includes the design of
portfolio-specific learning opportunities tailored to local legislation and priorities, fostering peer learning
partnerships across agencies, long-term strategic planning, and building the technical capacity of local
stakeholders to implement, measure, and sustain strategies.

In addition to his work with the SAU, Perlongo continues to serve as a Master Police Instructor for the DCJS,
focusing on principled policing and evidence-based violence reduction strategies. Ryan’s fifteen-year career
in sworn service was rooted in developing and administering comprehensive officer training programs at
the City and State Universities of New York, retiring as Assistant Chief. Ryan holds a Master of Science in
Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership from the University of San Diego, and he is a doctoral candidate
at St. John’s University’s Homeland Security and Criminal Justice program. Ryan was recently selected as a
member of the 2022 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science
(LEADS) program.