Chris Bakke

About Chris Bakke

Dr. Chris Bakke is an assistant instructional professor of Criminal Justice and one of the main advisors for the Student Veterans Organization at Pittsburg State University. Bakke was born and raised in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. After a deployment to the Middle East from 2011 to 2012 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn, he has lived in Southeast Kansas with his wife, Dr. Carol Meza-Bakke, and their two children, Heidi and Larkin, since the fall of 2012. Bakke is also a veteran who served as an infantryman with the Minnesota Army National Guard from 2005 to 2013. His overseas service included training in Norway (2006) and Germany (2007), a peacekeeping deployment to Kosovo (2007-2008), and a combat deployment to the Middle East (Kuwait and Iraq, 2011-2012). After completing his military service, Bakke earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a minor in fraud examination from Pittsburg State University in 2014. He then served as a patrol officer with the Pittsburg Police Department from 2015 to 2017, then went on to work for the US Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration at Fort Snelling in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 2017 to 2018. Bakke went on to complete a master’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Upon graduating from OU, Bakke worked as a Child Protection Specialist for the Kansas Department for Children and Families before joining the Crawford County Sheriff's Office as a deputy sheriff in 2020, where he still currently serves as a part-time deputy. Bakke also currently serves as a Crawford County Mental Health Advisory Board Member. Bakke earned his PhD in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Intelligence from the University of North Georgia in 2024. 

Bakke's research interests focus on neurocriminology, specifically traumatic brain injuries and increased aggression, violent crime, domestic violence in the military, and mental illness and crime in both the military and civilian populations.

Recent research includes a meta-analysis of the D.A.R.E. program's effectiveness in crime prevention from 2010 to 2024. Bakke also recently second-authored and conducted a thematic analysis of the experiences and unmet needs of undocumented immigrants residing in southeast Kansas with his wife. 

Bakke enjoys exploring the outdoors and spending time with his wife and two kids in his spare time. Bakke also enjoys outdoor activities around their hobby farm, fishing the lakes and strip pits throughout southeast Kansas, deer, turkey, duck hunting, and predator trapping.

Education

• Ph.D., Criminal Justice: Intelligence, magna cum laude, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, GA., 2024.
• M.S.C.J., Criminal Justice, magna cum laude, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 2019.
• B.S., Justice Studies: Criminal Justice, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, 2014.

Licensure/Certification

• Certified Fraud Examiner, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Austin, TX.
• Certified Law Enforcement Officer, State of Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training (CPOST), Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, (KLETC class # 237), University of Kansas, Hutchinson, KS.

Courses Taught

• JUST 104: Introduction to the Justice System
• JUST 300: Criminal Forensics
• JUST 309: Principles of Justice
• JUST 501: Criminal Procedures
• JUST 502: Criminal Profiling

Advising

• Faculty Advisor, Student Veterans Organization
• Faculty Advisor, Criminal Justice Student Organization
• Faculty Advisor, Alpha Phi Sigma, National Criminal Justice Honor Society, Gamma Pi Chapter

Research Interests

• Youth violent crime
• Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Violence
• Crime and Intelligence Analysis
• Adverse psychological effects of traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
• Mental illness and crime in both the civilian and military population
• Neurocriminology
• Biosocial criminology
• Psychopathy

Publications

• Bakke, C. (2023) A Quantitative Analysis with a Neurocriminological Approach Evaluating the Crime Typology of Juvenile Offenders with a History of Head Injuries. [submitted for publication]
• Bakke, C., Hayes, T., and Tarpey, M. (2022) A meta-analysis of the D.A.R.E. program effectiveness [in progress]
• Meza, C., Bakke, C., and Hawley-Bernardes, H. (2023) Experiences of undocumented immigrants in Southeast Kansas [submitted for publication]

Selected Presentations

• Bakke, C., Hayes, T., Tarpey, M. (2024, October 22). A meta-analysis of the D.A.R.E. program effectiveness. National Social Science Association 2024 Conference. St. Louis, Missouri
• Bakke, C., and Hayes, T. (2022, October 6-7). A meta-analysis of the D.A.R.E. program effectiveness. Criminal Justice Association of Georgia 2022 Conference. University of North Georgia. Dahlonega, Georgia
• Meza, C., Bakke, C., and Hawley-Bernardes, H. (2023, October 6) Experiences of undocumented immigrants in Southeast Kansas. Tilford Conference. Washburn University. Topeka, Kansas

Recent Honors, Awards, and Fellowships

• Fall 2024 Recipient of the Folds of Honor Foundation Scholarship
• Spring 2024 Recipient of the Folds of Honor Foundation Scholarship
• Fall 2023 Recipient of the Folds of Honor Foundation Scholarship
• Spring 2023 Recipient of the Folds of Honor Foundation Scholarship
• Fall 2022 Recipient of the Folds of Honor Foundation Scholarship
• 2013 Recipient of the Kansas Military Scholarship
• 2012 Recipient of the Army Commendation Medal for the post-improvised explosive device (IED) blast site analysis in southern Iraq in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn.
• 2012 Recipient of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• 2010 Recipient of the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Professional Development Ribbon
• 2008 and 2012 Recipient of the Overseas Service Ribbon
• 2008 Recipient of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) medal
• 2008 Recipient of the Kosovo campaign medal
• 2008 Recipient of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• 2008 Recipient of Army Achievement Medal for dedication to service, including 100% completion of assigned mounted and dismounted patrols and missions during deployment to Kosovo in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.