Adam Scott
Wandt
Associate Professor of Public Policy · Deputy Director, MPA in Inspection & Oversight · Deputy Chair for Technology
Education
J.D., Hofstra University School of Law (2005)
M.P.A., John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY (2002)
B.A., John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY (2000)
Bio
Adam Scott Wandt, JD, MPA, is a tenured Associate Professor of Public Policy, Deputy Director of the Master of Public Administration in Inspection and Oversight Program, and Deputy Chair for Technology in the Department of Public Management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY). He also serves on the graduate faculty for the Master of Public Administration (MPA-PPA and MPA-IO) and the Master of Science in Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity (D4CS) programs, bridging academic scholarship and operational technology across law enforcement, government oversight, national security, and public policy.
As a Co-Principal Investigator, Professor Wandt has secured and helped direct over $7.97 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Justice (over $8.3 million in total sponsored funding), demonstrating a sustained, multi-cycle track record across the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). His federally funded portfolio includes consecutive multi-year BJA national training and technical assistance (TTA) awards—repeatedly expanded through federal Supplements I and II—delivering advanced cybercrime, darknet, cryptocurrency, and IoT forensics training and national vulnerability databases to thousands of state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) law enforcement investigators nationwide, as well as a $963,000 Congressionally directed DOJ appropriation establishing John Jay’s Cybercrime Investigations Laboratory and Research Suite.
A practicing New York Attorney and Counselor-at-Law, Professor Wandt serves as Co-Chair of the New York City Bar Association Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies Task Force’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and on the Board of Directors of the Association of Inspectors General. He has collaborated on research, policy, and investigative technology initiatives with the FBI, the Department of Defense Inspector General, the National Cyber Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), Interpol, and the United Nations.
Official Academic & Research Profiles: Official Portfolio · Interactive Academic CV · ORCID (0000-0001-8160-5519) · Google Scholar · Scopus (57216761006) · Semantic Scholar · Wikidata (Q141737905) · reWandt Series
JJC Affiliations
Courses Taught
FCM 740: Data Communications: Interception, Forensics, and Security
FCM 749: Cyber Investigations: Software and Automation
PAD 713: Information in Inspection and Oversight
PAD 750: Security of Information and Technology
PAD 747: Technology and Computer Programs in Public Policy and Public Management
PAD 770: Quantitative Analysis
PAD 736: How to Start a Not-For-Profit in the State of New York
ACC 265: Digital Forensic Evidence
PAD 241: Information Literacy
Professional Memberships
Board of Directors & Institute Instructor: Association of Inspectors General (CIG, CIGI, and CIGC Certification Programs)
Co-Chair: New York City Bar Association — Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies Task Force, Subcommittee on Cybersecurity (2021 – Present)
Co-Chair: New York City Bar Association — Committee on Technology, Cyber Law and Privacy (2022 – 2025)
Member: New York City Bar Association — Committee on Technology, Cyber Law and Privacy (2021 – Present)
Member: Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, American Society of Criminology, and American Society for Public Administration
Scholarly Work
Academic Citation Indices: ORCID: 0000-0001-8160-5519 · Google Scholar Profile · Scopus Author ID: 57216761006 · Semantic Scholar · Wikidata: Q141737905 · Full Interactive CV
Maras, M.-H., Wandt, A., & Arsovska, J. (2025). Detecting Fentanyl and major players in darknet drug markets by analyzing drug networks and developing a threat assessment tool, Global, 2020-2022. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39131.v1 (Supported by NIJ Grant 2019-R2-CX-0018)
Maras, M.-H., Arsovska, J., Wandt, A., Knieps, M., & Logie, K. (2024). The SECI model and darknet markets: Knowledge creation and sharing in criminal organizations and communities of practice. European Journal of Criminology, 21(2), 165–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/14773708221115167 (Supported by NIJ Grant 2019-R2-CX-0018)
Maras, M.-H., Logie, K., Arsovska, J., Wandt, A. S., & Barthuly, B. (2023). Decoding hidden darknet networks: What we learned about the illicit fentanyl trade on AlphaBay. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 68(5), 1451–1469. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15341 (Supported by NIJ Grant 2019-R2-CX-0018)
Maras, M.-H., Arsovska, J., Wandt, A., & Logie, K. (2023). Keeping pace with the evolution of illicit darknet markets: Identifying trust signals and developing a vendor trustworthiness index. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 39(2), 276–297. https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862231159530 (Supported by NIJ Grant 2019-R2-CX-0018)
Maras, M.-H., Miranda, M. D., & Wandt, A. S. (2023). The use of COVID-19 contact tracing app data as evidence of a crime. Science & Justice, 63(2), 158–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2022.12.008
Edelman, M., Holden, J., & Wandt, A. (2022). U.S. fantasy sports law: Fifteen years after UIGEA. The Ohio State Law Journal, 83, 117. https://hdl.handle.net/1811/101781
Wandt, A. (2020). Tort: Property. In L. Shapiro & M.-H. Maras (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Security and Emergency Management. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69891-5_253-1
Maras, M.-H., & Wandt, A. S. (2020). Case Commentary State of Ohio v. Ross Compton: Internet-enabled medical device data introduced as evidence of arson and insurance fraud. International Journal of Evidence and Proof, 24(3), 321–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365712720930600
Eller, W., & Wandt, A. (2020). Contemporary policy challenges in protecting the homeland. Policy Studies Journal’s Public Policy Yearbook, 48(S1), S4–S12. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12386
Maras, M.-H., & Wandt, A. (2019). Enabling mass surveillance: Data aggregation in the age of big data and the Internet of Things. Journal of Cyber Policy, 4(2), 160–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/23738871.2019.1590437
Honors and Awards
- John Jay College Distinguished Faculty Service to Students Award, 2020
- John Jay College Distinguished Teaching Award, 2014
- The Ribaudo Award for Academic Excellence, 2010
Research Summary
Professor Wandt’s federally funded research and applied engineering portfolio focuses on technology law and policy, artificial intelligence governance, digital forensics, open-source intelligence (OSINT), darknet illicit markets, cryptocurrency investigations, Internet of Things (IoT) device vulnerabilities, and public-sector inspection and oversight. Over two decades, he has architected custom investigative, forensic, and compliance software platforms in partnership with federal, state, and local agencies—including the CP30 anti-child-predator analysis system (with the FBI), the Scrounger OSINT platform, the Wire-light financial forensics suite (with the FBI and NCFTA), the national IoT Forensic Vulnerability Database (with DOJ BJA), and the ProfWorkBench suite of zero-telemetry forensic utilities.
Selected Federal Grants & Appropriations ($7.97M+ U.S. Department of Justice):
- $3,199,907 — U.S. DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance (Award 15PBJA-21-GK-02798-ECON): Economic, High-Technology, White Collar and Internet Crime Prevention National Training and Technical Assistance Program (Co-PI; Base Award + Supplements I & II, in partnership with NCFTA).
- $1,444,148 — U.S. DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance / NW3C (Award 15PBJA-24-GK-02396-INTE Subaward): BJA FY24 Economic, High-Technology, White Collar, and Internet Crime Prevention National Training and Technical Assistance Program (Co-PI).
- $1,327,122 — U.S. DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance (Award 15PBJA-21-GK-03994-INTE): IoT Database: Consumer Device Specifications and Vulnerability Assessments (Co-PI; Base Award + Supplements I & II).
- $963,000 — U.S. DOJ Office of Justice Programs (2024 Federal Appropriation): Cybercrime Investigations Laboratory and Research Suite (secured via U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler).
- $598,637 — National Institute of Justice, U.S. DOJ (Award 2019-R2-CX-0018): Detecting Fentanyl and Major Players in Darknet Drug Markets by Analyzing Drug Networks and Developing a Threat Assessment Tool (Co-PI).
- $440,000 — U.S. DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance (Award 15PBJA-24-GK-02396-INTE): Developing State, Local, Tribal and Territorial Agencies’ Investigative Capacities Through IoT Database Enhancement, Online and In-Person Training, and Community Awareness (Co-PI).