Chelsea
Binns
Associate Professor
Education
PhD, CUNY Graduate Center (Criminal Justice)
MPhil, CUNY Graduate Center (Criminal Justice)
Certificate, Forensic Accounting, New York University
MA, John Jay College (Criminal Justice)
BA, cum laude, Ramapo College of New Jersey (Law & Society)
AS, Morris County College (Criminal Justice)
Bio
Dr. Chelsea Binns is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Law & Police Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Her teaching and research focus on cybercrime, fraud, investigations, financial crime, security management, and artificial intelligence.
Prior to entering academia, Dr. Binns held investigative and security leadership positions with Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, the New York State Office of the Attorney General, and the New York City Department of Investigation. She is a Licensed Private Investigator and Certified Fraud Examiner.
Dr. Binns is the author and editor of several books, including The Art of Investigation, The Art of Investigation Revisited, Fraud Hotlines, and Safety & Security in Hotels and Home Sharing. She has also published peer-reviewed research on cybercrime, fraud, security management, artificial intelligence, private security, and investigative practices. As Principal Investigator, she has secured more than $400,000 in external research funding, including grants from the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the ASIS Foundation.
A recognized expert on cybercrime, fraud, and investigations, Dr. Binns has been featured by The New York Times, NPR, Bloomberg News, USA Today, CBS News, Fox News, CNET, Forbes, NBC News, and The Hollywood Reporter. She regularly comments on issues related to cybercrime, financial fraud, scams, investigations, security, and emerging technologies.
Dr. Binns teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in cybercrime, fraud, investigations, security management, homeland security, and public administration.
JJC Affiliations
Courses Taught
Business Continuity Planning, PMT 762/SEC 762
Cybercrime Investigations SEC 217
Cyber Fraud and Identity Theft, SEC 317
Intro. to Cybercrime, SEC 107
Private Security Trends & Movements, SEC 320
Safety & Security of Financial Institutions, SEC 348
Seminar in Security Problems, SEC 405
Theory & Design of Security Systems, SEC 753
Professional Memberships
Vice Chair, Risk Committee, Tokyo American Club
Member, ACFE Advisory Council
Member, ALDONYS
Member, American Society of Criminology
Member, Asian Criminological Society
Member, ASIS
Member, Society of Professional Investigators (SPI)
Member, World Association of Detectives (WAD)
Past Director, Center for Private Security & Safety, John Jay College
Past Member, Investigations Steering Committee, American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS)
Past Chair, Chapter Leader's Committee, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE)
Past President, New York Chapter, ACFE
Past Member, Higher Education Advisory Committee, ACFE
Past Member, FBI Infraguard
Past Member, Advisory Board, Salameno School of Humanities and Global Studies, Ramapo College of New Jersey
Scholarly Work
Books
Binns, C. & Kempf, R. (2020) Safety & Security in Hotels and Home Sharing, Springer
Binns, C. & Sackman, B. (2020) The Art of Investigation, CRC Press
Binns, C. (2017) Fraud Hotlines: Design, Performance & Assessment, CRC Press
Peer Reviewed Articles
Binns, C. and Kempf, R. (2025) "Can a company’s poor customer service be a security risk? An examination of Airbnb’s Twitter Data using Artificial Intelligence Supervised Machine Learning" Journal of Applied Security Research.
Binns, C. and Kempf, R. (2020) "Background Checks: The Theories Behind the Process." Security Journal.
Binns, C. (Fall 2017) “Cybercrime Response in the United States and Japan: A Comparative Analysis." Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Annual: Global Perspectives, New York: John Jay Press, Volume 7, pp. 153-174.
Book Chapters
Binns, C. "Energy" (2023) The Art of Investigation II, CRC Press
Binns, C. “Crime and Security” (2020) [Chapter 4] in Theoretical Foundations of Homeland Security: Strategies, Operations & Structures. Routledge
Binns, C. (Jan. 2019) Government Employees Unaware they are Cybercrime Victims [Chapter 1] in Cybersecurity: Current Writings on Threats and Protection. Gonzalez, J. & Kemp, R. (Eds.), Mc Farland & Company, Inc. Jefferson, North Carolina.
Binns, C. (Jan 2019) Law Enforcement Partnerships Enhance Cybersecurity Investigations [Chapter 47] in Cybersecurity: Current Writings on Threats and Protection. Gonzalez, J. & Kemp, R. (Eds.), Mc Farland & Company, Inc. Jefferson, North Carolina.
Binns, C. (Sept. 2016) New York Corruption Investigation Trends [Chapter 19] in Corruption and America's Cities: Essays and Case Studies. Gonzalez, J. & Kemp, R. (Eds.), Mc Farland & Company, Inc. Jefferson, North Carolina.
Binns, C. (Sept. 2016) Vigilence Required for New York Government Employees [Chapter 37] in Corruption and America's Cities: Essays and Case Studies. Gonzalez, J. & Kemp, R. (Eds.), Mc Farland & Company, Inc. Jefferson, North Carolina.
Editorial Review
Binns, C. & Hatano, R. (2025) "Empowering the next generation of Investigators." WAD Beyond Global (World Association of Detectives)
Binns, C. (2023) “When investigations kill: Lessons learned from the murders of sleuths across the globe.” PI Magazine,
Binns, C. (2021) “Mastering the Art of Investigation” Fraud Intelligence
Binns, C. (2020). [Contributor] “Predication or not? Discerning when it is time to begin a fraud examination.” Fraud Magazine (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners)
Binns, C. (2018). “Can Corporate Hotlines be the Answer to the #MeToo Movement?” Fierce Advocate. John Jay College.
Binns, C., & Kempf, R. (2017). “Balancing Integrity with Privacy Interests: Fighting Cyber-Corruption with Background Checks.” Integrity in Brief. Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity, Columbia Law School.
Binns, C. (2017). “Homeland Security Cellphone Searches: Effective Investigative Tool or Extreme Invasion of Privacy?” Security Director (American Society for Industrial Security)
Binns, C. (2017). “Law Enforcement Partnerships Enhance Cybercrime Investigations.” PA Times (American Society for Public Administration).
Binns, C. (2017). [Contributor] Fraud Edge Column. “The Future is Now in Higher Education.” Fraud Magazine (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners).
Binns, C. (2015). “Money Mule Profiling Can Help Solve, Prevent Crimes,” Fraud Magazine (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners).
Binns, C. (2014). “Fraud Hotlines and Cybercrime Prevention in the Financial Industry,” Citibank Cyber Intelligence Journal.
Honors and Awards
Certificate of Recognition, Scholarship of Teaching & Learning, John Jay College, 2018
H. Craig Collins Award to Distinguished Faculty, St. John’s University, Apr. 2017
Faculty Recognition Award, St. John’s University, Aug. 2016
Morgan Stanley Client Service Award, 2009
Doctoral Program Fellowship, CUNY Graduate Center/John Jay College, 2007
Research Summary
Dr. Chelsea Binns' research examines cybercrime, fraud, investigations, security management, and emerging technologies. Her work focuses on understanding how organizations, investigators, and consumers can identify, prevent, and respond to evolving threats in both physical and digital environments.
Drawing on her professional experience in corporate security, fraud prevention, and investigations, Dr. Binns studies topics including cyber fraud, identity theft, financial crime, artificial intelligence, private security, and investigative practices. Her research explores both offender behavior and the strategies used by organizations to mitigate risk and protect assets.
Dr. Binns has published books, peer-reviewed articles, and industry-focused research on these topics and has secured external funding to examine issues including artificial intelligence, security intelligence, and public policy. Her work seeks to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world practice by providing actionable insights for investigators, security professionals, policymakers, and the public.