A former New York City Police Officer, Jim Curran served as a professor and administrator at John Jay College from 1970 until his retirement in 2011. As a member of the faculty Professor Curran enjoyed teaching students at both the beginning and culmination of their studies at John Jay, i.e. the introductory police studies course and the senior seminar in police problems.

As Dean for Special Programs, he developed and managed grant and contract-supported police training and education programs. The Human Dignity and the Police Program is an example; this program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, trained thousands of police officials from Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa in the principles of democratic policing. The U.S. Army also used John Jay’s Human Dignity curriculum to train Iraqi police. The Human Dignity Program came to be regarded as a ground-breaking effort to influence police policy and practice, and resulted in Professor Curran being profiled as an "Innovator in Criminal Justice" in a Time Magazine feature article on crime and justice.

Another program, Police Response to Situations Involving Mentally Disturbed Persons, developed by Professor Curran in 1985, continues to train NYC police officers and supervisors to intervene in mental health crises. This program, and his on-going interest in mental health issues, resulted in Professor Curran’s appointment to the Community Services Board of the NYC Department of Mental Hygiene.

Professor Curran also worked with the NYPD and police union officials to develop a City University-based Police Cadet Program that recruited and trained police officer candidates and served as a prototype for the NYPD 's current Cadet Program.

Other programs developed and managed by Professor Curran include:

·         An Urban Service Corps Program, based on the Peace Corps, which placed John Jay students in community service internships and ultimately served as a model for the College 's internship program.

·         A federally funded Juvenile Offender Diversion Program that avoided criminalization of thousands of young offenders arrested on New York City subways by providing treatment alternatives instead of court process.

·         A program of off campus courses at public agency college satellite facilities including New York City police precincts and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Now Professor Emeritus, Curran continues to participate in the life of the John Jay college community, and welcomes opportunities to discuss students ' education and career plans.