The Academy is led by a team of practitioners, scholars, and administrators with decades of combined experience inside the institutions of civilian oversight, academic instruction, and public accountability.
Dr. Aguilar founded the National Civilian Oversight Academy after more than a decade of building, leading, and reforming civilian oversight institutions across multiple jurisdictions — and observing firsthand the absence of a national training pipeline for the field.
Ph.D., Sociology — George Mason University
B.A., Rutgers University
Dr. Aguilar has worked across civilian oversight as a practitioner, researcher, and former law enforcement officer. He founded the Academy to address a gap he observed across the field: that oversight practitioners are often asked to take on demanding institutional roles without access to a dedicated, rigorous national training pipeline.
Dr. Aguilar most recently served as Director of Police Accountability for the City of Berkeley, California (October 2022 – March 2026).
Earlier, he was the inaugural Executive Director of the Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board, where he helped stand up a newly chartered oversight body — establishing investigative protocols, policy review functions, and community engagement infrastructure.
He is an inaugural member of the Fairfax County Police Civilian Review Panel, and he supported the establishment and training of the George Mason University Police Advisory Board — contributing to the structure, orientation, and early operations of a university-context oversight body.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Aguilar served as an investigator with the District of Columbia Office of Police Complaints, and before entering the oversight field he served as a sworn law enforcement officer — experience that informs his understanding of both sides of the accountability relationship.
Dr. Aguilar holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from George Mason University and a B.A. from Rutgers University. His academic work examines governance, accountability institutions, and the institutional conditions that support legitimate oversight.
The Academy's founding leadership brings together expertise in oversight practice, academic program design, partnership development, and the operational craft of building institutions that endure.
Leads admissions and enrollment for the Academy's inaugural cohort — including applicant communications, admissions workflow design, enrollment systems, and the development of intake operations. Works closely with the Founder on the build-out of the Academy's admissions function ahead of the September 2026 launch.
Leads the academic development, curricular planning, and instructional architecture of the Academy. Sol oversees curriculum design across the Academy's six tracks, instructional planning and program design, faculty and academic coordination, and the broader programmatic infrastructure that supports the Academy's launch and growth.
Instruction is delivered by a national roster of senior practitioners, including current and former oversight directors, inspectors general, investigators, auditors, and academic experts in policing, administrative law, and public administration.
Full faculty roster to be published with the inaugural cohort announcement.
Our leadership team, faculty roster, and advisory council will be announced in full as we approach the launch of the inaugural cohort in September 2026. If you are a senior practitioner, scholar, or oversight leader interested in contributing to the Academy's work, we invite you to be in touch.
The Academy's first cohort begins September 2026. Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis across all six training tracks.