Harold K. Becker, 74, a retired professor of criminology at California State University, Long Beach died November 21 at his home of complications from cancer. He was 74 years old.

Dr. Becker, born in Los Angeles, California, was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard for eight years. He received his bachelor’s degree from USC in 1959 and a doctorate from UC Berkeley in 1971. He worked as a police office for the Los Angeles Police Department from 1959 to 1963. Dr. Becker was a professor of criminal justice from 1963 to 2000 at CSULB and continued to teach classes there until 2005 when he retired. He was an adjunct professor at the Center for Politics and Policy at The Claremont Graduate School from 1989 to 1996.

Dr. Becker authored the Police Systems of Europe and he co-authored several monographs of criminology including Justice in Modern Sweden and Handbook of the World’s Police. He was recently working on a book, The Viking and the Eagle: A Study of the Swedish Police and the Los Angeles Police Department. He was involved in numerous research projects on gang violence and juvenile crime prevention.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Donna Lee Becker, and seven grandchildren: Deanna, Eric, Alix, Brandon, Monica, Shannon, and Abigail. He was the father of Ann, Harold, and Alice.

Memorial services will be held at 3pm on Thursday, November 29, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Irvine, 4400 Barranca Parkway, 949-559-4699.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Hoag Cancer Center, Newport Beach.