Growing up, Dre’mon Alfounzer Miller loved watching “Judge Judy” and shows from the “Law & Order” franchise with his grandmother.

Fittingly, Miller now spends his days instructing others on the ins and out of the criminal justice system.

From 2018 to 2023, Miller taught criminal justice to teens in Richmond Public Schools. Presently, he’s a professor and criminal justice chair at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. And in 2021 he founded Street Smartz Over Safety LLC, a company that instructs students and communities about potentially lifesaving skills. Topics covered by Miller and his employees run the gamut from forensic science and first aid to social emotional learning and other mental health principles.

A graduate of George Wythe High School, Miller undertook a summer internship with then-Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring before studying criminal justice and homeland security at Virginia Commonwealth University. While obtaining his bachelor’s, Miller began working as a correctional officer at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center.

“That was the hardest job I’ve ever had in my life,” says Miller, who was promoted to residential specialist within a year’s time. “It was also the most rewarding job.”

Upon graduating, Miller was hired by the Virginia Division of Capitol Police. Protecting the city’s Confederate monuments during the 2017 Black Lives Matter protests, he was struck by the irony of what he was doing.

“It just didn’t make sense to me,” Miller says. “I’m protecting a monument of someone who didn’t care about me back then.”

Because of this and other disagreements, Miller left the Capitol Police in 2018; he completed a master’s in criminal justice and public administration from Liberty University the following year.

Street Smartz, Miller says, is the culmination of his experiences working as a teacher, police officer and correctional officer.

His efforts have racked up numerous accolades, including being chosen as Richmond Technical Center’s Teacher of the Year in 2021 and this year’s Impact Award for Reynolds. He has been a VCU 10 Under 10 Award recipient and was named one of this year’s 100 Men of Color in Virginia. He’s also the vice president of music ministry and director of the men’s choir of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Midlothian and competes in the U.S. Tennis Association.

For his accomplishments, Miller traces it all back to sitting on the couch with his grandmother.

“I always knew I wanted to help people,” he says.