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Forensic Science Week 2023
BONNINSTUDIO; isak55; Bruce Rolf/Shutterstock (see reuse policy).

Celebrating Forensic Science Week

As the fields of forensics rapidly evolve, it’s important to continue investing in research and development efforts across the board. That’s where we come in. As we celebrate Forensic Science Week, learn about the latest resources from NIJ, including funding opportunities, free trainings, and materials to guide policy and practice.

Meet the 2023 LEADS Scholarship Recipients

NIJ’s Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) program is designed to increase the research capabilities of law enforcement officers and agencies. We have selected 16 new LEADS scholars in three categories: law enforcement officers, academics, and civilians. We look forward to their contributions across the policing field!

Two women police officers talking while on duty.
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Recruiting Women into Policing

With women only comprising 12 percent of officers in the field, law enforcement agencies are struggling to meet recruitment goals in terms of diversity and community representation. To address this, NIJ-funded researchers explored if women-focused recruiting strategies could improve engagement with and perceptions of law enforcement jobs.

Term of the Month - Conjunctive Analysis

Conjunctive analysis of case configurations is an exploratory data analysis technique that looks at how multiple variables interact. Researchers have used this method to study patterns in in carjacking incidents, intimate partner violence, homicide investigations, and more.

Criminal Justice Data Archives

The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data archives data on crime and justice and contains data from over 2,700 curated studies or statistical data series. The website is home to several large-scale datasets, including the National Crime Victimization Survey, FBI's Uniform Crime Reports and National Incident-Based Reporting System, and the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods.

List of Compliant Ballistic Resistant Body Armor
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List of Compliant Ballistic Resistant Body Armor

NIJ certifies torso-worn ballistic resistant body armor for law enforcement that complies with the requirements our Compliance Testing Program. If you’re in the law enforcement profession, review a newly updated list of all compliant armor, searching by manufacturing company, gender, threat levels, and other factors.

Listen, Learn, Inform - About NIJ

Find funding opportunities

Find funding opportunities

NIJ awards research, development, testing, and evaluation grants.
Read the latest

Read the latest

Review a list of publications and articles from both NIJ and the researchers we fund.
Register for events

Register for events

Check out a list of our upcoming events. If you don't see anything of interest, we also offer a number of recorded, on-demand event and training opportunities.
Browse all topics

Browse all topics

Find articles and other information on a wide variety of criminal justice topics.

CrimeSolutions Program and Practice Ratings

Denver (Colorado) Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative (Denver SIB)

This is a program for homeless individuals who are often in jail, to increase their housing stability and reduce their criminal justice involvement.

California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA)

This is a training and production program for incarcerated individuals, with the overall goal of reducing recidivism.

Live Court Date Reminder Phone Calls (New York City)

This program provides calls to individuals who have been arrested and released while they wait to appear for arraignment, to remind them to appear on their scheduled court dates.

Person holding a pen at an event.
Motorion/iStock (see reuse policy).

The First Step Act

The First Step Act of 2018 aims to reform the federal prison system and reduce recidivism. NIJ is working to assess and develop an existing risk and needs assessment system for incarcerated individuals, and develop recommendations regarding effective evidence-based recidivism reduction programs and activities.