Articles Published by NIJ

Fiber evidence has long been an important part of criminal cases, for it can associate a suspect with a crime scene. This project details new analytical procedures that allow fiber comparisons that are more detailed than standard forensic practices.

Researchers create a metric to determine the difficulty of matching latent and known fingerprints, then link that difficulty to error rates.

To strengthen the forensic sciences, we must engage people from a broad array of scientific disciplines and backgrounds to help provide innovative solutions to complex criminal justice issues.

The criminal justice community has invested significantly in developing information sharing standards, but it has not developed a comprehensive view of the information sharing process. NIJ-supported research shows how the justice system could benefit from

NIJ-funded researchers evaluated an experiment in which Shreveport Police Department compared a predictive policing model focused on forecasting the likelihood of property crime occurring within block-sized areas against a hot spots policing approach.

Identifying a new drug that is very similar in structure to other drugs is important for investigators. Researchers in this project determined that these drugs may be better separated using ultra high-performance supercritical fluid chromatography.

Synthetic cathinones, a class of mood-altering stimulants popular among recreational drug users, can be unstable when stored in blood or urine samples, and may be problematic when used as evidence in court.

Researchers funded by NIJ studied the effects of Florida laws to address the opioid epidemic and found that they did indeed help reduce the number of “pill mill” clinics.

Reviews of 'sentinel events' can shift the emphasis away from blame and toward risk mitigation and continuous improvement.

There is no standard method of detailed documentation of the latent print examination process, but researchers have developed software that improves the standardization and quantifiability, implemented as part of the FBI’s Universal Latent Workstation.