Multimedia Listing

A small number of those who commit crimes are heavily involved in drugs commit a large portion of the crime in this country. An evaluation of a "smart supervision" effort in Hawaii that uses swift and certain sanctioning showed that individuals committing crimes who are heavily involved in drug use can indeed change their behavior when the supervision is properly implemented.

NIJ's Eric Martin discusses the Institute's ongoing evaluation of the HOPE program for drug-involved offenders. 

The criminal justice system encounters and supervises a large number of drug abusing persons. Punishment alone is a futile and ineffective response to the problem of drug abuse. Addiction is a chronic brain disease with a strong genetic component that in most instances requires treatment. Involvement in the criminal justice system provides a unique opportunity to treat drug abuse disorders and related health conditions, thereby improving public health and safety.

Dr. Kirk discusses how Hurricane Katrina affected those formerly incarcerated persons originally from New Orleans and their likelihood of returning to prison. Kirk also discussed potential strategies for fostering residential change among those who were incarcerated, focusing specifically on parole residency policies and the provision of public housing vouchers.

Change doesn't come easy, particularly within an institution as large and complex as the criminal justice system. Greg Berman, Director of the Center for Court Innovation, offered lessons from several efforts to make reform stick in criminal justice settings. In particular, he focused on the development of community courts — experimental court projects that are attempting to reduce both crime and incarceration in dozens of cities across the U.S. and around the world.

Professor Ed Latessa describes how his team and he assessed more than 550 programs and saw the best and the worst. Professor Latessa shared his lessons learned and examples of states that are trying to use evidence-based knowledge to improve correctional programs.

T.K. Logan discusses her study that looked at the impact of civil protective orders for domestic violence victims in five Kentucky jurisdictions. Civil protective orders, sometimes known as restraining orders, may cover various situations, such as ordering an assailant to avoid a victim's home and workplace or forbidding any contact with the victim, including by mail or telephone.

This Crime File video presents a segment that describes an organized neighborhood response to drug trafficking in Philadelphia; followed by a panel discussion of the effectiveness of this program and community drug control efforts in a section of Los Angeles.

1990

This Crime File video presents a description of the employee drug testing program of BE and K, a large international engineering and construction company headquartered in Birmingham, Ala.; followed by a panel discussion of the methodology, effectiveness, and ethics of such testing.

1990

This Crime File video presents a segment that describes the National Guard's role in interdicting drugs at the border in El Paso, Tex.; followed by a panel discussion of the nature and effectiveness of the military's role in drug law enforcement.

1990

This Crime File video presents overview of the nature and effects of some drug legalization in Holland; followed by an examination of arguments for and against drug legalization as presented by panelists Ethan Nadelmann, assistant professor at Princeton University, and Herbert Kleber, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

1990

This video, in the crime File series, presents a segment that describes the implementation of drug asset forfeiture law in Broward County, Fla., followed by a panel discussion of the pros and cons of forfeiture law.

1990

This Crime File video presents the portrayal of the nature and activities of juvenile gangs in Los Angeles; followed by a panel discussion of gang involvement in drug trafficking, sociological explanations of gangs, and strategies for countering gangs.

1990

This Crime File video portrays the shock-incarceration, boot camp regime for drug offenders at the Butler facility in New York State, followed by a panel's assessment of the effectiveness of such programs.

In this Crime File video, James Q. Wilson moderates a panel of three (Mark Kleiman, Harvard University Research Fellow; Mark Moore, Harvard University Professor; and John Lawn, Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency), this team discusses Federal and local enforcement strategies against drug trafficking.

This Crime File video discusses the DARE program in Los Angeles attempts to teach elementary school children to turn away from drugs before they get to junior high school, where peer pressure is strong.

In this Crime File video, James Q. Wilson moderates a panel of three (Jay Carver, Director of the D.C. Pretrial Services Program; Elizabeth Symmonds, attorney with the Capitol Area Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union; and Dr. Eric Wish, a drug researcher)

1984

This video, in the Crime File series, portrays a panel discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of criminalizing heroin use, with particular attention to contrasting the British and American systems for controlling heroin use.

This Crime File video shows three dramatized scenarios of police search and seizure tactics are critiqued as to their legality by a panel consisting of a police officer, a U.S. attorney, and a public defender.