Fostering Innovation in U.S. Law Enforcement: Identifying High-Priority Technology and Other Needs for Improving Law Enforcement Operations and Outcomes

• NCJ Number: 251142
• Author(s): John S. Hollywood; Dulani Woods; Sean E. Goodison; Andrew Lauland; Lisa Wagner; Thomas J. Wilson; Brian A. Jackson
• Date Published: January 2017
• Length: 153 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Identifying the Highest Priority Criminal Justice Needs
• Grant Number(s): 2013-MU-CX-K003
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description; Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Award: Identifying the Highest Priority Criminal Justice Technology Needs

Annotation

This report presents the results of the Second Law Enforcement Advisory Panel, a group convened in fiscal year 2016 as part of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) Priority Criminal Justice Needs Initiative, which aims to identify current challenges and innovation needs in the U.S. law enforcement system.

Abstract

This is part of a research effort that involves the U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice, the RAND Corporation, the Police Executive Research Forum, RTI International, and the University of Denver. This research effort intends to assess and prioritize technology and related needs across the criminal justice community. The Second Law Enforcement Advisory Panel (LEAP 2) is a panel of law enforcement experts tasked with identifying and prioritizing needs for law enforcement, with "needs" defined as a requirement for research, development, or dissemination of a product or service to help solve an operational problem facing law enforcement or take advantage of an opportunity (such as new technologies). The needs identified by LEAP 2 are listed and discussed in this report. They include the need to improve practitioners' knowledge of technologies and how to use them; the need for effective practices and technologies to improve police-community relations; the need to improve the sharing and use of information; the need to improve forensics capabilities; the need to improve a range of personal equipment and practices for using them; the need for policies for unmanned aerial vehicles; the need to improve dispatch center operations; and the need for technology requirements designed to improve officers' physical and mental health. 20 figures, 9 tables, approximately 200 references, and appended full list of needs from LEAP 2