Attorney General

Congress first passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994. Since then, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) has invested several billion dollars to support national, state, and local programs and to advance policies and practices to reduce domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and increase access to safety, services, and justice for survivors. Over the same period, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) has made similar investments, and VAWA, OVW and OVC have all supported NIJ in investing extensively in related research.

Forensic science research is developing essential knowledge to fill in the holes in death investigations, creating new ways to identify challenging skeletal remains. These methods inform cause of death, time of death, and familial relationships to guide investigations, identify suspects, support prosecutions, and bring justice to families.

In 2014, NIJ established the Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) Scholars Program to support research-minded, mid-career sworn law enforcement officers working to integrate research into agency policy and practice. The LEADS Scholars Program helps participants develop independent research and provides support to identify current evidence on priority issues.

Sexual violence is a significant criminal justice problem with long-term effects for its victims. In particular, sexual assault on or related to college campuses across the United States presents a growing public health and economic burden, starting with significant impacts on academic outcomes.

The directors of the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics reflect on where they see the future of research and statistics and take questions from the audience, prioritizing those from student attendees.

This plenary featured three significant areas of NIJ research investment that have had a tremendous impact on both the research community and the field of practice: advances in forensic DNA, police body armor standards, and place-based analyses of public safety. Each topic was explored by a collection of people representing the researcher, practitioner, policymaker, and advocacy perspectives, exploring how evidence generation resulted in changes that improved public safety and yielded more equitable criminal justice outcomes.

The theme of NIJ’s 2023 Research Conference was “evidence to action,” and our goal was to bring researchers and practitioners together to learn about the latest research evidence and how it can be implemented to promote safety, equity, and justice.

The opening ceremony included remarks from U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Amy Solomon, and NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne.