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Correctional facilities

Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders

June 2009

The panel presentations from the 2009 NIJ Conference are based on an NIJ-sponsored evaluation of the effectiveness of Kansas Senate Bill 123, which mandates community-based drug abuse treatment for drug possession by nonviolent offenders in lieu of prison. 

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Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders
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1 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Linda Truitt, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Roger Werholtz, Secretary of Corrections, Kansas Department of Corrections , 3 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Don Stemen, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, Loyola University Chicago , 4 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Andres F. Rengifo, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis , 5 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Question and Answer Session

Cell Phones in Prison

June 2010

Criminals are using cell phones illegally in prisons and jails to conduct their business and intimidate witnesses. Although technology solutions to this problem are available, they can create new challenges, such as legal and implementation issues associated with cell phone use in correctional facilities. Panelists will discuss various aspects to consider from how prisoners use cell phones, to day-to-day and operational aspects, to legal and regulatory concerns.

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Cell Phones in Prison
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1 of 7: Cell Phones in Prison, Ellen Scrivner, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 7: Cell Phones in Prison, Gary D. Maynard, Secretary, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Service , 3 of 7: Cell Phones in Prison, Harley Lappin, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice , 4 of 7: Cell Phones in Prison, Aaron D. Kennard, Executive Director, National Sheriffs' Association , 5 of 7: Cell Phones in Prison, James Arden Barnett, Jr., Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, Federal Communication Commission , 6 of 7: Cell Phones in Prison, Larry D. Atlas, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary, Office of the Assistant Secretary, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Washington, D.C. , 7 of 7: Cell Phones in Prison, Question and Answer Session

Situational Approaches to Making Communities and Correction Institutions Safer - Panel at the 2010 NIJ Conference

June 2010

NIJ Conference panelists will present the results of three studies that applied situational crime prevention (SCP) principles: (1) an evaluation of the Safe City initiative in Chula Vista, Calif., designed to combine the expertise and resources of local law enforcement, retailers and the community to increase the safety of designated retail areas; (2) a randomized controlled trial (in partnership with the Washington Metro Transit Police) that assessed the effectiveness of SCP to reduce car crime in Metro's parking facilities; and (3) an evaluation of the impact of SCP

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Situational Approaches to Making Communities and Correction Institutions Safer - Panel at the 2010 NIJ Conference
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1 of 4: Situational Approaches to Making Communities and Correction Institutions Safer, Winnie Reed, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 4: Situational Approaches to Making Communities and Correction Institutions Safer, Nancy La Vigne, Director, Justice Policy Institute, Urban Institute , 3 of 4: Situational Approaches to Making Communities and Correction Institutions Safer, Gary Wedge, Captain, Administrative Services Division, Chula Vista Police Department, Calif. , 4 of 4: Situational Approaches to Making Communities and Correction Institutions Safer, Tara H. Wildes, Chief, Jails Division, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Fla.

What Works in Offender Supervision - Panel at the 2009 NIJ Conference

June 2009

This NIJ Conference Panel highlights findings from NIJ projects that evaluated strategies to enhance the supervision of offenders in the community. Researchers discuss the effectiveness of fair, swift and certain sanctions for high-risk probationers in the Hawaii HOPE program. Panelists also provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of electronic monitoring — including the use of GPS tracking — for medium- and high-risk offenders on supervision and upon completion of their supervision sentence.

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What Works in Offender Supervision - Panel at the 2009 NIJ Conference
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1 of 4: Marlene Beckman, Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. , 2 of 4: Bill Bales, Associate Professor, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University , 3 of 4: The Honorable Steven S. Alm, Judge, First Circuit Court, Honolulu, Hawaii , 4 of 4: Angela Hawken, Assistant Professor of Economics and Policy Analysis, School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif.

Correctional Facilities

Institutional corrections facilities include prisons and jails. Prisons are state or federal housing facilities that confine convicted felons with sentences typically longer than a year. Jails are administered by local law enforcement and hold those with shorter sentences — usually for 1 year or less — and those awaiting trial.

NIJ's research and development program responds to the needs of corrections practitioners and to the changing nature of...

Crime File: Inside Prisons

January 1984

This video, in the Crime File series, portrays a three-member panel discussing prison conditions in Texas both before and after a 1980 court order for the reform of prison management practices, implications of the Texas experience for prison management, and lessons for prison management to be drawn from the experiences of the experimental Federal correctional facility in Butner, N.C.

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