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Experience has shown that cold case programs can solve a substantial number of violent crime cold cases, including homicides and sexual assaults. Advances in DNA technologies have substantially increased the successful DNA analysis of aged, degraded, limited, or otherwise compromised biological evidence. As a result, crime scene samples once thought to be unsuitable for testing may now yield DNA profiles. Additionally, samples that previously generated...
Panelists will discuss the results of the recent Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's National Survey on Children's Exposure to Violence and findings from a seven-year follow-up study, funded by NIJ, on home visitation in New York. The survey's findings included startling figures: More than 60 percent of the children interviewed were exposed to violence, crime and abuse within the past year, and more than 1 in 10 were injured in an assault.
Interview with Akiva Liberman, The Urban Institute
The NIJ Journal presents research-based information that can help inform policy decisions and improve understanding of the criminal justice system.
Articles:
The NIJ Journal presents research-based information that can help inform policy decisions and improve understanding of the criminal justice system.
Message from the Editor-in-Chief
Articles:
The NIJ Journal presents research-based information that can help inform policy decisions and improve understanding of the criminal justice system.
In this issue find:
The NIJ Journal presents research-based information that can help inform policy decisions and improve understanding of the criminal justice system.
In this issue:
The NIJ Journal presents research-based information that can help inform policy decisions and improve understanding of the criminal justice system.
Articles:
The NIJ Journal presents research-based information that can help inform policy decisions and improve understanding of the criminal justice system.
Each issue of the NIJ Journal will now focus on a single theme, allowing the articles to dive into one specific topic from different scientific points of view. In this issue, our scientists have partnered to share some of the latest evidence and thinking about issues...
Trace evidence refers to materials transferred between people, objects, or the environment during a crime. This evidence can help investigators develop leads, indicating (or excluding) potential suspects or locations for further scrutiny. Trace evidence encompasses a wide range of natural and manufactured materials.
Traditional trace evidence includes:
Human remains are treated as a separate and unique type of forensic evidence. An autopsy of the remains is completed to determine the cause and manner of any death that is violent, unusual, or untimely. A forensic pathologist will examine the human remains (post-mortem examination) and consider death scene findings.
On this page, find links to articles, awards, events, publications, and multimedia related to forensic pathology.
Law enforcement agencies implement a variety of strategies and methods to combat crime and ensure public safety. Policing strategies extend beyond traditional models of responding to calls for service and often seek to increase crime prevention, intervention, and response effectiveness through such techniques that focus on gun violence prevention and intervention. These strategies are aimed at reducing gun-related crimes and homicides in neighborhoods and communities. ...
After someone is arrested, the judge or other judicial officer decides whether the defendant can be released until the trial or must be detained. Holding defendants until trial generates extra jail expenses and sequesters the defendants before they have been found guilty in court. The justice system, however, also needs to ensure that a released defendant will not endanger the public or run away before...
Case processing includes the movement of a lawsuit or legal action through the legal system. NIJ is committed to funding research, development, and evaluation into the methods for criminal justice administration applicable to diversion, pretrial and other stages of the criminal case processing.
On this page, find links to articles, awards, events, publications, and multimedia related to criminal case processing.
The National Institute of Justice sponsors research on alcohol and others drugs in the context of the criminal justice system to promote effective law enforcement, court and corrections responses to illegal drug markets and criminal behavior related to illicit drug use.
On this page, find links to articles, awards, events, publications, and multimedia related to drug crimes.
The strength of our criminal justice system depends on its accuracy — its ability to convict the guilty and to clear the innocent. But we know that wrongful convictions happen. Identifying and understanding the causes of wrongful convictions is critical to maintaining the integrity of our justice system.
A conviction may be classified as wrongful for two reasons:
Contraband in correctional facilities includes illegal items, such as drugs and weapons, or items prohibited in the area being monitored, such as cell phones. Prison staff needs to be able to detect and confiscate contraband quickly to prevent drug abuse, violence and the commission of further crimes.
Drugs and weapons pose a particular risk in prison environments, where there is a high potential for violence...
