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Law enforcement technology

The Evaluation of NIJ by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences: NIJ's Response

June 2011

The National Academies conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the National Institute of Justice. This panel provides an overview of the evaluation and NIJ's response to it. NIJ has accepted many of the recommendations in the NRC report, and you will learn what the agency is doing to implement them. A few of the recommendations were challenging and created considerable debate within NIJ. Plans to address these thorny issues also are discussed.

A View From the Street: Police Leaders Share Their Perspectives on Urgent Policy and Research Issues

June 2010

Sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and its Research Advisory Committee (RAC), this panel unites law enforcement leaders from across the country to discuss their policy and research concerns. Charles Wellford, IACP RAC co-chair and University of Maryland professor, will facilitate the panel. Presenters will discuss urgent policing issues that merit ongoing research, law enforcement and academic research partnerships, and how research can and does affect agency policy and operations.

How Research and Technology Are Expanding Sexual Assault Kit Testing

January 2016

NIJ Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences Director Gerald LaPorte and Deputy Director Heather Waltke, along with Heather LaSalle, Forensic Examiner, DNA Casework Unit, and Tina Delgado, Chief, Biometrics Division from the FBI Laboratory discuss how scientific advances can help jurisdictions process a large number of previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits.

Situational Approaches to Making Communities and Correction Institutions Safer

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

Special Technical Committees: How They Are Changing NIJ's Standards Development Process

June 2010

NIJ has established a new standards development process based on Special Technical Committees whose members include practitioners, scientists, researchers, subject matter experts, staff of test laboratories and major criminal justice stakeholder organizations, and representatives knowledgeable in standards development and conformity assessment. The members collaborate to develop the standard and ensure that practitioner needs are addressed.

Body-Worn Cameras: Investigating and Evaluating Their Use by Police

I recently discussed NIJ’s research on the use of body-worn cameras in a short video about the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s body-worn camera toolkit. Because this technology has been front and center in the national discussion, I thought it was important for me to remind viewers that, to date, there has been little scientific research to help law enforcement executives and other officials decide whether...