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Police reform

Expanding Research to Examine the Impacts of Forensic Science on the Criminal Justice System

December 2020

In 2004, the National Institute of Justice created the social science research on forensic sciences (SSRFS) research program to explore the impact of forensic sciences on the criminal justice system and the administration of justice. Much of the early research from the SSRFS program focused on DNA processing and the use of DNA in investigations and prosecutions.

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The State of the Police Field: A New Professionalism in Policing?

June 2010

Panelists debate the premise of a Harvard Executive Session working paper that suggests police organizations are striving for a "new" professionalism. Leaders are endeavoring for stricter standards of efficiency and conduct, while also increasing their legitimacy to the public and encouraging innovation. Is this new? Will this idea lead to prematurely discarding community policing as a guiding philosophy?

Transcript
The State of the Police Field: A New Professionalism in Policing?
Audio file
1 of 4: The State of the Police Field: A New Professionalism in Policing?, Ellen Scrivner, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 4: The State of the Police Field: A New Professionalism in Policing?, Christopher Stone, Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Professor of the Practice of Criminal Justice, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University , 3 of 4: The State of the Police Field: A New Professionalism in Policing?, David Sklansky, Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law and Faculty Chair, Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law , 4 of 4: The State of the Police Field: A New Professionalism in Policing?, Ronald Davis, Chief, East Palo Alto Police Department, Calif.