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Less Prison, More Police, Less Crime: How Criminology Can Save the States from Bankruptcy

April 2010
Series
Research for the Real World

Professor Lawrence Sherman explains how policing can prevent far more crimes than prison per dollar spent. His analysis of the cost-effectiveness of prison compared to policing suggests that states can cut their total budgets for justice and reduce crime by reallocating their spending on crime: less prison, more police.

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How Collaboration Between Researchers and Police Chiefs Can Improve the Quality of Sexual Assault Investigations: A Look at Los Angeles

June 2011

Panelists discuss the application of research findings from an NIJ-sponsored study of sexual assault attrition to police practice in Los Angeles. There are three main focal points: (1) the mutual benefits of researcher/practitioner partnerships, (2) the implications of variation in police interpretation of UCR guidelines specific to clearing sexual assault (with an emphasis on cases involving nonstrangers), and (3) the content of specialized training that must be required for patrol officers and detectives who respond to and investigate sex crimes.

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Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System

June 2010

Evidence backlogs have been known to be an issue in crime laboratories. A recent study published by NIJ has shown that backlogs of untested evidence are also an issue in law enforcement evidence storage. This panel will discuss the issues and present preliminary findings from a study of the Los Angeles Police Department's and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's experience with clearing out a large backlog of unanalyzed rape kits.

Transcript
Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System
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1 of 8: Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System, Gerry LaPorte, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 8: Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System, Joseph L. Peterson, Professor and Director, School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, California State University, Los Angeles , 3 of 8: Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System, Kevin J. Strom, Senior Research Scientist, Crime, Violence, and Justice Research Program, RTI International , 4 of 8: Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System, Joseph L. Peterson, Professor and Director, School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, California State University, Los Angeles , 5 of 8: Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System, Dean M. Gialamas, Director, Scientific Services Bureau, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department , 6 of 8: Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System, Joseph L. Peterson, Professor and Director, School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, California State University, Los Angeles , 7 of 8: Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System, Jeffrey Nye, DNA Technical Leader, Forensic Science Division, Michigan State Police , 8 of 8: Backlogs and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System, Joseph L. Peterson, Professor and Director, School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, California State University, Los Angeles

Familial DNA Searching: Issues and Answers

June 2011

Familial DNA searching is the practice of creating new investigative leads in cases where DNA evidence found at the scene of a crime strongly resembles that of an existing DNA profile but is not an exact match. Panelists will explain how the technology works, provide examples of successful convictions obtained through familial searches, and discuss the various misconceptions and concerns regarding this practice.

Transcript
Familial DNA Searching: Issues and Answers
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Familial DNA Searching: Issues and Answers

Sexual Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA

June 2010

Panelists will summarize the progress and results of sexual violence research since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. The panel will also examine how research has contributed to policy, assess current knowledge gaps and discuss research needs.

Transcript
Sexual Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA
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1 of 5: Sexual Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA, Karen J. Bachar, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 5: Sexual Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA, Rebecca Campbell, Professor of Community Psychology and Program Evaluation, Michigan State University , 3 of 5: Sexual Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA, Bonnie S. Fisher, Professor, Division of Criminal Justice and Research Fellow, Center for Criminal Justice Research, University of Cincinnati , 4 of 5: Sexual Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA, Rebecca Campbell, Professor of Community Psychology and Program Evaluation, Michigan State University , 5 of 5: Sexual Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA, Delilah Rumburg, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape

Prosecuting Cases of Elder Abuse

June 2010

This panel will feature NIJ-funded research that has direct, practical implications for the prosecution of elder abuse cases. Panelists will present findings from a study of prosecutors in three states that examined the factors that influenced their decisions to prosecute elder financial abuse cases. The panel will also provide the results from an evaluation of five innovative court-based models that target perpetrators of elder abuse.

Transcript
Prosecuting Cases of Elder Abuse
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1 of 4: Prosecuting Cases of Elder Abuse, Andy Mao, Senior Counsel for Health Care Fraud and Elder Justice, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice , 2 of 4: Prosecuting Cases of Elder Abuse, Shelly Jackson, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville , 3 of 4: Prosecuting Cases of Elder Abuse, Lori Stiegel, Senior Attorney, Commission on Law and Aging, American Bar Association , 4 of 4: Prosecuting Cases of Elder Abuse, Page Ulrey, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, King County Prosecutor's Office, Seattle, Wash.

Is It Old Age, Abuse or Homicide? Using Forensic Markers and Technology to Detect Elder Abuse and Neglect

June 2009

Panelists will present results from NIJ-funded studies on bruising and CT scanning and discuss the important role of forensic information and technology in effectively investigating violent crimes against the elderly.

Transcript
Is It Old Age, Abuse or Homicide? Using Forensic Markers and Technology to Detect Elder Abuse and Neglect
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1 of 5: Is It Old Age, Abuse or Homicide? Using Forensic Markers and Technology to Detect Elder Abuse and Neglect, Carrie Mulford, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 5: Is It Old Age, Abuse or Homicide? Using Forensic Markers and Technology to Detect Elder Abuse and Neglect, Aileen Wiglesworth, Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, University of California, Irvine , 3 of 5: Is It Old Age, Abuse or Homicide? Using Forensic Markers and Technology to Detect Elder Abuse and Neglect, Barry Daly, Professor of Radiology and Vice Chair for Research, Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine , 4 of 5: Is It Old Age, Abuse or Homicide? Using Forensic Markers and Technology to Detect Elder Abuse and Neglect, Cherie Hill, Detective, Anaheim Police Department , 5 of 5: Is It Old Age, Abuse or Homicide? Using Forensic Markers and Technology to Detect Elder Abuse and Neglect, Question and Answer Session

What Works in Offender Supervision

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.

Transcript
What Works in Offender Supervision
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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.

Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA

June 2010

Since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act, a majority of the more than 250 research and evaluation studies funded by NIJ examined domestic violence issues. This research has been collected in the Compendium of Research on Violence Against Women, which includes an abstract of each grant and the results of completed studies.

Transcript
Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA
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1 of 4: Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA , Bernard Auchter, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 4: Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA , Claire M. Renzetti, Endowed Chair, Center for Research on Violence Against Women and Professor of Sociology, University of Kentucky , 3 of 4: Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA , Connie Beck, Associate Professor, Psychology, Policy and Law Program, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson (mp3, 170 MB) , 4 of 4: Domestic Violence Research 15 Years After VAWA , Barbara Hart, Director of Law and Policy, Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, Portland