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Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships

Desistance From Crime: Implications for Research, Policy, and Practice

November 2021

Most scholars would agree that desistance from crime – the process of ceasing engagement in criminal activities – is normative. However, there is variability in the literature regarding the definition and measurement of desistance, the signals of desistance, the age at which desistance begins, and the underlying mechanisms that lead to desistance. Even with considerable advances in the theoretical understanding of desistance from crime, there remain critical gaps between research and the application of that research to practice.

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.

Evidence-Based Policing: The Importance of Research and Evidence

July 2018
NIJ’s two Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science programs encourage law enforcement officers and agencies to use data and research to inform their policies and practices. This panel convened leading practitioners and researchers to discuss evidence-based policing for an audience that includes the next generation of U.S. policing leadership. Panelists come from a variety of backgrounds and will draw from on-the-ground experience to discuss evidence-based policing as it relates to law enforcement training curriculums, practitioner-led trials, research clearinghouses, and other topics.

NIJ FY 15 Building and Enhancing Criminal Justice Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships

Closing Date

NIJ is seeking proposals for criminal justice research and evaluation that includes a researcher-practitioner partnership component. Through researcher-practitioner partnerships, criminal justice practitioners can gain new skills in assessing programs and measuring outcomes. Likewise, criminal justice researchers can better understand the goals and purposes criminal justice practitioners seek to achieve. Ultimately, these partnerships provide criminal justice practitioners with practice- and policy-relevant information while affording researchers the...

NIJ FY 14 Building and Enhancing Criminal Justice Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships

Closing Date

NIJ is seeking proposals for multiple criminal justice research projects involving researcher-practitioner partnerships as well as capturing detailed descriptions of these collaborations. While other NIJ solicitations often encourage researcher-practitioner partnerships, this solicitation directly focuses on supporting criminal justice research and evaluation activities that include a researcher-practitioner partnership component. Within the context of the proposed research or evaluation project, the partnerships can be new or ongoing...