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Researchers

Public Criminology: Charting the Course from Evidence to Action

Celebrating 10 Years of NIJ’s Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) Scholars Program - 2024 NIJ Research Conference

September 2024

In 2014, NIJ established the Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) Scholars Program to support research-minded, mid-career sworn law enforcement officers working to integrate research into agency policy and practice. The LEADS Scholars Program helps participants develop independent research and provides support to identify current evidence on priority issues.

Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Victim Services

May 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic had a detrimental impact on communities across the nation and significantly affected various aspects of individuals’ lives. One of the negative impacts was an increase in gender-based violence accompanied by shifting barriers to accessing services and support. Victims and victim service providers faced various challenges dealing with the increase in need for services, navigating barriers to help-seeking, and addressing logistical issues.

What's Known and Unknown about Marijuana (Part Two)

January 2024

Marijuana legalization poses many challenges — especially those related to drug chemistry and toxicology — for researchers, law enforcement, and policy makers. In the latest episode of Justice Today, NIJ Communications Assistant Josh Mondoro hosts a conversation with NIJ Scientist Frances Scott about marijuana toxicology, including comparing its effects to alcohol, measuring impairment, and maintaining public safety as more and more states legalize recreational marijuana. 

What's Known and Unknown about Marijuana (Part One)

January 2024

Marijuana poses many challenges for researchers, law enforcement, and policy makers, challenges that fall into two fields: drug chemistry and toxicology. NIJ scientist Dr. Frances Scott joins this episode to explain the complications in drug chemistry and how difficulties defining marijuana lead to backlogs in crime labs around the country. NIJ Communications Assistant Josh Mondoro hosts. 

De-escalation Training: What Works, Implementation Lessons, and Taking It to Scale; Plenary at the 2023 NIJ Research Conference

August 2023

Police use of force, while infrequently used, is a tremendous concern to public safety in the United States when officers employ it excessively or inappropriately, causing injury or death and eroding public trust in law enforcement. This plenary from the 2023 NIJ Research Conference describes the Integrating, Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) de-escalation training program developed by the Police Executive Research Forum to guide officers in defusing critical incidents.

Inclusive Research: Engaging People Closest to the Issue Makes for Better Science & Greater Impact; 2023 NIJ Research Conference Plenary

August 2023

This panel will discuss what inclusive research is, how to conduct it, and what issues and challenges exist about engaging in it. “Inclusive research” has its history as a participatory research method designed to ensure people closest to the issue or problem under study are authentically engaged in the research process rather than simply being “research subjects.” While community-based participatory research has begun to take on greater prominence in the criminal justice realm, such efforts are largely confined to qualitative research inquiries.