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Vera Institute

Transforming Correctional Culture and Climate

Date Published
April 11, 2024

Borrowing from innovations abroad, U.S. correctional facilities are piloting more humane living environments that are grounded in principles of restorative justice to support rehabilitation and enhance safety for all who work and reside in them.

The Hidden Costs of Reentry: Understanding the Barriers to Removing a Criminal Record

May 2022

NIJ hosted a webinar to discuss under-researched aspects of reentry: expungement of criminal records and the impact of those records. This webinar includes a presentation of ongoing research projects examining the impact of legal aid for expungement and past research projects studying the accuracy and permanency of criminal records and the prevalence of collateral consequences of conviction. A Q&A session will conclude this webinar.

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Police-on-Police Shootings and the Puzzle of Unconscious Racial Bias

June 2010
Series
Research for the Real World

Professor Christopher Stone recently completed a study of police-on-police shootings as part of a task force he chaired in New York State. He reported on his findings and recommendations, exploring the role of race in policing decisions, methods to improve training and tactics to defuse police-on-police confrontations before they become fatal, and methods to improve the investigations of such shootings.

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Economical Crime Control: Perspectives from Both Sides of the Ledger

December 2011
Series
Research for the Real World

The surge in incarceration since 1980 has been fueled in part by the mistaken belief that the population can be divided neatly into "good guys" and "bad guys." In fact, crime rates are not determined by the number of at-large criminals, any more than farm production is determined by the number of farmers. Crime is a choice, a choice that is influenced by available opportunities as much as by character. This perspective, drawn from economic theory, supports a multi-faceted approach to crime control. Dr.

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Reforming New Orleans' Criminal Justice System: The Role of Data and Research

September 2012
Series
Research for the Real World

With its criminal justice system in disarray following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans invited the Vera Institute of Justice to examine the city's court and jail operations. For five years, Vera has been tracking arrest-to-first-appearance time, custodial arrests versus summonses, the granting of pretrial release, and many other decision-making points. Based on analysis of these data, Vera is making policy recommendations to assist with the implementation of new procedures and to ensure performance monitoring.

Transcript
Reforming New Orleans' Criminal Justice System: The Role of Data and Research
Audio file
Reforming New Orleans' Criminal Justice System: The Role of Data and Research

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.

Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders

June 2009

The panel presentations from the 2009 NIJ Conference are based on an NIJ-sponsored evaluation of the effectiveness of Kansas Senate Bill 123, which mandates community-based drug abuse treatment for drug possession by nonviolent offenders in lieu of prison. 

Transcript
Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders
Audio file
1 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Linda Truitt, National Institute of Justice , 2 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Roger Werholtz, Secretary of Corrections, Kansas Department of Corrections , 3 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Don Stemen, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, Loyola University Chicago , 4 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Andres F. Rengifo, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis , 5 of 5: Alternative Sentencing Policies for Drug Offenders, Question and Answer Session

TECHBeat, June 2016

Date Published
June 2016
Publication Type
Technical Assistance, Program/Project Description, Issue Overview
Agencies
NIJ-Sponsored