Articles Published by NIJ

Introduction to the National Best Practices for Improving DNA Laboratory Process Efficiency

Illicit opioid supplies can be greatly reduced if distribution networks are disrupted. New research highlights the power of computer modeling and community-based intelligence to reveal network connections.

Researchers have created a more accurate methodology for predicting how things burn

The reliability, interpretability, and cost-benefit of three-dimensional laser-scanned images for crime scene documentation is assessed.

Development of blowflies on a body is a standard forensic measure of time since death, but temperature variations can alter that development and mislead investigators.

Criminal investigators use physiological changes and insect development to determine how long a body has been dead, but scientists are using the trillions of microbes involved in human decomposition to find more accurate postmortem intervals.

A new postmortem image database will be a resource for research in forensic anthropology, pathology, and radiology.

“Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him.” Edmond Locard (1877-1966), forensic science pioneer

Researchers improve molecular autopsy accuracy by identifying more genetic variants that could lead to sudden unexplained deaths. These genetic clues may better inform criminal investigations and help prevent deaths in surviving family members.

Improving postmortem interval estimation with standardized and simplified protocols could significantly impact medicolegal death investigations by providing more accurate and reliable data for determining time since death.

Researchers investigated how marijuana affects skills required for safe driving and found that biofluid levels of THC did not correlate with field sobriety test performance or marijuana intoxication, regardless of how the cannabis was ingested.

Researchers integrate two independent, validated drug-testing techniques – mass spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy – onto a single platform prototype for fast and accurate analysis of seized substances.