National Institute of Justice
Encyclopedia

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

, development and evaluation agency of the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

. NIJ, along with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is an office of the United States Department of Justice and a component of the Office of Justice Programs....

 (OJJDP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), and other program offices, comprise the Office of Justice Programs
Office of Justice Programs
The Office of Justice Programs is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that focuses on crime prevention through research and development, assistance to state and local law enforcement and criminal justice agencies through grants, and assistance to crime victims.The major bureaus...

 (OJP) branch of the Department of Justice.

History

NIJ Directors (and Acting Directors)
Name Dates
Ralph Siu
Ralph Siu
Ralph Gun Hoy Siu was a distinguished American author, scholar, military, and civil servant. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and died in Washington, D.C....

1968–1969
Henry Ruth 1969–1970
Irving Slott 1970–1971
Martin Danziger 1971–1973
Gerald Caplan 1973–1977
Blair Ewing 1977–1979
Harry Bratt 1979–1981
James Underwood 1981–1982
W. Robert Burkhart 1982
James K. Stewart 1982–1990
Charles B. DeWitt 1990–1993
Michael J. Russell 1993–1994
Carol V. Petrie 1994
Jeremy Travis 1994-2000
Sarah V. Hart 2001–2005
Glenn R. Schmitt 2005–June 2007
David Hagy June 2007–January 2009
Kristina Rose January 2009–June 2010
John H. Laub June 2010–present


The National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice was established in 1968, under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 was legislation passed by the Congress of the United States that established the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration . Title III of the Act set rules for obtaining wiretap orders in the United States. It has been started shortly after...

, as a component of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration was a U.S. federal agency within the U.S. Dept. of Justice. It administered federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies, and funded educational programs, research, state planning agencies, and local crime initiatives.The LEAA was...

 (LEAA). In 1978, it was renamed as the National Institute of Justice. Some functions of the LEAA were absorbed by NIJ on December 27, 1979, with passage of the Justice System Improvement Act of 1979. The Act, which amended the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, also led to creation of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In 1982, the LEAA was succeeded by the Office of Justice Assistance, Research, and Statistics (1982–1984) and then the Office of Justice Programs
Office of Justice Programs
The Office of Justice Programs is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that focuses on crime prevention through research and development, assistance to state and local law enforcement and criminal justice agencies through grants, and assistance to crime victims.The major bureaus...

 in 1984.

NIJ is notable among U.S. governmental research organizations because it is headed by a political appointee of the President rather than by a scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

 or a member of the civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

. NIJ is currently headed by John Laub.

In 2010, the United States National Research Council
United States National Research Council
The National Research Council of the USA is the working arm of the United States National Academies, carrying out most of the studies done in their names.The National Academies include:* National Academy of Sciences...

 released a report on reforming the NIJ,, and identified issues with its independence, budget, and scientific mission. While it considered making the NIJ separate from its current department, Office of Justice Programs, it recommended retaining the NIJ within the OJP but giving it increased independence and authority through clear qualifications for its director, control over its budget, and a statutory advisory board. It also recommended that the NIJ: (1) a focus on research rather than forensic capacity building activities,(2) increase funding for programs for graduate researchers, (3) increase transparency, and (4) do periodic self-assessments.

Research areas

NIJ is focused on advancing technology for criminal justice application including law enforecment and corrections, forensics, and judicial processes, as well as criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...

, criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...

, and related social science research. Much of this research is facilitated by providing grants to academic institutions, non-profit research organizations, and other entities, as well as collaborating with state and local governments. Areas of social science research include violence against women
Violence against women
Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women...

, corrections
Corrections
In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies and involving the punishment, treatment, and supervision of persons who have been convicted of crimes....

, and crime prevention
Crime prevention
Crime prevention is the attempt to reduce victimization and to deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice.-Studies:...

, as well as program evaluation
Evaluation
Evaluation is systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of something or someone using criteria against a set of standards.Evaluation often is used to characterize and appraise subjects of interest in a wide range of human enterprises, including the arts, criminal justice,...

.

Grants for technology development help facilitate research and development of technology and tools for criminal justice application, which is a need that the private sector is otherwise reluctant to meet. NIJ also supports development of voluntary equipment performance standards, as well as conducting compliance testing. Areas of technology research and development include biometrics
Biometrics
Biometrics As Jain & Ross point out, "the term biometric authentication is perhaps more appropriate than biometrics since the latter has been historically used in the field of statistics to refer to the analysis of biological data [36]" . consists of methods...

, communications interoperability
Interoperability
Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together . The term is often used in a technical systems engineering sense, or alternatively in a broad sense, taking into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system to...

, information technology, less-lethal technologies (e.g. taser
Taser
A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscular incapacitation" and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption technology"...

s), and officer safety including bullet-proof vests. Crime mapping
Crime mapping
Crime mapping is used by analysts in law enforcement agencies to map, visualize, and analyze crime incident patterns. It is a key component of crime analysis and the CompStat policing strategy...

 and analysis is a topic that includes both technology and social science (geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

) aspects. The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Centers, which are located throughout the United States, play a role in law enforcement technology development, testing, and dissemination.

DNA initiative

A major area of research and support is for forensics
Forensics
Forensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action...

 and the President's DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 initiative. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

 developed the Combined DNA Index System
Combined DNA Index System
The Combined DNA Index System is a DNA database funded by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation . It is a computer system that stores DNA profiles created by federal, state, and local crime laboratories in the United States, with the ability to search the database to assist in the...

 (CODIS) system as a central database of DNA profiles taken from offenders. In the late 1980s and 1990s, all of the states and the Federal government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

 required DNA samples to be collected from offenders in certain types of cases. The demand (casework) for DNA analysis in public crime laboratories increased 73% from 1997 to 2000, and by 2003, there was a backlog of 350,000 rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

 and homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...

 cases. In 2003, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 proposed the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology initiative, which would include $1 billion over five years to reduce backlogs, develop and improve capacity of state and local law enforcement to use DNA analysis, support research and development to improve the technology, and additional training for those working in the criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...

 system.

See also

  • Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
    Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
    The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration was a U.S. federal agency within the U.S. Dept. of Justice. It administered federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies, and funded educational programs, research, state planning agencies, and local crime initiatives.The LEAA was...

     (LEAA)
  • National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
    National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
    The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center System recently completed a reorganization that will better enable the system to carry out its critical mission to assist state, major city and county, rural, tribal and border, as well as federal law enforcement, corrections and other...

     (NLECTC)
  • National Criminal Justice Reference Service
    National Criminal Justice Reference Service
    The National Criminal Justice Reference Service is a program that disseminates publications from the United States Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs agencies, as well as the Office of National Drug Control Policy and National Institute of Corrections...

    (NCJRS)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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