The NIJ Journal, published several times a year, features articles to help criminal justice policymakers and practitioners stay informed about new developments. The NIJ Journal presents research-based information that can help inform policy decisions and improve understanding of the criminal justice system.

Director's Message:

As this issue of the NIJ Journal goes to press, 2008 has just begun. I want to take this opportunity to say a few words about NIJ’s work over the past year.

Law enforcement is undergoing rapid change in the areas of recruitment, training, technology, immigration, and counterterrorism, among others. How, for example, are police departments balancing their daily operations with the post-9/11 pressure to prevent and respond to another terrorist attack? Last year, NIJ joined forces with Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government to take a hard look at these changes and the new demands they are creating for police departments. The 3-year collaboration will not only help refine NIJ’s research agenda, it also will produce practical policy and best practices for policing.

In addition to the big-picture view of post-9/11 policing, we are looking at specific cases. We know that agencies have been asked to shift resources or increase spending—or both—to accommodate new requirements related to counterterrorism and homeland security. In 2007, we began an indepth examination of the expanded role of law enforcement agencies in five major cities to gain a better understanding of the financial and operational impacts that these changes have placed on policing.

NIJ is also gaining expertise from our ongoing partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Public Security. The partnership culminated in a 2007 symposium in Jerusalem where U.S. and Israeli experts met to finalize research, which will be collected in a joint book on policing in an era of terrorism. Release date: 2008.

Other major NIJ accomplishments in 2007:
■ DNA and property crime. We wrapped up a field experiment in five cities that looked at the effectiveness of using DNA to solve property crimes and whether doing so helps us catch more dangerous criminals. Findings and recommendations are due in early 2008.

■ Missing persons and unidentified human remains. NIJ launched NamUs, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. NamUs is the Nation’s first online database—available to medical examiners, law enforcement, the families of missing persons, and the general public—that will help solve these difficult and often cold cases.

■ Gangs. Gang violence poses serious problems for communities of all sizes across the country. We issued a major solicitation to address the problem.

■ Justice information sharing. NIJ launched a new service, called the Nlets Interstate Sharing of Photos (NISP), that vastly streamlines the way law enforcement officials request a driver’s license or corrections photo. In the past, the information was available only via fax when the department of motor vehicles or corrections office was open; with NISP, officers can receive images instantly on their computers. The service is being pilot tested in several States.

As this issue of the NIJ Journal goes to press, 2008 has just begun. I want to take this opportunity to say a few words about NIJ’s work over the past year.

Law enforcement is undergoing rapid change in the areas of recruitment, training, technology, immigration, and counterterrorism, among others. How, for example, are police departments balancing their daily operations with the post-9/11 pressure to prevent and respond to another terrorist attack? Last year, NIJ joined forces with Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government to take a hard look at these changes and the new demands they are creating for police departments. The 3-year collaboration will not only help refine NIJ’s research agenda, it also will produce practical policy and best practices for policing.

In addition to the big-picture view of post-9/11 policing, we are looking at specific cases. We know that agencies have been asked to shift resources or increase spending—or both—to accommodate new requirements related to counterterrorism and homeland security. In 2007, we began an indepth examination of the expanded role of law enforcement agencies in five major cities to gain a better understanding of the financial and operational impacts that these changes have placed on policing.

NIJ is also gaining expertise from our ongoing partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Public Security. The partnership culminated in a 2007 symposium in Jerusalem where U.S. and Israeli experts met to finalize research, which will be collected in a joint book on policing in an era of terrorism. Release date: 2008.

Other major NIJ accomplishments in 2007:
■ DNA and property crime. We wrapped up a field experiment in five cities that looked at the effectiveness of using DNA to solve property crimes and whether doing so helps us catch more dangerous criminals. Findings and recommendations are due in early 2008.

■ Missing persons and unidentified human remains. NIJ launched NamUs, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. NamUs is the Nation’s first online database—available to medical examiners, law enforcement, the families of missing persons, and the general public—that will help solve these difficult and often cold cases.

■ Gangs. Gang violence poses serious problems for communities of all sizes across the country. We issued a major solicitation to address the problem.

■ Justice information sharing. NIJ launched a new service, called the Nlets Interstate Sharing of Photos (NISP), that vastly streamlines the way law enforcement officials request a driver’s license or corrections photo. In the past, the information was available only via fax when the department of motor vehicles or corrections office was open; with NISP, officers can receive images instantly on their computers. The service is being pilot tested in several States.

Download National Institute of Justice Journal, March 2008

PDF format, 2.3MB, 44Pages. ISSUE No. 259.

The ‘CSI Effect’: Does It Really Exist?
by Honorable Donald E. Shelton

Voice Stress Analysis Not Effective in Field Test
Shopping Malls: Preventing, Responding to Attack
Software Defined Radios Help Agencies Communicate
Prevalence, Prevention of Prison Rape
In Memoriam: Paul Cascarano
Cost, Performance Studies Look at Prison Privatization

Visit National Institute of Justice Journal Website

The National Institute of Justice is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. NIJ’s mission is to advance scientific research, development, and evaluation to enhance the administration of justice and public safety.

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