Strengthening the National Institute of Justice (2010) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 1-10
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Forty years ago, Congress envisioned a science agency dedicated to building knowledge to support crime prevention and
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It has succeeded in developing a body of knowledge on such important topics as hot spots policing, violence against women, the role of firearms and drugs in crime, drug courts, and forensic DNA analysis. It has helped build the crime and justice research infrastructure.
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NIJ is uniquely placed to do this but currently lacks essential tools: a strong management structure, a scientific staff, a budget to support long- and short-term goals, and protections from political shifts. To address these problems, the committee makes five recommendations that call for ensured independence and improved governance, a strong science mission, a bolstered research infrastructure, scientific integrity and transparency of its operations, and a culture of self-assessment.
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We call for an advisory board that reports directly to the NIJ director, whose members are composed predominantly of experienced researchers and whose powers and responsibilities support the research mission. NIJ should be given sign-off authority for its grants.
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Congressional earmarks and mandates require NIJ to fund programs that are at best minimally related to research. Funds for forensic laboratory capacity-building and forensic training activities, such as the Paul Coverdell, DNA Backlog Reduction, Solving Cold Cases, and Forensic DNA Unit Efficiency Improvement programs, swamp the NIJ research program.
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It needs to structure a research agenda that will advance theory, research methods, science, and practices for the purpose of improving the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime and fairly administer justice. Such an agenda should address such topics as crime control theory with a specific emphasis on the role of police, courts, and corrections in preventing and controlling crime, the fair administration of justice, the etiology of criminal behavior, factors that influence desistance from criminal behavior and the emergence of new opportunities for crime, as well as crime prevention.
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Similarly, there has been no formal assessment of its program to archive and disseminate crime and justice research data. Nonetheless, we recognize that the Data Resources Program and the resulting data archive at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data are unparalleled and have provided the community with valuable research and information resources.
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Another theme throughout the committee's deliberations on operations is the need to clarify the important but separate roles that the research and practitioner communities should play in the research program. These roles are reflected in the proposed composition of the NIJ advisory board, in the qualifications of the NIJ director, and in the improvements that the committee is recommending regarding NIJ's research and development management processes.
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NIJ will not be able to conduct these assessments without better records and procedures that provide access to information. NIJ should take responsibility for creating record systems that will allow for detailed analyses of program funding, administrative and personnel matters, and improved information on programmatic activities.
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