U.S. Department of JusticeOffice of Justice ProgramsNational Institute of Justice

HIGH-PRIORITY CRIMINAL JUSTICETECHNOLOGY NEEDS

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs

810 Seventh St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20531

Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Attorney General

Laurie O. Robinson

Acting Assistant Attorney General

Kristina Rose

Acting Director, National Institute of Justice

This and other publications and products of the National Institute of Justice can be found at:

National Institute of Justicehttp://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij

Office of Justice ProgramsInnovation Partnerships Safer Neighborhoodshttp://www.ojp.usdoj.gov

March 2009 NCJ 225375

1National Institute of Justice

Table of ContentsNIJs Mission and Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

NIJs Office of Science and Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

How NIJ Sets Its Research Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Standards and Compliance Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Investing With Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

High-Priority Criminal Justice Technology Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

n Protecting the Public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

n Ensuring Officer Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

n Confirming the Guilty and Protecting the Innocent . . . . . . 17

n Improving the Efficiency of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

n Enabling Informed Decision-Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

NIJ Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

2 High-Priority Criminal Justice Technology Needs

NIJs Mission and Organization s the research, development and evaluation arm of the U .S . Depart-ment of Justice, the Office of Justice

Programs National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is dedicated to researching crime control and jus-tice issues to help enhance the criminal justice system and increase public safety .

NIJ provides objective, independent evidence-based knowledge and tools to meet the

challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the state and local levels . NIJs diverse audi-ence includes:

n Policymakers at all levels of government .

n Practitioners who work in the criminal justice field .

n Researchers .

n The American public .

NIJ organizational structure chart.

A

3National Institute of Justice

The Director of NIJ, who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, estab-lishes the Institutes objectives in light of those of the U .S . Department of Justice and the Office of Justice Programs . When setting policy and practice, NIJ actively solicits the views of criminal justice professionals and researchers .

NIJs organizational structure is designed to integrate the social and physical sciences to maximize cross-discipline research, develop-ment and evaluation . New tools and technolo-gies are not in themselves solutions without appropriate policies and practices . Policies and practices must effectively integrate technology .

NIJ has two operating offices:

n The Office of Research and Evaluation, which develops, conducts, directs and supervises social science research and evaluation activ-ities across a wide variety of criminal justice issues .

n The Office of Science and Technology, which manages technology research, development, testing and evaluation; the development of guides and technical standards; and programs

for building capacity and providing technology assistance to local, state and, as appropriate, tribal and federal law enforcement, correc-tions and courts agencies, and crime labo-ratories .

NIJs principal authorities are derived from the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended (see 42 USC 3721-3723), and, as it relates to the activities of its Office of Science and Technology, from Title II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 .

4 High-Priority Criminal Justice Technology Needs

NIJs Office of Science and Technologyriminal justice practitioners, such as law enforcement and corrections offi-cers, increasingly rely on technology

to do their jobs . Through its Office of Science and Technology, NIJ (1) serves as the national focal point for work on criminal justice tech-nology and (2) carries out programs that, by providing equipment, training and technical assistance, improve the safety and effective-ness of criminal justice technology as well as access to that technology by local, state, tribal and federal enforcement agencies . The Office of Science and Technologys principal tasks in supporting this mission include:

n Establishing and maintaining advisory groups to assess the technology needs of state, local, tribal and federal criminal justice agencies .

n Establishing and maintaining performance standards for criminal justice technologies .

n Establishing and conducting a compli-ance testing program that supports those standards .

n Carrying out a research, development, test-ing and evaluation (RDT&E) program to improve the safety, effectiveness and effi-ciency of criminal justice technology .

n Providing technical assistance to criminal justice practitioners .

n Serving as a clearinghouse for information on criminal justice technologies .

The Office of Science and Technology also operates the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) system . Created in 1994, the NLECTC sys-tem plays a vital role in enabling the Office of Science and Technology to carry out its mission . The NLECTC systems centers and offices provide:

n Scientific and technical support to NIJs RDT&E projects, particularly the identifica-tion of criminal justice technology needs .

n Support for the transfer and adoption of technology into practice by law enforce-ment and corrections agencies, courts and crime laboratories .

n Assistance in developing and disseminating technology guidelines and standards .

n Technology assistance, information and support to law enforcement and corrections agencies, courts and crime laboratories .

C

5National Institute of Justice

NLECTC NorthwestAnchorage, Alaska

NLECTC Rocky MountainDenver, Colo.

NLECTC NortheastRome, N.Y.

Sensors, Surveillance and Biometrics COENew York, N.Y.

Communications Technologies COECamden, N.J.Office of Law Enforcement StandardsGaithersburg, Md.

NLECTC NationalRockville, Md.

NLECTC SoutheastCharleston, S.C.

NLECTC WestEl Segundo, Calif.

Border Research & Technology CenterSan Diego, Calif.

Border Research & Technology CenterAustin, Texas

Rural Law Enforcement Technology CenterHazard, Ky.

Forensic Technologies COELargo, Fla.

Weapons and Protective Systems Technologies COEState College, Pa.

= National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Centers serving specific regions = Specialty Offices and CentersCOE = Center of Excellence

National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center System

In 2007, to better align the work of the NLECTC sys-tem with the Institutes RDT&E activities, NIJ added four Technology Centers of Excellence through an open, competitive peer-reviewed process:

n Communications Technologies in Camden, N .J .

n Forensic Technologies in Largo, Fla .

n Sensors, Surveillance and Biometric Technologies in New York, N .Y .

n Weapons and Protective Systems Technologies in State College, Pa .

A key focus area for the centers of excellence is testing and evaluation . They also provide special-ized technology assistance and serve as the princi-pal means through which NIJ identifies nationwide criminal justice technology needs . By way of comparison, the regional centers identify unique regional technology needs and serve as the initial point of entry into the NLECTC system for criminal justice practitioners seeking technology assistance .

6 High-Priority Criminal Justice Technology Needs

How NIJ Sets Its Research Agendahe needs of practitioners in the field drive NIJs RDT&E agenda .

Within NIJs Office of Science and Technology, two specialized entities play an important role in advising its RDT&E invest-ments: Technology Working Groups and the Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Advisory Council .

Technology Working Groups (TWGs). A TWG is a practitioner-based committee of 10 to 20 experienced practitioners from local, state, tribal and federal agencies and laboratories associated with a particular NIJ technology investment portfolio, such as Biometrics . Each portfolio has a TWG, which identifies criminal justice technology needs within that portfolio . These portfolios and TWGs are not static; they change as priorities within the field change, as solutions are implemented or as new technolo-gies emerge . TWG members are represented on the peer-review panels that evaluate poten-tial solutions to address practitioner needs . Agencies from which TWG members are drawn are routinely involved in testing and eval-uati