2011 Nij Annual Report

The National Institute of Justice is the only federal agency devoted solely to bringing the benefits of scientific research and technology development to the nation's criminal justice system.

Reliable and valid forensic science analytic techniques are critical to a credible, fair, and evidence-based criminal justice system. There is widespread agreement that the scientific foundation of some currently available forensic science methods needs strengthening and that additional, more efficient techniques are urgently needed. These needs can only be met through sustained research programs explicitly designed to ensure and improve the reliability and validity of current methods and to foster the development and use of new and better techniques. This task is challenging due to the broad nature of the field. Concerns have been raised repeatedly about the ability of the criminal justice system to collect and analyze evidence efficiently and to be fair in its verdicts. Although significant progress has been made in some forensic science disciplines, the forensic science community still faces many challenges. Federal leadership, particularly in regard to research and the scientific validation of forensic science methods, is needed to help meet the pressing issues facing state and local jurisdictions. This report reviews the progress made by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to advance forensic science research since the 2009 report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward and the 2010 report, Strengthening the National Institute of Justice. Support for Forensic Science Research examines the ways in which NIJ develops its forensic science research priorities and communicates those priorities as well as its findings to the scientific and forensic practitioner communities in order to determine the impact of NIJ forensic science research programs and how that impact can be enhanced.

Forensic Science Laboratory Benchmarking: The FORESIGHT Manual takes a step-by-step instructional approach to utilizing FORESIGHT data, detailing how labs can participate in the process to improve efficiencies. The FORESIGHT Project—a business benchmarking process for forensic service providers—was created in 2008 to collect and report data while offering improvement to processes through analysis, comparisons, and best practice evaluations. The program has grown to include more than 200 participating forensic laboratories worldwide. FORESIGHT offers the capability for labs to improve core functions, provide and benefit from metrics, and thus, improve the labs capabilities and functioning for the public good, while maintaining their often limited, fixed budgets. Due to ever-increasing caseloads, forensic laboratories are constantly plagued by backlogged casework—cases submitted to the laboratory but not yet worked. This leads to inefficiencies, delays, and unhappy agencies expecting timely results. Unfortunately, even if a lab’s slates were wiped clean and the backlog were erased, many of the inefficient processes—that created the backlog—would still be in place. Eventually, and inevitably, the lab would develop a new backlog. Unique coverage and features: Presents critical and proven cutting-edge measures to utilize FORESIGHT data improve laboratory testing, operational efficiency, and policies without added additional costs. Synthesizes the data input from more than 200 labs and a decade’s worth of analytics to illustrate process improvements and the advantages of participating. Outlines how to develop data-driven responses to solve current and future problems. Forensic Science Laboratory Benchmarking will be of interest to quality assurance specialists, economists, supervisors in the parent agencies of the labs, managers at all levels of any of the hundreds of public laboratories around the world, and anyone concerned about the effectiveness and efficiency of laboratory testing. As an operational guide, the book provides a helpful roadmap to help public science agencies and forensic labs analyze how they operate, improve on what works, and change what doesn’t to better meet their mission and serve their community’s goals.

Juveniles in Contemporary Society: Understanding Juvenile Justice and Delinquency is an authoritative and well-crafted introduction to today's Juvenile Justice system. Using a thematic framework that supports analysis, the authors provide an integrated approach to topical coverage. Through clear writing, an interdisciplinary selection of sources, and thoughtful themes, authors Saundra D. Trujillo, L. Thomas Winfree, Jr., and Carlos E. Posadas illuminate the roles of history and theory in shaping today's juvenile justice system. Helpful pedagogy consistently supports understanding, retention, and review. Professors and students will benefit from: Diverse author team who bring a variety of backgrounds and perspectives to the text. Theoretical Reflections boxes that integrate overarching themes throughout the text. Comparative and international insights grounded in the content of each chapter, with International Perspectives boxes included throughout the book. Understandable historical review of both juvenile justice and juvenile delinquency. Compelling vignettes that open each chapter, raising questions about the themes to be explored, illustrating basic concepts, and fueling class discussion Helpful graphs and tables illustrate the key topics. Excellent Critical Thinking questions at the end of each chapter. Unique chapters that are key to the study of Juvenile Justice today: Chapter 5, Understanding Delinquency: Theories of Race, Ethnicity and Gender and Chapter 12, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: Highlights from Recent Research explore the impacts of social constructions like gender, race, and ethnicity on youths' interactions with the justice system. Chapter 6, Delinquency Prevention addresses prevention and intervention from both philosophical and practical perspectives, discussing what works and what does not work and some of the reasons behind program success or failure. Chapter 11, Juvenile Probation and Aftercare provides thoughtful and in-depth discussion of this often-overlooked topic. Chapter 13, Youth Gangs and Violence highlights a national issue and shows how theory can inform research and how research can inform both policy and practice in the juvenile justice system.

The idea of The Fingerprint Sourcebook originated during a meeting in April 2002. Individuals representing the fingerprint, academic, and scientific communities met in Chicago, Illinois, for a day and a half to discuss the state of fingerprint identification with a view toward the challenges raised by Daubert issues. The meeting was a joint project between the International Association for Identification (IAI) and West Virginia University (WVU). One recommendation that came out of that meeting was a suggestion to create a sourcebook for friction ridge examiners, that is, a single source of researched information regarding the subject. This sourcebook would provide educational, training, and research information for the international scientific community.

The Basics of Digital Forensics provides a foundation for people new to the digital forensics field. This book offers guidance on how to conduct examinations by discussing what digital forensics is, the methodologies used, key tactical concepts, and the tools needed to perform examinations. Details on digital forensics for computers, networks, cell phones, GPS, the cloud and the Internet are discussed. Also, learn how to collect evidence, document the scene, and how deleted data can be recovered. The new Second Edition of this book provides the reader with real-world examples and all the key technologies used in digital forensics, as well as new coverage of network intrusion response, how hard drives are organized, and electronic discovery. This valuable resource also covers how to incorporate quality assurance into an investigation, how to prioritize evidence items to examine (triage), case processing, and what goes into making an expert witness. Learn what Digital Forensics entails Build a toolkit and prepare an investigative plan Understand the common artifacts to look for in an exam Second Edition features all-new coverage of hard drives, triage, network intrusion response, and electronic discovery; as well as updated case studies and expert interviews

Personality disorders, depression, mania, psychosis, behavioral problems, anxiety disorder, attention deficit disorder, dementia, hyperactivity, insomnia, panic disorder, suicide, sleep disorder, all the purview of psychiatrity, can be the result of neurotoxicity from chemicals capable of damaging the brain or nervous system. The ambiguity of such outcomes is acknowledged, at the same time emphasizing the value in considering the effects of chemicals on the brain. In this issue of Psychiatric Clinics, some of the topics related to neurotoxicity outcomes are: Review of Cognitive Assessment in Neurotoxicology; Neurologic Manifestations of Chronic Methamphetamine Abuse; Emerging Toxic Neuropathies and Myopathies; Neurotoxic Emergencies; Antidepressant Overdose-induced Seizures; and Neurotoxic Pesticides and Neurologic Effects.