Section 8

Advancing Technology To Prevent and Solve Crime

Overview

Criminal justice practitioners require new and improved technologies to protect the public; ensure officer safety; confirm the guilty and protect the innocent; improve the efficiency of justice; and make informed decisions. Performance standards and compliance testing are critical pieces of the technology portfolio that assess the safety and effectiveness of the equipment public safety agencies buy and use. NIJ executes a research, development, testing, and evaluation program for technology projects, which leads to the development of needed technology and establishment of standards and compliance testing.

OJP offers grants for basic research and development to create new technology and refine existing technology. Grants have produced advances in many areas, including sensors and surveillance, specifically better walk-through and handheld metal detectors; interoperability of public safety communications technologies, including compatible radio systems and other telecommunications resources; biometrics digital forensics, resulting in more sophisticated ways to capture evidence on electronic products (e.g., laptops and cell phones); and general forensics pertaining to pattern and impression evidence, fingerprints, and toxicology.

NIJ has the largest, most robust criminal justice technology research program in the United States in several areas, including geospatial and crime mapping technology for criminal justice applications; digital forensics; DNA forensics; and other forensic technologies. Examples of program activities include the following:

• forensic research that led to the development of "mini-STRs" (short tandem repeat, meaning any short, repeating DNA sequence) that can generate a DNA profile from aged, degraded, or damaged samples, such as skeletal remains, which have greatly expanded the power of DNA technology to identify the guilty, exonerate the innocent, and identify the missing;
• research and development funding that led to the body armor commonly used by law enforcement agencies today, which has been credited with saving more 3,000 lives over the past 20 years;
• research into the physiological effects of conducted energy devices (e.g., the TASER®), which have been shown to be safe and effective when used on healthy adults, and are very rarely associated with death of the subject; and
• a new initiative to combine data and crime mapping in such a way that law enforcement can "get in front of" the criminal instead of being reactive.

Over the next two years, OJP, NIJ, and their partners aim to develop enhanced data analytic tools for forecasting criminal trends and activities; improved hazardous protective equipment for criminal justice practitioners; better methods of protecting public venues from crime; and greater knowledge about the fundamental science underlying forensic science disciplines. They also will expand efforts to provide public safety practitioners with the means to deal with cell phones used for illicit purposes.

Discretionary Programs

Program Name Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program
FY 2012 Funding $10,586,098
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Alan Spanbauer, (202) 305-2436, Alan.Spanbauer@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ seeks proposals for the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program, which awards grants to states and units of local government to help improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science and medical examiner services. Among other things, funds may be used to eliminate a backlog in the analysis of forensic evidence and to train and employ forensic laboratory personnel.

Program Name DNA Backlog Reduction Program
FY 2012 Funding $75,000,000
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Mark Nelson, Senior Program Manager, (202) 616-1960, Mark.S.Nelson@usdoj.gov or Charles Heurich, (202) 616-9264, Charles.Heurich@usdoj.gov.
Program Description
The goal of NIJ’s FY 2012 DNA Backlog Reduction Program is to assist eligible states and units of local government to process, record, screen, and analyze forensic DNA and/or DNA database samples; and to increase the capacity of public forensic DNA and DNA database laboratories to process more DNA samples, thereby reducing the number of forensic DNA and DNA database samples awaiting analysis.

Program Name Postconviction DNA Testing Assistance Program
FY 2012 Funding $3,545,366
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Michael Dillon, (202) 514-5528, Michael.Dillon3@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ seeks proposals from states wishing to receive funding to help defray the costs associated with post conviction DNA testing in cases that involve violent felony offenses (as defined by state law) in which actual innocence might be demonstrated.

Program Name Solving Cold Cases with DNA
FY 2012 Funding $6,884,459
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Charles Heurich, (202) 616-9264, Charles.Heurich@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ will provide funding for states and units of local government to identify, review, and investigate violent crime cold cases that have the potential to be solved using DNA analysis, and to locate and analyze biological evidence associated with these cases. Experience has shown that cold case programs can solve a substantial number of violent crime cold cases, including homicides and sexual assaults. Advances in DNA technologies have substantially increased the successful DNA analysis of aged, degraded, limited, or otherwise compromised biological evidence. As a result, crime scene samples once thought to be unsuitable for testing may now yield DNA profiles. Additionally, samples that previously generated inconclusive DNA results may now be successfully analyzed using newer methods.

Research and Statistical Programs

Program Name Data Resources Program 2012 for the Analysis of Existing Data
FY 2012 Funding $240,000
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Patrick Clark, (202) 353-9482, Patrick.clark@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ, BJS, and OJJDP have entered into a partnership with this Data Resources Program (DRP) solicitation to request applications for original research using existing data available from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) and other public sources.

Program Name Applied Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes
FY 2012 Funding $8,000,000
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Danielle McLeod-Henning, (202) 353-3812, Danielle.mcleod-henning@usdoj.gov
Program Description
With this solicitation, NIJ seeks proposals for applied research and development projects that will (1) increase knowledge or understanding necessary to guide forensic science policy and practice or (2) result in the production of useful materials, devices, systems, or methods that have the potential for forensic application. The intent of the program is to direct the findings of basic scientific research; research and development in broader scientific fields applicable to forensic science; and ongoing forensic science research, toward the development of highly discriminating, accurate, reliable, cost-effective, and rapid methods for the identification, analysis, and interpretation of physical evidence for criminal justice purposes.

Program Name Basic Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes
FY 2012 Funding $5,000,000
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Danielle McLeod-Henning, (202) 353-3812, Danielle.mcleod-henning@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ seeks proposals for funding basic scientific research in the physical, life, and cognitive sciences that is designed to increase the knowledge underlying forensic science disciplines intended for use in the criminal justice system.

Program Name Testing Geospatial Police Strategies and Exploring Their Relationship to Criminological Theories
FY 2012 Funding $500,000
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Joel Hunt , (202) 616-8111, Joel.Hunt@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ is seeking applications for research related to links among criminological theories and geospatial police strategies. In particular, NIJ is seeking proposals that test current geospatial police strategies implemented at the micro-place and micro-time levels.

Program Name Using DNA Technology to Identify the Missing
FY 2012 Funding $3,200,000
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Charles Heurich, (202) 616-9264, Charles.Heurich@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ seeks to provide funding to (1) assist eligible entities in performing DNA analysis on unidentified human remains and/or reference samples, to support the efforts of states and units of local government to identify missing persons; (2) enter the resulting DNA profiles into the FBI’s National DNA Index System using the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) version 7.0; and (3) enter any relevant case information related to unidentified remains into NamUs, as deemed appropriate by the submitting agency (if a case is not entered a justification will be required).

Program Name Evaluating the Impact of the NIJ Body Armor Program
FY 2012 Funding $400,000
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Debra Stoe, (202) 616-7036, Debra.Stoe@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ seeks proposals for funding to conduct an evaluation of the impact of NIJ’s body armor research program on law enforcement policy and practice in the United States, from the program’s inception in the early 1970s through today. This program involves the development of improved body armor, as well as the development of standards to measure the performance of body armor, and a testing program to help ensure that the armor sold to law enforcement agencies is safe and effective.

Program Name Research on the Impact of Technology on Policing Strategies in the 21st Century
FY 2012 Funding $1,000,000
OJP Sponsor NIJ
Web Link www.nij.gov/funding/welcome.htm
Program Contact Brett Chapman, (202) 514-2187, brett.chapman@usdoj.gov; Eric Martin, (202) 514-9588, Eric.D.Martin@usdoj.gov
Program Description
NIJ seeks proposals to conduct research that evaluates how technology affects policing strategies at the state, local, and tribal levels, and the impact technology has on policing outcomes. Policing organizations today may implement new technologies within their departments for the purpose of promoting public safety, enforcing the law, and/or preventing and detecting crime. If successful, the new technology may lead to changes in policing strategies designed to enhance positive policing outcomes (e.g. improving police response time or reducing targeted crimes).