The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has announced a new funding opportunity. This program funds states and units of local government with existing crime laboratories that conduct DNA analysis to increase the capacity of publicly funded forensic DNA and DNA database laboratories to process more samples, thereby reducing the number of forensic DNA samples awaiting analysis and preventing a backlog of forensic and database DNA samples. Applications are due on August 7, 2020.

Though the use of computer forensics in criminal investigations has expanded in recent years, there is limited empirical evidence about the prevalence of the use of digital evidence in the court system and its impact on prosecutorial outcomes.  This no-cost webinar, presented by the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) will discuss how digital evidence has performed in the US. Courts of Appeal and how the U.S. Courts of Appeal generally views the science behind computer forensics.  

Date: Thursday, July 9
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., ET

Approximately 1.3 million inmates are housed in state prisons nationwide, which is more than half of the total population of all incarcerated individuals.  The gold-standard methodology for evaluating outcomes of programs and policies is the randomized controlled trial (RCT).  This new publication from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) presents an overview of the RCT design as a program evaluation method for use in state prisons, including examples, common objections, and additional considerations and challenges.

Police managers and executives routinely use various tools to effectively manage and guide their agencies. However, there is a widely held perception that policing research is often underutilized and that police managers and executives miss opportunities to consider this tool when evaluating and directing their agencies’ efforts. This article from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) discusses the importance of reaching out to policing research practitioners in the community to help make policing programs work for agencies.

Local leaders face plenty of hurdles in funding and sustaining their efforts to reduce the number of people in jails who have mental illnesses or substance use disorders. They might struggle to work across sectors to leverage available resources or encounter difficulties interpreting complex regulations about federal funding eligibility and usage. Meanwhile, the sheer number of available federal funding opportunities can be overwhelming. To respond to this need, The Council of State Governments Justice Center created Financing the Future of Local Initiatives, a set of tools that helps jurisdictions plan for financial sustainability.