Title: Building Knowledge About Crime and Justice--The 1999 Research Prospectus of the National Institute of Justice. Series(s): Research Prospectus Author(s): National Institute of Justice Published: National Institute of Justice, November 1998 Subject: Crime prevention, funding resources 19 pages 43,000 bytes ------------------------------- Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-851-3420 (877-712-9279 for TTY users). ------------------------------- U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice Research Prospectus National Institute of Justice Building Knowledge About Crime and Justice ------------------------------- U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street N.W. Washington, DC 20531 Janet Reno Attorney General Raymond C. Fisher Associate Attorney General Laurie Robinson Assistant Attorney General Noel Brennan Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jeremy Travis Director, National Institute of Justice Office of Justice Programs World Wide Web Site http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov National Institute of Justice World Wide Web Site http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij Opinions or points of view expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. ------------------------------- The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. NCJ 172883 ------------------------------- Building Knowledge About Crime and Justice The 1999 Research Prospectus of the National Institute of Justice November 1998 Director's Message This year's Research Prospectus, Building Knowledge About Crime and Justice, outlines how NIJ's research and development activity will, during 1999, seek to strengthen the Nation's ability to prevent and control crime and to achieve justice. The need for sound research that can guide public policy continues to be compelling. Mayors ask, "Which prevention programs work?" State legislators ask, "What options do we have in designing new sentencing statutes?" Police chiefs ask, "How can we harness the power of science and technology to enhance criminal investigations?" Judges ask, "How can we more effectively respond to drug abuse?" Prosecutors ask, "What benefits might come from implementing the concepts of community and restorative justice?" Civic leaders ask,"How can we energize community resources to promote safety and reduce fear?" Congress established NIJ 30 years ago to develop and disseminate knowledge that provides answers to such questions. To respond to the congressional directives, NIJ has identified several strategic challenges. This Research Prospectus describes how the research community and the practitioners in the field help us develop a research agenda and the approaches we take to meet our strategic challenges. We encourage you to contact us if you wish to submit an application to receive research funding from NIJ or if you wish to obtain information on our research findings. We also encourage you to share this knowledge within your community so that the network of informed citizens continues to grow. Jeremy Travis Director National Institute of Justice ------------------------------- Contents Director's Message NIJ's Mission and Fiscal Resources Mission Fiscal Resources Addressing Strategic Challenges Rethinking Justice Understanding the Nexus Breaking the Cycle Creating the Tools Expanding Horizons Generating Opportunities for Research and Development Investigator-Initiated Research Directed Solicitations Pursuing Multiple R&D Approaches Research and Evaluation Identification of Innovative Programs and Effective Policies Demonstration Programs Technology Development Research Infrastructure Disseminating R&D Results to the Field ------------------------------- NIJ's Mission and Fiscal Resources The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), a component of the Office of Justice Programs, is the research and development agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Mission NIJ was created by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended, to support research, evaluation, demonstration programs, development of technology, and both national and international information dissemination. Specifically, the Act directs NIJ to: o Sponsor special projects and research and development programs to improve and strengthen the criminal justice system and reduce and prevent crime. o Conduct national demonstration projects that employ innovative or promising approaches for improving criminal justice. o Develop new technologies to fight crime and improve criminal justice. o Evaluate the effectiveness of criminal justice programs and identify promising new programs. o Recommend actions that can be taken by Federal, State, and local governments and private organizations to improve criminal justice. o Carry out research on criminal behavior. o Develop new methods to prevent crime and reduce delinquency. Passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Crime Act), infused the Institute with new research and development priorities. The Congress identified several priorities in the Crime Act, including: o Community policing. o Violence against women. o Sentencing and corrections. o Court-based supervision and services for drug offenders. o New technologies. To respond to the directives outlined in the Crime Act, NIJ has launched major initiatives, many in partnership with Department of Justice Crime Act offices[1] and with other Federal agencies and private foundations. ------------------------------- 1. Crime Act offices are the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, the Violence Against Women Grants Office, the Corrections Program Office, and the Drug Courts Program Office. For details about NIJ activities in conducting research and evaluation under the Crime Act, see Criminal Justice Research Under the Crime Act--1995 to 1996, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, September 1997 (NCJ 166142). View or download a copy through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service's World Wide Web site at http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/166142.txt, or obtain a copy by contacting the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, P.O. Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20849-6000, 800-851-3420, e-mail askncjrs@ncjrs.org. ------------------------------- In addition, NIJ created a new international center intensifying its focus on transnational crime. The NIJ portfolio of work in progress now includes more than 900 research, science and technology, and program development projects. NIJ made almost 400 awards in fiscal year 1998--an investment of $153.5 million (including carry over funds from fiscal year 1997). Fiscal Resources The Institute's appropriated budget has fluctuated significantly, from a high of $115 million in fiscal year 1974 to a low of $22.9 million in fiscal year 1994 (current dollars). In fiscal year 1998, Congress appropriated $41 million for core NIJ operations, which was augmented by transfers of funds from other Federal agencies and from Crime Act Offices. Much of NIJ's current research portfolio is supported by those transfers, which fund jointly planned research and evaluation projects. For example, NIJ awards made in fiscal year 1998 with transferred Crime Act funds accounted for 42 percent of total expenditures by the Institute that year. Addressing Strategic Challenges Much of the Institute's work is guided by five strategic challenges: o Rethinking justice and the processes that create just communities. o Understanding the nexus between crime and its social context. o Breaking the cycle of crime by testing research-based interventions. o Creating the tools and technologies that meet the needs of practitioners. o Expanding horizons through interdisciplinary and international perspectives. Rethinking Justice NIJ aims to develop a deeper understanding of society's response to crime. For example, NIJ examines how victims and communities respond to crime and the roles of police, prosecutors, and courts and corrections professionals in dispensing justice. Criminal Justice 2000 is one of NIJ's multiyear programs that fosters a national dialogue on the justice system with the goal of understanding, conceptually and empirically, where it is now and what directions it will take in the 21st century. As part of the Criminal Justice 2000 effort, NIJ will produce four research volumes that review key questions facing criminal justice and highlight these issues at its annual Research and Evaluation Conference in July 2000. NIJ anticipates that the conference will spur public discussion about the effects of recent innovations, such as community justice and problem-solving courts, and ask whether such innovations hold promise for system-wide improvement. Understanding the Nexus NIJ seeks to understand the nexus between crime and other social concerns by illuminating the relationships between criminal activity and its broader social context. Illustrative of this effort is the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, a transformation and expansion of the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program that played such an important role in constructing a picture of drug abuse among arrestees in major urban areas. ADAM includes several new features to more fully maximize its position as a research platform for the local community: o Development of local coordinating councils to generate ideas for locally conducted research projects and help disseminate the findings. o Establishment of a program to scan for arrestees with developing substance abuse problems among targeted populations, such as arrestees in suburban, rural, or Native-American jurisdictions. Currently in place at 35 sites, ADAM has shown that local jurisdictions face very different drug problems. In 1998, NIJ launched International ADAM (I-ADAM), a partnership among criminal justice organizations in a number of countries. NIJ anticipates that I-ADAM will provide a framework for global assessment of drug use and for strengthening drug control policies and their coordination. The Violence Against Women and Family Violence Program also illustrates NIJ's efforts to understand the nexus between crime and social issues and is an example of NIJ's extensive partnerships with other Federal agencies, private foundations, and other organizations (see "Fostering Safety Within Families"). Breaking the Cycle When connections between crime and social conditions are identified, experiments with programs and policies that break the linkage between crime and certain social conditions should follow. Among several such NIJ efforts is one that examines the hypothesis that drug testing, mandatory treatment, and other interventions provided to those with a history of illicit drug use will reduce drug abuse and criminal behavior. NIJ is testing this hypothesis in three adult and two juvenile court systems around the country. The Institute also is exploring the possibility of developing and evaluating an intervention that would ameliorate the negative consequences of child abuse and neglect--particularly delinquency and substance abuse--because research suggests that abused or neglected children are 40 percent more likely to engage in delinquency or crime later in life. Also during 1999, NIJ expects to select three or four sites to conduct demonstrations to test the effectiveness of a coordinated community approach to reducing spouse battering and its effects. NIJ is working with the Violence Against Women Grants Office to select sites with innovative batterer intervention programs, protective and supportive victim services programs, and domestic violence courts or similar mechanisms for strong judicial oversight. Creating the Tools To meet the challenge of creating tools for practitioners, NIJ is developing, testing, and evaluating new and transferable techniques, practices, and technologies that address practitioners' needs. This includes technical assistance and information-sharing of the kind NIJ will provide in 1999 to State, local, and Federal policymakers about what works in the field of sentencing and corrections. Other examples of creating tools that help policymakers and practitioners do their jobs better include: o Crime mapping. This effort promotes the use of geographic information system technology to analyze crime and criminal behavior (see "Mapping Pinpoints Crime"). o Communications across jurisdictions. Interoperability--the ability of law enforcement and emergency response agencies to communicate across jurisdictions--is limited in many jurisdictions where agencies must communicate beyond their local network or with agencies operating in different frequency bands. NIJ is examining the need for and barriers to achieving interoperability and will make recommendations to improve interoperability at the State and local levels. o Concealed weapons technology. NIJ is directing several programs on concealed weapons detection that use different technologies and are at different stages of development. NIJ also is collecting information for a concealed-weapons detection database of handguns that will be used to develop a series of concealed-weapons detection algorithms. o Pursuit management. NIJ is analyzing data on high-speed pursuits to learn how to better manage such events, assessing briefings from inventors and laboratories where vehicle-stopping technology is being developed, and exploring new technology options. o Computer-based and CD-ROM training methods. These techniques can be used to train law enforcement and corrections professionals who face safety issues every day. ------------------------------- Mapping Pinpoints Crime Crime mapping permits exploration of spatial and temporal dimensions of crime and enhances the ability to see crime in the context of other social forces, such as income distribution, health care, transportation systems, and demographic patterns. The researchers and analysts in NIJ's Crime Mapping Research Center provide a variety of resources to State and local law enforcement and corrections practitioners. NIJ's crime mapping staff, grantees, and visiting fellows develop new analytic software, evaluate best practices, develop training curricula, and assess the practical applications of mapping as well as its use as a research tool. NIJ also funds, through the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center at Denver University, a crime mapping technology program that offers hands-on crime mapping workshops and technical assistance to law enforcement and corrections practitioners. Crime mapping information is available through annual conferences, a Web site, and a listserv. ------------------------------- o Improvement in forensic DNA techniques. Improved technology will enhance the ability of State and local jurisdictions to convict many more criminals, exonerate innocent suspects earlier, and change law enforcement in fundamental ways. o National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence. NIJ oversees the direction of this Commission, which was established by Attorney General Janet Reno to recommend courses of action and means to improve the use of DNA technology in the investigation of criminal cases. Expanding Horizons NIJ is committed to looking beyond traditional boundaries both-- geographical and intellectual--to develop a full understanding of crime and justice. Among the projects NIJ has planned are: o Interdisciplinary seminar competition. NIJ expects to invite universities to submit proposals to host seminars exploring the contribution particular disciplines--economics, history, business--can make to the study of crime and the justice system. o Challenge grants for comparative international research. The Institute plans to stimulate comparative research projects on key crime and criminal behavior issues of importance to policymakers and practitioners in the United States and other countries. Through challenge grants, NIJ will ask U.S. researchers to seek research and funding partners in other nations to conduct comparative studies. o Transnational crime. NIJ will support development of a better understanding of the problems created by crimes that transcend national boundaries. NIJ's International Center supports a number of international activities, such as those related to NIJ's affiliation with the family of research institutes connected with the United Nations (see "NIJ's International Center"). For example, in partnership with the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, NIJ sponsors the World Justice Information Network JUSTINFO.NET--an Internet-based global information resource through which members exchange information and work in close cooperation with the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network. ------------------------------- NIJ's International Center As we approach the next century, concern about transnational crime grows and opportunities to learn about effective criminal justice approaches in other countries increase. NIJ's International Center fosters dialogue between American researchers, practitioners, and policymakers and their counterparts in other countries. The International Center develops and shares information to assist justice agencies in emerging democracies, coordinates the international activities of NIJ's offices and the Office of Justice Programs' bureaus and offices, and develops and maintains the infrastructure through which NIJ can share information and technical assistance with crime and justice agencies in the global community. ------------------------------- Generating Opportunities for Research and Development NIJ supports outside (extramural) as well as staff-conducted (intramural) research to address its strategic challenges and other priorities. NIJ engages the Nation's best researchers to explore crime and justice issues through widely distributed solicitations and other means. Funding opportunities are announced in the Federal Register, Commerce Business Daily, on NIJ's World Wide Web site (http://ojp.usdoj.gov/nij), and through the Department of Justice Response Center (800-421-6770 or 202- 307-1480 from the Washington, D.C., area). As a science agency, NIJ is firmly committed to a competitive process for awarding grants to researchers. Successful applicants for NIJ funds have demonstrated to an independent peer review panel that (1) the gap in knowledge they propose to fill is critical to understanding crime and justice and is highly policy relevant, (2) the proposed research design is rigorous, and (3) the researchers are highly qualified to execute that design within a reasonable budget. NIJ's staff-conducted research program must meet these same rigorous standards of peer review, budget review, and policy relevance. NIJ's extramural research program consists of two types of funding strategies: semi-annual solicitations for investigator-initiated research and periodic solicitations for directed, or specific, research. Investigator-Initiated Research Twice a year, NIJ receives and reviews research proposals that cover broad criminal justice and social themes. Researchers may propose virtually any criminal justice topic that addresses the Institute's five strategic challenges. Typically, grants under this type of solicitation range between $25,000 and $300,000 and last for 1 to 2 years. NIJ actively encourages applicants from a broad variety of disciplines so that the resulting research reflects different approaches to the challenges of crime and justice. Directed Solicitations NIJ also issues special, or directed, solicitations that call for research proposals in particular subject areas or on specific topics. After enactment of the 1994 Crime Act, the Department of Justice decided it would evaluate and conduct basic research on each of the major Crime Act initiatives to help guide policy and practice in the future (see "Crime Act Initiatives" and exhibit 3). Many of NIJ's directed solicitations are linked to Crime Act initiatives. For applications submitted under the directed solicitations, peer review panels and NIJ staff impose an additional criterion, asking whether the proposal is responsive to the specific research questions set forth in the solicitation. Crime Act Initiatives NIJ's research agenda related to the Crime Act has focused on community policing, violence against women, drug courts, and sentencing and corrections. In fiscal year 1999, in cooperation with the Violence Against Women Grants Office, NIJ will begin to conduct national evaluations on programs related to arrest policies, rural domestic violence, and child victimization. In addition, NIJ is continuing an impact evaluation of the STOP Violence Against Women program and will support researcher-practitioner collaborations to evaluate arrest policies in communities around the country. NIJ's ongoing partnership with the Corrections Program Office (CPO) was especially productive in 1998. The commitment of NIJ and CPO to enhance local research capacity by building researcher-practitioner partnerships was particularly significant: 14 researcher-practitioner teams were awarded grants to improve models to predict the capacity of correctional institutions, develop techniques to estimate health care needs of corrections populations, validate correctional classification instruments, and develop a standard research protocol to determine the effectiveness of varied drug treatments. Further, seven new grants--three new corrections research projects and four sentencing projects--were funded under the Violent Offender Incarceration/Truth in Sentencing program. Under the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program, NIJ funded four new process evaluations and one outcome evaluation. NIJ expects its portfolio of RSAT grants to total 40 evaluation projects by the end of fiscal year 1999. The Drug Courts Program Office (DCPO) and NIJ continue to cooperatively fund several drug court evaluations. In 1997, two grants were awarded to conduct Phase 1 of the evaluations of four drug courts. In 1998, Phase 2 of these evaluations began and a cooperative agreement funded an implementation evaluation of the 14 drug courts funded during 1995-1996 through DCPO implementation grants. In fiscal year 1998, NIJ made 10 awards totaling almost $1 million under another Crime Act initiative, the Law Enforcement Family Support program. The projects will develop policies and demonstration programs to reduce job-related stress and its consequences for law enforcement personnel and their families. Finally, the Crime Act has supported a significant investment in new technology to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. ------------------------------- Pursuing Multiple R&D Approaches NIJ conducts business through multiple approaches: research and evaluation activities, identification of innovative programs and effective policies, demonstration programs, technology development, and improvement of research infrastructure. Research and Evaluation In other fields, enormous gains have resulted from long-term exploration of basic issues. Advances in health care are evidence of the benefits of such research as, for example, the Framingham Heart Disease Epidemiological Study has shown. NIJ supports similar efforts to build the comprehensive knowledge base for shaping more effective public policies on crime and justice. A primary example of NIJ's work is the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, a longitudinal project involving a variety of research disciplines and multiple public-private funding partners. More than 100 scientists representing the fields of pediatrics, biology, psychology, sociology, and criminology participated in the planning and design phase of the study. Researchers now have interviewed more than 8,000 adult residents in 343 Chicago neighborhoods, nearly 3,000 neighborhood "experts," and almost 6,500 children and primary caregivers in a random sample of 80 neighborhoods. These overlapping community, family, and individual elements will produce a better understanding of the development of both prosocial and antisocial behavior from birth to age 26. Another basic research effort is the Police Observational Study, a replication of the landmark police observational studies of the 1960s and 1970s, with a special focus on understanding how police operate in the era of community policing. Researchers are tracking changing law enforcement styles under a community policing rubric over time by accompanying officers on their beats to observe encounters with suspects and citizens. NIJ and the Office for Victims of Crime are undertaking a multiyear assessment of the programs funded through the Victims of Crime Act. The research will capture a broad range of information about crime victims, their needs, and the nature of victims services. The study will recommend ways victims services programs can more effectively serve their clients and reach out to those whose needs are going unmet. Identification of Innovative Programs and Effective Policies Another perspective of NIJ's R&D efforts is identification of critical issues, important innovations, and model programs in operation around the Nation. In some cases, identification results from independent, NIJ-supported evaluations. In others, NIJ staff and consultants assess projects according to a set of criteria to ensure that they reflect programmatic innovations that are based on the literature of the field and offer important insights. The assessments are widely disseminated to the field to stimulate new thinking and research. NIJ supports detailed reviews of specific, emerging issues, and publishes reports synthesizing research findings, operational experience, and expert opinion. Demonstration Programs Within its statutory mission, NIJ carries out research demonstration programs--planned interventions that are based in theory, designed to test one or more clearly articulated hypotheses, and carried out with the most rigorous research methods. One such example is a 2-year demonstration called Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative (SACSI) (see "Collaborating Within Communities and Integrating Data Into Decisions"). This interagency collaboration to make communities safer uses the model established by the Boston Gun Project, another multiagency collaboration that resulted in dramatic reductions in youth homicides. SACSI is designed to ensure that research data drive decisions related to identifying and verifying crime problems. As it implements research demonstration programs, NIJ enters into a cooperative agreement with the jurisdiction hosting the program and issues a competitive, directed solicitation for the evaluation of the program. Technology Development Funding for domestic counterterrorism and Crime Act initiatives has spurred exponential growth in NIJ's science and technology programs. The Department of Justice and Department of Defense entered into a partnership in 1994 to share and develop technologies, such as hand-held thermal imaging devices, that potentially have both military and law enforcement applications. NIJ pioneered the development of some of the technologies and product standards that are now commonplace in criminal justice--for example, soft body armor and advances in the use of DNA science in forensics. Development of standards and testing equipment against these standards will continue to be a major part of NIJ's science and technology program. Congress has continued to appropriate funds in the NIJ budget to develop a technology information network--the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center--to supply technology assistance. This system of regionally located centers provides a gateway for law enforcement, corrections, and the entire criminal justice community to have access to relevant technology information (see "National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center"). Congress also has continued to appropriate funds to support an NIJ Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization that helps introduce new products to the marketplace. For fiscal years 1996-1998, Congress set aside 1 percent of Crime Act law enforcement funds to create in each of these years a $20 million fund at NIJ for investment in law enforcement and criminal justice technology. Congress also has funded a DNA laboratory improvement program and development of domestic counterterrorism technologies for State and local law enforcement and corrections agencies. To ensure that criminal justice practitioners will benefit from its investments, NIJ regularly consults with approximately 100 practitioners and policymakers who are members of the Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Advisory Council (LECTAC). NIJ then translates the LECTAC recommendations into a cohesive science and technology R&D agenda. Among NIJ's technology thrusts are officer protection, crime prevention, less-than-lethal incapacitation, investigative and forensic sciences, training and simulation, information sharing and analysis, counterterrorism, and technology assistance. Research Infrastructure One of the Institute's chief aims has been to build a solid research infrastructure that can develop the reliable data and knowledge needed to face current and future challenges. Contributing to the strengthening of the research infrastructure are the ADAM program (previously noted); the Data Resources Program, which makes data from NIJ-supported projects publicly available; and several fellowship programs, which support individuals in all phases of their careers as they pursue criminal justice research. ------------------------------- Collaborating Within Communities and Integrating Data Into Decisions The Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative involves several steps: o Assemble an interagency working group consisting of a local researcher and decisionmakers from city, State, and Federal law enforcement; city services; neighborhood associations; and public health agencies. o Target a local crime problem and gather data and amass knowledge to understand the problem. o Design and implement a strategy to intervene. o Assess and modify the strategy if necessary. The project is unfolding in five cities--New Haven (Connecticut), Winston-Salem (North Carolina), Portland (Oregon), Memphis (Tennessee), and Indianapolis--and is spearheaded by U.S. Attorneys. The NIJ evaluation of the program will provide a model implementation program for U.S. Attorneys' offices and local communities nationwide. ------------------------------- National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) system consists of regionally located centers in Rockville (Maryland), Rome (New York), Charleston (South Carolina), Denver, and El Segundo (California) that are colocated with an organization or agency specializing in at least one specific area of research and development. Each center has a specific technology focus within this linked web of service for law enforcement, corrections, and other criminal justice professionals. NLECTC provides assistance and information on: o Products and technology developments. o How to assess technology needs and transfer technology. o Where to get more information about specific types of technology. Each regional center has its own local advisory committee to provide input from State and local agencies. NIJ also supports the Border Research and Technology Center in San Diego, which focuses on developing and enhancing border research and technology, and the Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization in Wheeling (West Virginia), which evaluates technologies for commercialization and promotes such opportunities with manufacturers and technology developers. The newest addition to the NLECTC system is the National Center for Forensic Science in Orlando (Florida), which will draw upon the expertise of its host facility, the University of Central Florida, and focus on arson and explosives research. ------------------------------- Disseminating R&D Results to the Field To fulfill its congressional mandate to disseminate knowledge about criminal justice, NIJ reaches out to policymakers and practitioners through print and electronic publications, conferences, meetings, videotaped seminars, and Web sites. In addition, award recipients are encouraged to disseminate their findings in journals and through conference presentations. One of NIJ's primary vehicles for sharing information is the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) and its staff of specialists who respond to queries using their print and electronic library of more than 140,000 document abstracts. The bimonthly NCJRS Catalog and electronic newsletter, JUSTINFO, describe important new publications and serve as mechanisms through which NIJ issues announcements. NIJ distributes its publications to targeted audiences ranging in size from 5,000 to 90,000, depending on the type of publication and its timeliness and topicality. Among the many NIJ-sponsored conferences scheduled for 1999 are the popular annual Research and Evaluation Conference, which typically draws more than 800 participants to learn more about findings of NIJ-supported research, and an annual Science and Technology Conference, which in 1999 will showcase training technologies. Also continuing are NIJ's Research in Progress Seminar Series, in which researchers describe their ongoing projects and present preliminary findings, and the Perspectives on Crime and Justice lecture series, which brings nationally recognized scholars to Capitol Hill to discuss research perspectives on the challenges of contemporary crime issues policymakers face. ------------------------------- To obtain information about NIJ, visit one of the Web sites listed below or contact: National Criminal Justice Reference Service Box 6000 Rockville, MD 20849-6000 800-851-3420 301-519-5500 e-mail: askncjrs.org NIJ Online Resources 1. NIJ Home Page: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij Learn about funding opportunities, browse through and download publications, learn more about NIJ's programs and products. 2. PAVNET Online: http://www.pavnet.org The Partnerships Against Violence Network (PAVNET) is a unique online resource for information about antiviolence programs. 3. National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS): http://www.ncjrs.org This is the clearinghouse of information for NIJ and other components of the Office of Justice Programs. 4. Justice Technology Information Network (JUSTNET): http://www.nlectc.org News and information about NIJ's technology programs and products are available on this site as well as information on commercially available products and technologies. 5. ADAM Program: http://www.adam-nij.net This site is the online source of information about ADAM sites, research and data generated by the program, and new and upcoming events. 6. NIJ Crime Mapping Research Center: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/cmrc Information about crime mapping, resources, training, research, and more is available at this site. 7. JUSTINFO.NET: http://www.justinfo.net This research forum on crime and justice works in close cooperation with the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network. 8. National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD): http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/nacjd Data collections from NIJ-funded studies are archived at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. The NACJD Web site provides downloadable access to more than 500 criminal justice data collections free of charge. 9. Other useful electronic sources: JUSTINFO, the bimonthly free online newsletter from NCJRS, is delivered via e-mail. To subscribe, send this message: "subscribe justinfo," and give your name. Send to listproc@ncjrs.org.