NIJ is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice and is solely dedicated to researching crime control and justice issues. NIJ provides objective, independent, nonpartisan, evidence-based knowledge and tools to meet the challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the State and local levels.

The use of Geographic Information Systems in the criminal justice field has its roots in the earlier generation of police crime maps. Historically, law enforcement agencies and other organizations used hardcopy pin maps to chart criminal activity; but these maps were static and, as crime rates, increased, difficult to maintain. In recent years, with advances in quick and user-friendly soft-ware, manual pin mapping has given way to computerized crime mapping.

The Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides technical support to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) program to support law enforcement and criminal justice in the United States. OLES's function is to develop standards and conduct research that will assist law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.

In the hours and days after the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history, workers scrambled through the mountain of rubble from the collapsed towers of the World Trade Center. The determined mission of rescue and the grim task of recovery of victims were well under way, and search teams needed the right tools to perform their tasks safely and effectively. The New York State Emergency Management Office called the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for onsite assistance. Within 24 hours, a team from NIJ was there to help.

The Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides technical support to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) program to support law enforcement and criminal justice in the United States. OLES's function is to develop standards and conduct research that will assist law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.

This Research Report is part of National Institute of Justice's Reducing Gun Violence publications series. Each report in the series describes the implementation and effects of an individual, NIJ-funded, local-level program designed to reduce firearm-related violence in particular to U.S. city.

Law enforcement must become increasingly agile to counter these threats, which require seamless collaboration and communication among Federal, State, and local law enforcement and other responders. As never before, today's criminal justice practitioner needs access to most up-to-date told and information to be effective.

This report looks at three programs that assist inmates in preparing and filing prerelease applications for Federal disability benefits so they can continue to receive treatment without interruption after they are released from prison or jail.

This document is a voluntary performance standard for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) protective ensembles for use by law enforcement. It defines both performance requirements and the methods used to test performance. In order for an ensemble manufacturer or other entity to claim that a particular CBRN protective ensemble model satisfies this National Institute of Justice (NIJ) standard, the model must be in compliance with this standard as determined in accordance with this document and the associated document, Law Enforcement CBRN Protective Ensemble Certification...

This research was supported by the National Institute of Justice (grant number 2005-IJ-CX-0035), the National Institute of Mental Health (MH48165, MH62669), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (029136-02). Additional funding for this project was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station (Project #3320).