Criminal Justice Research Under the Crime Act - 1995 to 1996

Congress has authorized the expenditure of $30.2 billion under the Crime Act to support local criminal justice. The Crime Act also makes assistance available to States and local jurisdictions to strengthen their role as the primary governmental units responsible for crime control. New resources are available for researching a wide range of innovations, such as implementing community policing, devising new approaches to reduce violence against women, expanding prison capacity for serious offenders, providing for alternatives to incarceration, and monitoring and treating drug offenders through the agency of the courts. Policing research has focused on law enforcement family support, police use of force, the issue of police integrity, higher education assistance for police officers, and crime mapping as a police tool. Other research areas under the Crime Act concern sentencing and corrections, drug courts, and scientific and technological developments to improve the criminal justice system. Appendixes provide information on the statutory authority under the Crime Act for criminal justice research and evaluation, the Crime Act's research agenda, and awards made by the National Institute of Justice under the Crime Act during 1995-1996. Notes, tables, and figures