TECHBeat, November 2019

• NCJ Number: 254420
• Date Published: November 2019
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2014-IJ-CX-K404
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description

Annotation

Feature articles in this issue report on the recent launching by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) of the new Criminal Justice Testing and Evaluation Consortium, the impact of the Vicarious Trauma Series in providing coping assistance to forensic professionals, a description of Just Science's continuation of the DNA Season in its podcast series, and the release of a report on the impact of marijuana legalization.

Abstract

"National Institute of Justice Launches New Criminal Justice Testing and Evaluation Consortium" profiles a new program that unites the agency's compliance testing and standards development efforts with a new focus on identifying the criminal justice community's most important technology needs and developing rigorous and objective data about them. "Vicarious Trauma Series Provides Coping Assistance to Forensic Professionals" describes a new webinar series in which the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE) explores common strategies and resources derived from existing research on coping with vicarious trauma, and it guides forensic practitioners and the broader criminal justice community in how these resources can be used in coping constructively with job-related trauma. "Just Science Continues DNA Season" summarizes topics to be addressed in this podcast series. The general topic is DNA evidence and its use in forensic investigation. Topics addressed in the series include solving the case of the Golden State Killer with the use of ancestral DNA, investigative genetic genealogy, labs and Lean Six Sigma, genetic variation, and the post-conviction dynamic. "Report on Impact of Marijuana Legalization Released" features an overview of the report "Measuring the Criminal Justice System Impacts of Marijuana Legalization and Decriminalization Using State Data" (July 2019), which is an analysis of the impact of marijuana legalization and decriminalization on state criminal justice system resources. Quantitative and qualitative data from 11 targeted states address the research questions.