Crime and Justice

Publications on Crime/Justice

This evaluation examined the implementation and outcomes of a 2008 National Institute of Justice program designed to increase the volume of DNA evidence processing through innovative methods designed to increase efficiency instead of expanding laboratory capacities. Four crime labs funded by this program participated in the evaluation. The key implementation findings were that there were significant implementation delays, largely the result of external demands and administrative constraints; and, project management varied across the sites with a laboratory-wide collaborative approach appearing to be most successful. DNA evidence processing productivity and efficiency also varied across sites. Nonetheless, outcome findings did provide support for the hypothesis that DNA processing can be improved in novel and innovative ways besides simply increasing capacity.

One of the policy changes introduced by the Omnibus Public Safety and Justice Amendment Act of 2009 made it easier to detain pretrial defendants charged with certain offenses in the District of Columbia, mostly dangerous or violent crimes. This report examines whether detention of these defendants increased following passage of the Act. Trends in the pretrial detention of violent and dangerous defendants indicate that detention was on the rise before the Act and continued to rise after its passage. Results suggest that pretrial detention for dangerous and violent defendants without weapons charges rose after passage of the Act, but those with associated weapons charges show no change.

Different components of transitional jobs (TJ) programs may improve employment and recidivism outcomes among former prisoners. Using data from the Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration evaluation, we found that former prisoners who spent 30 workdays or more in a TJ were 14 percent more likely to obtain an unsubsidized job in the subsequent six months (45% vs. 31%). No other TJ program components (e.g., job development, case management, retention bonuses) individually affected employment or recidivism. Although non-experimental, analyses incorporated regression-based adjustments for selection bias. Future research evaluating different components of TJ programs via random assignment design is recommended.

This report describes adult criminal case processing and disposition in Washington, DC. In general, this analysis finds that the District follows national patterns with respect to charging practice and sentencing. Defendants in the District are slightly more likely to be charged with serious person crimes than are cases nationally, and slightly less likely to be charged with a property crime. Defendants in the District are slightly more likely than other large urban counties to receive probation, and slightly less likely to be sentenced to jail, prison, or long prison sentences, though sentences for serious person offenses are longer.

The What Works Collaborative is a foundation-supported partnership that conducts timely research and analysis to help inform an evidence-based housing and urban policy agenda. In its latest effort, the Collaborative engaged with experts to identify unanswered questions critical to policy development, and from this derive "field-building" research agendas. These agendas are intended to help guide investments that will inform and advance policy and practice over the next three to five years on five broad policy domains: housing as a platform for overcoming social and economic distress, housing markets, housing finance, successful neighborhoods, and the physical landscape of the next American economy. This summary is part of a series of field-building research agendas produced under the What Works Collaborative. More information can be found on the What Works Collaborative web page.