# National Institute of Justice *Affiliated institute of the Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice* The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is a research institute within the [[United States Department of Justice]]. It is one of the affiliated units of the department's Office of Justice Programs (OJP).[^1] Its fellow OJP components include the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the [[Bureau of Justice Assistance]], the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the [[Office for Victims of Crime]].[^1] The institute began in 1968 as a research arm of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration and took its present name in 1978.[^2] It funds and conducts criminal justice research and technology work, largely through grants.[^3] Among its documented outputs is a rating on its [[CrimeSolutions]] site of Duluth Model batterer intervention, a program design known as the [[Duluth model]].[^4] ## History The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 provided for the institute's predecessor, the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. That body came into being on October 21, 1968, as part of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA), and it was given the name National Institute of Justice in 1978.[^2] The Justice System Improvement Act of 1979, which amended the 1968 act, moved some LEAA functions to the institute when it passed on December 27, 1979. The same act gave rise to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.[^5] The LEAA itself gave way in 1982 to the Office of Justice Assistance, Research, and Statistics, which operated until 1984, when the Office of Justice Programs replaced it.[^5] According to Wikipedia's account, the institute differs from most U.S. government research bodies in that its head is a political appointee of the president, not a scientist or a career civil servant.[^6] Under the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011, the director no longer requires Senate confirmation.[^6] A 2010 report on reforming the institute, issued by the United States National Research Council, found problems with its independence, its budget and its scientific mission.[^7] The council weighed separating the institute from OJP. It instead recommended keeping the institute there with more independence and authority, secured through defined qualifications for the director, control of its own budget and an advisory board established in statute.[^7] It further recommended that the institute concentrate on research rather than on building forensic capacity. It also recommended expanded funding for graduate researchers, greater transparency, and periodic self-assessment.[^7] ## Research areas The institute's work spans technology for law enforcement, corrections, forensics and the courts, together with criminology, criminal justice and allied social science research.[^3] Most of this work proceeds through grants to universities, non-profit research organizations and other recipients, and through work with state and local governments.[^3] Its social science portfolio covers violence against women, corrections, crime prevention and program evaluation.[^3] Technology projects address biometrics, interoperable communications, information technology, less-lethal devices such as tasers, and officer safety equipment including bullet-proof vests.[^8] The institute also backs voluntary performance standards for equipment and runs compliance testing. The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Centers, sited across the country, help develop, test and disseminate law enforcement technology.[^8] Crime mapping and analysis draws on both technology and the social science of geography.[^8] During the 2000s the institute built the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.[^9] ### DNA initiative Forensics, including the president's DNA initiative, is a major focus of the institute's research and support.[^10] The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] built the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) to serve as a central database of DNA profiles collected from offenders.[^10] ### CrimeSolutions The institute's CrimeSolutions site carries a rated-practice entry, number 17, for Duluth Model batterer intervention.[^4] The record assembled for this article does not establish the rating's outcome, its date or its evidentiary basis. The project's source collection cites the entry in five or more documents.[^4] ## See also - [[United States Department of Justice]] - [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] - [[Bureau of Justice Assistance]] - [[Office for Victims of Crime]] - [[CrimeSolutions]] - [[Duluth model]] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *National Institute of Justice*, lead section (revision 1376076804, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the institute's place within the Office of Justice Programs and the other OJP components. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Justice [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *National Institute of Justice*, "History" section (revision 1376076804, retrieved 2026-10-26) — establishment on October 21, 1968, under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 within the LEAA, and the 1978 renaming. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Justice [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *National Institute of Justice*, "Research areas" section (revision 1376076804, retrieved 2026-10-26) — scope of research, grant-making, collaboration with state and local governments, and social science areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Justice [^4]: National Institute of Justice, CrimeSolutions, *Rated Practices, Practice 17* — a rating entry for Duluth Model batterer intervention. The count of five or more citing documents is the project's own catalogue finding. https://crimesolutions.ojp.gov/ratedpractices/17 [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *National Institute of Justice*, "History" section (revision 1376076804, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the Justice System Improvement Act of 1979 (December 27, 1979), the creation of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the 1982 and 1984 successor offices. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Justice [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *National Institute of Justice*, "History" section (revision 1376076804, retrieved 2026-10-26) — leadership by a presidential political appointee and the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Justice [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *National Institute of Justice*, "History" section (revision 1376076804, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the 2010 National Research Council report and its recommendations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Justice [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *National Institute of Justice*, "Research areas" section (revision 1376076804, retrieved 2026-10-26) — technology research areas, equipment standards and compliance testing, the technology centers, and crime mapping. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Justice [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *National Institute of Justice*, "Research areas" section (revision 1376076804, retrieved 2026-10-26) — development of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System in the 2000s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Justice [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *National Institute of Justice*, "DNA initiative" subsection (revision 1376076804, retrieved 2026-10-26) — forensics, the president's DNA initiative, and the FBI's CODIS database. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Justice