Remarks when preparing for delivery
Amy, thank you for your kind introduction. And thank you for the leadership of the Department of Justice program and its scientific institutions.
And I thank Nancy La Vigne, Director of the National Institute of Justice, for having the vision to revive this conference after a 12-year hiatus.
I especially like the theme of the conference, “Evidence for Action.”
Research results too often fall short of those who can best use them to improve individual and community outcomes.
this conference – Bringing together researchers, practitioners and policy makers – It gives us an opportunity to fill that gap.
I would also like to pay tribute to Alex Piquero, Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Alex, I know you and Nancy are making an important effort to reach a diverse audience of practitioners and policy makers across the country. thank you both.
And thank you to all the NIJ staff. – We represent scientists, grants managers, communications professionals and members of the operations team.
We know that planning this meeting is only a small part of the work you do every day. Thank you to each and every one of you.
Finally, I would like to thank all the partners who attended today.
You are taking time away from work and home to exchange knowledge and identify new ways that investigative evidence can improve criminal justice policy and practice.
welcome. And thank you for being here.
The Department of Justice has a broad mandate to uphold the rule of law, safeguard national security, and defend civil rights.
In pursuit of that mission, we are working with community and law enforcement partners across the country to address some of the most pressing challenges facing this country.
Good data and sound science are essential to every part of that effort.
Research is essential to the development of new technologies, policies, and programs that help the Department of Justice fulfill its mission.
And rigorous evaluation helps us know what works. Importantly, it also tells you how and why the program works, so you can replicate its success and develop it further.
For example, when it comes to keeping our nation safe, we know that research and data are critical tools in the fight against gun violence.
Experts across the sector are involved in efforts to prevent and end gun violence.
ATF professionals work daily with state and local partners to coordinate comprehensive crime gun tracking and ballistics evidence analysis.
Our prosecutors will bring cases against those responsible for the greatest violence.
And we invest in evidence-based, community-centered efforts aimed at preventing and destroying that violence.
Earlier this year, I traveled to St. Louis, where the Department hosted partners for the first-of-its-kind conference on Community Violence Intervention Strategy.
As I said at that meeting, the department encourages grant recipients to work with researchers to conduct a rigorous evaluation of program models.
We know research can help us build more effective programs based on a deeper understanding of effective violence reduction strategies.
NIJ grantees are at the forefront of this research.
For example, NIJ has invested resources in developing “risk terrain modeling,” an analytical technique that helps local governments better understand the relationship between the physical conditions of their communities and crime.
Through this method, cities can work with people experiencing violence to develop customized strategies to prevent and stop violence.
Grant recipients have also conducted significant research related to understanding and preventing mass shootings.
This includes developing a mass attack defense toolkit.
This toolkit is an evidence-based guide to deterring, detecting, and stopping planned mass shootings and other large-scale attacks.
Researchers studying the tragedy of school shootings identify the impact of measures such as threat assessments, reporting lines and secure firearm storage in reducing the risk of mass shootings. bottom.
NIJ grant recipients also play an important role in the ministry’s efforts to protect communities from the deadly fentanyl.
Studies featured at this conference demonstrate the value of methods for early detection of potentially misused emerging drugs.
These methodologies can help understand and address national challenges such as the fentanyl epidemic.
We also appreciate the growing number of NIJ-funded studies of police health, training, and accountability.
This knowledge will guide our efforts to provide police officers with the support they need and to build trust between the police and the communities they serve.
As I have said many times to Justice Department officials, our responsibility to uphold the rule of law must guide all our work.
The rule of law dictates that our prosecutors treat like cases alike, that there are no rules against the powerful and the powerless. Some rules are for rich people, other rules are for poor people.
The rule of law requires law to be applied in a manner that respects the constitution.
We are grateful to the NIJ for funding research into how prosecutors can use data to drive decision-making that pursues these principles and to achieve more equitable outcomes. increase.
Finally, I would like to thank NIJ grantees for their work in supporting the Department’s founding purpose of protecting civil rights.
Grant recipients have conducted important research that strengthens efforts to combat and prevent hate crimes, improve hate crime reporting, and respond to victims’ needs.
In other words, your work influences our work in a broad range of departmental responsibilities.
I know that the work I have described here is only a small part of what is being done by NIJ grantees around the country and many of you in this room.
Sorry for not being able to mention each one.
But I can say that I am grateful to count everyone in this room as partners in upholding the rule of law, upholding national security, and upholding civil rights.
Thank you for being here today.
We look forward to continuing to work together in the future.