DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 



NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL 



JUSTICE 



Submitted by Blair G. Ewing, Acting Director 



The Law Enforcement Assistance Administra- 

 tion (LEAA), a branch of the U.S. Department of 

 Justice, was created in 1968 to provide financial 

 and technical assistance to help States and locali- 

 ties improve their criminal justice systems. In the 

 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

 1968, Congress made specific provision for a re- 

 search institute within LEAA. The 1967 report of 

 the President's Commission on Law Enforcement 

 and Administration of Justice had identified re- 

 search as an important priority, and Congress was 

 concerned that law enforcement and criminal jus- 

 tice appeared unaffected by the scientific and tech- 

 nological progress that was improving other areas 

 of American life. 



Mission of the National Institute 



To encourage research and development efforts 

 in the criminal justice area and to assure that these 

 efforts would be coordinated on a nationwide ba- 

 sis. Congress created the National Institute of Law 

 Enforcement and Criminal Justice (NILECJ). 



The Congress outlined these functions for the 

 National Institute: 



• To study and develop new approaches, tech- 

 niques, and equipment for criminal justice 



• To carry out behavioral research 



• To evaluate criminal justice programs 



• To collect and disseminate information 



• To serve as a national and international clear- 

 inghouse for the exchange of criminal justice 

 information 



• To conduct training 



• To survey criminal justice manpower and 

 correctional facilities. 



Definition of Basic Research 



In differentiating between basic and applied re- 

 search, the Institute generally has been guided by 

 the definitions set forth by the National Science 

 Foundation (NSF) in its annual survey of Federal 

 research, development, and other scientific activi- 

 ties. These are: 



• Basic research: The investigator is concerned 

 primarily with gaining a fuller knowledge or 

 understanding of the subject under study. 



• Applied research: The investigator is primari- 

 ly interested in pi%ctical use of the knowledge 

 or understanding for the purpose of meeting a 

 recognized need. 



NSF further distinguishes these two types of 

 research from development, which is defined as 

 '"the systematic use of the knowledge and under- 

 standing gained from research directed toward the 

 production of useful materials, devices, systems, 

 or methods, including design and the development 

 of prototypes and processes." 



Whatever the specific definition used, classifying 

 discrete activities as either basic or applied re- 

 search, or as development, is a judgmental pro- 

 cess. It is relatively easy at the extremes of the 

 research continuum, but much more difficult at the 

 points of intersection. 



The National Institute organizes its activities 

 generally along the lines of the classic research, 

 development, testing, evaluation, and marketing 

 framework, and has congressionally mandated 

 responsibilities in each phase of the sequence. 

 Because the Institute is part of a mission agency, 

 its primary activities are simultaneously directed at 

 accumulating knowledge and at contributing to the 

 development of action programs. Efforts designed 



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